It's happening again. I'm fantasizing about becoming a yoga teacher.
In other words, jumping the academic ship for a life I that would be simpler, less complicated, and full of the greatest luxury of all: free time.
Here's how my thought process goes:
Pros of Becoming a Yoga Teacher
*I won't have to literally write off my weekends for the rest of my career.
*I won't make much money, but Darcy has a good job and owns his own house, and we have more than enough together to make this work for several years without noticeably changing our current lifestyle.
*Freedom from all the BS and territorial posturing that comes from an increased number of scholars studying a shrinking world.
*Working with what I really enjoy and cannot give up: teaching, students, yoga, creativity, improving lives, making a difference on a one-on-one basis, knowing that I am contributing to a better world.
*The dramatically better health that comes with more free time, more yoga, and less stress (i.e. the "publish or perish" variety).
Cons of Becoming a Yoga Teacher
*I know that I have a glorified idea of how a yoga teacher's life works.
*I would make no money for a while, then practically no money. Economics of that aside, would I chafe under not having anything of my own income for a while, even though I have more than enough savings to do this entirely on my own?
*Moving away from academia would blow up the bridges I built during my degree.
*The paintings I work on would continue to be mischaracterized and misunderstood.
*My advisors (who, granted, have largely checked out anyway) would flip.
*My parents would flip.
When it's written out there in black and white, the reasons not become a yoga teacher seem to have more to do with disappointing people around me. Is it one thing to leave academia, and another thing to leave it for something like yoga and the knowledge that for a while you will make zero income? But isn't that how all new ventures start - with zero income? Personally, I haven't ever made much money as a grad student, and that has also taught me that the greatest luxury is free time. I can't emphasize that enough.
What are your thoughts on all of this? Advice and suggestions are very, very welcome!
In other words, jumping the academic ship for a life I that would be simpler, less complicated, and full of the greatest luxury of all: free time.
Here's how my thought process goes:
Pros of Becoming a Yoga Teacher
*I won't have to literally write off my weekends for the rest of my career.
*I won't make much money, but Darcy has a good job and owns his own house, and we have more than enough together to make this work for several years without noticeably changing our current lifestyle.
*Freedom from all the BS and territorial posturing that comes from an increased number of scholars studying a shrinking world.
*Working with what I really enjoy and cannot give up: teaching, students, yoga, creativity, improving lives, making a difference on a one-on-one basis, knowing that I am contributing to a better world.
*The dramatically better health that comes with more free time, more yoga, and less stress (i.e. the "publish or perish" variety).
Cons of Becoming a Yoga Teacher
*I know that I have a glorified idea of how a yoga teacher's life works.
*I would make no money for a while, then practically no money. Economics of that aside, would I chafe under not having anything of my own income for a while, even though I have more than enough savings to do this entirely on my own?
*Moving away from academia would blow up the bridges I built during my degree.
*The paintings I work on would continue to be mischaracterized and misunderstood.
*My advisors (who, granted, have largely checked out anyway) would flip.
*My parents would flip.
When it's written out there in black and white, the reasons not become a yoga teacher seem to have more to do with disappointing people around me. Is it one thing to leave academia, and another thing to leave it for something like yoga and the knowledge that for a while you will make zero income? But isn't that how all new ventures start - with zero income? Personally, I haven't ever made much money as a grad student, and that has also taught me that the greatest luxury is free time. I can't emphasize that enough.
What are your thoughts on all of this? Advice and suggestions are very, very welcome!
Posts
6 comments:
If your heart is repeatedly pulling you in a certain direction, I think it's a sign that you should explore it further. You could teach yoga and also have another part-time job in order to make some extra income...just a thought. Whenever I'm trying to make a tough decision, I mentally "try out" each option by pretending as if the decision has been made and living with it for a few days. Then I mentally switch to the other option and do the same. Just remember that if you follow your bliss, you can't go wrong.
Hmm- it is a very tough decision. Too many things to weigh. For example- will teaching yoga be as exciting if that was the only thing you were doing? A lot of times I realize that I find some of my interests exciting because they are not something I HAVE to pursue. BUT if teaching yoga was something you always wanted to do but didn't because of the fear of disappointing other people, then you should seriously consider making the change. Ultimately, you should do what makes YOU happy and make sure that you are not disappointing yourself with either choice. [Make the choice that 10 years down the line, you'll wish you'd made].
(That "publish or perish" adage just scares me..lol)
Good luck and *hugs*
Lavanya
Reading this I was wondering if it might be possible for you to find some middle ground. Is there a way you could take a year off from academia and explore yoga teaching? Perhaps not going away from it forever but only for a little while so that you can truly see what it is that you want to be doing.
Hi Kiki,
I afraid my comment will land a bit late but I just read your post and I felt compelled to leave it anyway. I am in a very similar situation. For me, becoming a yoga teacher would also free me to write, which is my other passion. Academia is a tight world but I still want to believe I can change it (or adapt it???) Anyway, I had to try the yoga route so that's why I started my Yoga teacher training course. It involves only 1 week a month and, even though I don't really know what's going to come out from it, the course is already changing my life in unsuspected ways. I am just letting it happen. I want to believe I will find an answer one day but that will only happen if I follow the path my heart is showing me. Even if it is only 1 weekend a month for now.
I am sure your path will unveil soon in your heart.
Have you thought about how you could incorporate it into your current activities? Little here, little there, rather than commiting to full-time yoga teaching?
Finish your PhD. Get the best job you can with your kick ass brain and pedigree. See if you can rock the academic art world. See if it makes you happy to be successful and on your own (no advisors!). If it doesn't, do yoga. Either way you will be making the world a better place by putting effort into it.
Post a Comment