At the end of every course, term and retreat, yoga teachers receive gifts. The same gifts, largely, and a considerable proportion of them are quietly rehomed within a month.
This is not ingratitude. It is arithmetic. A teacher with four classes a week receives gifts at a rate no household can absorb.
What teachers are given constantly
Candles, above everything. Then chocolates, wine and toiletries, in roughly that order. All perfectly nice, all given by several people at once, and none of them memorable by February.
The pattern is that people buy for the person as a generic recipient rather than as a teacher, which is understandable when you know someone only from a mat.
Buy for the studio, not the person
The single most useful shift in this article. Teachers furnish their own teaching spaces out of their own pockets, and almost nobody buys for that.
A studio, a hall or a spare room used for teaching needs the same things any room needs, and a teacher spending on their business rarely justifies spending on atmosphere. A gift that improves the room is a gift they genuinely cannot buy themselves without feeling frivolous.
It is also a gift they will see and use every single class, which no box of chocolates achieves.
Objects that suit a teaching space
Sound first, since it is what a teacher uses to open and close a class. A singing bowl is the most used gift on this list, and a bowl arriving complete with cushion and striker is ready for the next class rather than needing anything added.
A figure for the front of the room is the next most useful, since it gives the space a focal point that everyone in the class faces. Our yoga figurines at 24cm work on a shelf, and a larger carved piece works on the floor at the front.
Scent is the third, and an oil burner suits a teaching space better than incense, since a room full of people includes someone who dislikes smoke.
Scale, because the space is shared
An important difference from buying for a home. A teaching space is seen by twenty people rather than one, which means a gift needs to read from the back of the room.
Small delicate objects disappear in a hall. Something with a clear silhouette that a person on a mat at the back can see is doing the job, which usually means going larger than you would for a home gift.
Group gifts, and why they suit this occasion
The natural solution, and it is what most classes end up doing once someone suggests it.
Twelve people at a modest amount each reaches something genuinely substantial: a larger carved piece, a good singing bowl, or a healing gong, which comes with its stand and is the gift a teacher will build classes around for years.
The practicalities: one person coordinates, money is collected before the last class rather than on the day, and every name goes on a single card. In our experience the card matters more to teachers than the amount, since it is the record of who was in that group.
What to avoid
Clothing, obviously, since fit and taste are personal. Mats and props, which teachers have strong opinions about and have already chosen. Anything with a printed inspirational quote. Books about yoga, which they have. And branded anything, which turns a gift into an advert.
Also worth avoiding: a gift so large or valuable that it creates awkwardness. A teaching relationship is a professional one, and a gift should be warm rather than heavy.
Teachers who teach in hired halls
A practical consideration for a good proportion of British yoga teachers, who teach in village halls, church halls and community centres rather than owning a studio.
They carry everything in and out each week, which means a large object is a burden rather than a gift. For a teacher in that situation, choose something portable: a singing bowl rather than a gong, a small figure rather than a statue.
If you do not know which they are, ask someone in the class before you buy.
What to write
Specific rather than general. Not thank you for a lovely year, but the thing you actually got from it: the class that got you through a hard autumn, the pose you finally managed, the fact that you turn up on a Tuesday when you would not otherwise leave the house.
Teachers keep those cards. They do not keep the chocolates.
Our guide to why people keep a figure in a practice space covers buying for a practitioner rather than a teacher.
Questions people ask
What do you buy a yoga teacher?
Something for their teaching space rather than for them personally. Teachers furnish those spaces from their own pockets and rarely justify spending on atmosphere, so a gift that improves the room gets used every class.
What do teachers already have too many of?
Candles above all, then chocolates, wine and toiletries. A teacher with several classes a week receives these at a rate no household can absorb.
Is a group gift better than individual ones?
Usually. Twelve people at a modest amount each reaches something substantial such as a good singing bowl or a gong, and one card with every name on it means more to most teachers than the amount.
What should I avoid giving?
Clothing, mats and props, anything with a printed quote, books about yoga, and anything branded. Also anything so valuable that it creates awkwardness in a professional relationship.
What if they teach in a hired hall?
Choose something portable, since they carry everything in and out weekly. A singing bowl rather than a gong, a small figure rather than a statue.
