Tips for Teaching Yoga Online: Compliance, Safety, and Success

Considering expanding your reach through online yoga classes?

Teaching online can be a great way to connect with more students or retain your existing ones. However, it's essential to remember the compliance side of online teaching to ensure your and your students' safety. 

This blog provides top tips from pre-recording classes to live streaming, we've got everything covered. 

Online Record Keeping

I recommend keeping attendance records for your online classes. In the same way you would for an in-person class. 

If the class is live, have an attendance record. You could use a booking software platform record or have a manual record on a spreadsheet. 

If you share pre-recorded classes, you should keep a record of who you share them with. If you host these on a download platform, you can get a record of who attended the class. 

You should keep attendance records for seven years. 

Knowing who attends your classes will be trickier if you plan to live-stream via social media platforms. You will need to check that your insurance covers you to do this. 

Attendance records are your first line of defence in the event of an insurance claim. 

Disclaimer Forms

Disclaimers are an interesting point to consider. They are usually a recommendation for online yoga classes. 

Disclaimers can have limited effect as they are unenforceable where unlawful. Excluding liability for death or injury resulting from negligence is illegal. 

They are generally a good idea as they draw attention to participants taking part at their own risk. If you are pre-recording a class, adding an intro showing that participants are doing the class at their own risk is a good idea. 

Teaching Children Online

You can teach children online if you have the qualifications to teach yoga to children. 

The parents/guardians must complete any waivers and health questionnaires. You will be required to have a DBS check. 

Maximum Online Class Capacity

Think about how many students you can safely watch and guide during an online class. Keep to your typical in-person class numbers. 

Always check directly with your insurance provider.

Insurance

You will require insurance to teach online. While accidents are less likely to occur in an online class, they can still happen. Make sure you are covered. 

Please contact your insurance provider for specific information on whether your insurance covers you for teaching online.

Looking for tech recommendations? 

Take the guesswork out of tech! You can access a handy toolkit from Yoga Alliance Professionals that breaks down what to look for in different types of software, and our recommendations.

Let's simplify your operations and turn your yoga business into a success!