Yoga Instructor interview questions and answers

I start with five minutes of settling and breath awareness, then ten minutes of joint mobility and gentle warm-ups like cat-cow and a few rounds of half sun salutations. The middle thirty minutes are standing poses such as Trikonasana and Virabhadrasana II, then balance with Vrikshasana, then a few gentle backbends like Bhujangasana, building towards a peak such as a supported bridge. I then add seated forward bends and a twist to neutralise. I end with ten minutes of pranayama and Shavasana. For every pose I offer a gentler and a stronger variation.

First I ask briefly whether a doctor has diagnosed the problem and whether any movements are painful. If the pain is recent, severe or goes down the leg, I suggest they get medical advice before a full class. For general stiffness, I avoid deep forward folds with straight legs and ask them to bend their knees. I replace full wheel with a gentle bridge and suggest keeping twists small. I offer a block or bolster in seated poses so the spine stays long. After class I check how they felt, and I note it for their next session.

Kapalbhati is a cleansing breath with active, forceful exhalations through the nose and passive inhalations. I teach it seated with a straight spine, hands on the knees. I start with one round of twenty to thirty strokes at a slow pace, then natural breathing, and build up gradually over weeks. I ask students to keep the chest and shoulders still and move from the belly. I advise pregnant women, people with high blood pressure, heart conditions, hernia or recent abdominal surgery to avoid it and choose gentle breathing like Anulom Vilom instead. Women can also skip it during menstruation if they prefer.

I follow a simple order: breath, movement, then alignment. For example, “Inhale, step your right foot forward. Exhale, lower your back knee to the mat. Now stack your front knee over your ankle.” I use body parts and directions students can feel, like “press into the big toe,” rather than anatomy terms. I say one instruction at a time and keep my voice steady. During my teacher training practicum, I recorded my classes and noticed I said “just” and “go ahead” constantly, so I cut those words and my cues became shorter.

I always ask for consent first. At the start of class I explain that I may offer light hands-on help and use consent cards students can flip if they prefer no touch. Before any adjustment I still ask quietly, “Is it okay if I help here?” I use gentle, clear touch only on safe areas like the shoulder blades, hips or back of the hands, and never push a student deeper into a stretch. Most of my adjustments are verbal or with props. If a student looks uncomfortable at all, I step back.

I first ask for her doctor’s clearance and which trimester she is in. I avoid closed twists, deep backbends, lying on the belly, strong core work and breath retention. After the first trimester I avoid long periods lying flat on the back, so I use a bolster for an inclined Shavasana or have her rest on the left side. Wide-legged standing poses, supported squats, cat-cow and pelvic floor awareness are useful. I keep her near a wall or chair for balance. I completed a prenatal specialisation and have taught about twenty expectant mothers in small groups.

For a thirty-minute office session I focus on the neck, shoulders, hips and lower back, since those are tight from sitting. I use chair poses where possible: seated cat-cow, seated twists, eagle arms, and a seated figure-four stretch. Then standing poses like Tadasana with side bends and a supported forward fold at a desk. I finish with five minutes of breath awareness to reduce stress. I ran this programme twice a week for a software company’s team of forty for six months, and many asked for short desk breaks they could do alone.

I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in Hatha and Vinyasa, registered with an international yoga alliance, and I hold the Yoga Certification Board’s Level 1 instructor certificate. Before that I practised Hatha for four years. My classes are Hatha-based, with slow flowing sequences and longer holds, and I integrate pranayama and short meditation. During training I taught fifteen practice classes to fellow trainees and volunteers in a community centre. I am now doing a 50-hour Yin and restorative course, since your studio has evening restorative classes.

I cue the whole class first, not just that student, with something like “Come back to about seventy percent of your stretch; you should be able to breathe smoothly.” If they continue, I go over quietly and suggest a block or a bent knee, explaining that the benefit comes from alignment, not depth. After class I have a short chat to understand their goals. Once, a young man in my class kept forcing lotus pose. I explained the risk to the knee and gave him hip openers to work on first. He was grateful.

I start with short sessions of three to five minutes. I tell students that the mind wandering is normal and that noticing it is the practice. I give them a simple anchor, like counting breaths from one to ten and starting again. I let them sit on a chair or cushion, whichever is comfortable. Over a few weeks I extend to ten minutes and introduce body scans or a simple mantra. In my volunteer classes at a community centre, several older students said the counting method was the first one that worked for them.

I set my camera at hip height, side-on for most poses, so students can see my alignment. I use a clip-on microphone because students are often far from their screens. I ask everyone to keep their video on if they are comfortable, and I switch to gallery view to watch them. Because I cannot adjust with touch, my verbal cues are more detailed, and I call out corrections by name when needed. I ask about injuries before class in the chat. I have taught online batches of up to twenty-five students for two years.

In a hot morning class, an older student became dizzy after rising quickly from a forward fold. I stopped her, had her sit and then lie on her left side, and gave her water. I asked another student to open the windows and let the class rest in child’s pose. She recovered in a few minutes, but I asked her to skip the rest of the standing sequence and informed the studio manager, who logged it. Afterwards I added cues to rise slowly and asked students to eat lightly before morning classes.

My Tuesday evening class dropped from eighteen to eight students over two months. I asked a few regulars and sent a short three-question form to past attendees. They said the class had become too challenging and too long for after work. I shortened it to fifty minutes, added more restorative poses, and started a “beginners first Tuesday” each month. I also posted a short weekly message with the theme of the class. In three months attendance was back to sixteen to twenty, with several new students from the beginners’ sessions.

A fifty-eight-year-old man joined my class after his doctor suggested yoga for stress and stiffness. He could not touch his knees in a forward fold and was very tense. I gave him chair variations and two short breathing practices to do at home. Over six months, he moved from the chair to the mat for most poses and could sit comfortably cross-legged for meditation. He told me his sleep had improved and his doctor was happy with his blood pressure readings. For me the best sign was that he practised at home on his own.

A regular told the studio manager that my music was distracting during pranayama and Shavasana. At first I felt my music helped create the mood. But I asked a few other students and three of them agreed. I switched to no music during pranayama and very soft instrumental sound during Shavasana only. I also thanked the student personally for saying it. She became one of my most regular students, and other students said the silence made the breathing practice feel deeper. I now ask for feedback on the class atmosphere every few months.

In my first month of teaching, I was asked to cover a class that was listed as intermediate. I had planned a flow with arm balances. When I arrived, eight of the twelve students were senior citizens from a nearby residents’ association, several with knee issues. I dropped the plan immediately, used chairs and the wall, and taught a gentle sequence of mobility work, standing balances with support and long breathing. They enjoyed it and asked if I could take a weekly class for them, which I did for the next year.

I co-led a three-day weekend retreat for twenty-two students at a hill-station homestay with another teacher and a nutritionist. We split the teaching: I took the morning Hatha and pranayama sessions, my colleague took the evening Yin and meditation, and the nutritionist ran a talk on eating habits. I handled registrations, room allocation and the timetable. On day two heavy rain ruled out the outdoor session, so we moved to the dining hall and turned it into a partner yoga workshop. Seventeen of the participants signed up for our next retreat.

At my current studio I am paid 800 rupees per group class of sixty minutes, and for corporate sessions I charge 1,500 per session including travel within the city. For your studio, with eight to ten classes a week, I would expect around 1,000 per class, or a fixed monthly amount of about 35,000 if the schedule is fixed. I am flexible for the first month while you see how my classes fill. I would also like to discuss whether I can run workshops at the studio with a revenue share.

I can take early morning slots from 6 am and evening slots from 5:30 to 8:30 pm on weekdays. Weekends I am available from 7 am to noon. I keep weekday afternoons for private clients and my own practice. I understand that morning and evening classes are where your studio is busiest, so those are my priority. If a class is cancelled or I am unwell, I have two trusted teachers who can substitute, and I would inform you at least twelve hours in advance except in emergencies.

I attended two of your classes last month to understand your style. Your studio teaches slower, alignment-focused classes with a lot of props, which is how I teach too. I also noticed your students include many beginners and older adults, which is the group I work with best. You also run teacher development sessions each month, which matters to me because I want to keep learning from senior teachers. The studio is fifteen minutes from my home, so I can reliably take early morning classes.