You Don't Need a Full-Time Yoga Teacher to Have a Great Yoga Practice in Madrid
There's a strange kind of elitism in the yoga world sometimes: the idea that if you're not teaching yoga full-time, you're somehow not a proper yoga teacher. I fundamentally disagree with that. And I want to explain why, because it goes right to the heart of how we built Madrid Yoga Collective.
None of the teachers at Madrid Yoga Collective teach yoga full-time, including me. Alongside teaching, I work as an environment policy consultant, focused on protecting the Mediterranean Sea. Cara works in design, and Nikki works in sustainability and communications.
None of that makes us any less committed to our practice or our teaching. If anything, it's the opposite.
Yoga happens on and off the mat
Yoga isn't something that switches on when you step onto a mat and switches off the moment you roll it up. It's a practice that lives in how you move through the rest of your life too, and the professional experience we each carry shapes the way we teach.
Take my work in environmental policy. I hold a deep appreciation for the natural world, and that shows up in my classes. It comes back to the yogic principle of “ahimsa”, doing no harm. I believe strongly in doing no harm to our environment, and that belief and my yoga practice aren't separate things. They're completely intertwined.
Cara's background in spatial design brings something different. Think about how much the spaces we live and move in shape our wellbeing. That awareness of space, of how a room or an environment holds a body, is part of what she brings to teaching. Nikki's work in sustainability and communications means she understands, better than most, how to get a message across clearly. In teaching, that's one of the most valuable skills there is: clear cues, clear direction on how to move. That clarity comes from a career built on communicating well.
Well-rounded people make well-rounded teachers
Being well-rounded doesn't dilute our teaching, it deepens it. Yoga is a fundamental pillar of my life, and we all teach regularly, bringing our full life experience into every class we guide. When you're searching for an English yoga class in Madrid, you don't need to default to someone who only teaches yoga and nothing else. At Madrid Yoga Collective, you get a well-rounded experience shaped by teachers who live lives like yours off the mat too.
We understand what you're going through, because we're going through it too
A lot of our community is made up of expats and international residents building a life in Madrid, often navigating things like working on US hours, adjusting to a different visa situation, or figuring out how to balance a demanding job with feeling settled in Madrid.
Our teachers understand those pressures firsthand, because we're balancing them ourselves. That understanding doesn't stay outside the studio - it shapes how we teach, and it shapes how we build community. In my view, that’s what makes Madrid Yoga Collective a great option if you're looking to practice yoga in Madrid, whether you're brand new to the city or you've been here for years and are still looking for your people.
Madrid Yoga Collective offers in-person and online yoga classes in English across Madrid, alongside a wider community of social events, a book club, and an active WhatsApp group. If you're looking for an English-speaking yoga community in Madrid built on connection as much as movement, join us today.
