Making a Living as a Yoga Teacher
The story of Seth & Pleunie : YOGADNA
“Is It Really Possible to make a living as a Yoga teacher?” is a question we often get.
We would like to share the story of 2 of our students, who are doing this right now!
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“Do what you love, and success will follow.” You’ve probably heard this motivational quote countless times and quietly ignored it, thinking it’s just another feel-good phrase, something that sounds inspiring but doesn’t really hold up in real life.Â
Until one day, you come across a story that makes you stop and think.Â
Meet Seth and Pleunie, a couple who didn’t just believe in that quote, they chose to live by it. What started as a shared love for yoga gradually became a shared vision for their future. Today, that vision has grown into a thriving yoga community, but the journey began with a simple decision: to pursue what they truly loved, even when the path ahead wasn’t entirely clear.Â
For Seth and Pleunie, yoga was never just another hobby or a way to stay fit. It became the foundation of the life they wanted to build together. But transforming that passion into a meaningful profession required far more than enthusiasm. It demanded proper education, the confidence to stand in front of a class, and a deep understanding of traditional yoga.Â
That turning point came when they enrolled in Arhanta’s 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training. While Seth arrived with years of personal practice and a long-held dream of becoming a yoga teacher, Pleunie joined to deepen her own practice while supporting the future they hoped to create together. What they discovered was far more valuable than a certification. They left with the knowledge, practical teaching skills, and confidence to share yoga with others, and, perhaps more importantly, the belief that dreams do come true. Â
Today, their mornings begin before sunrise as they welcome students to their daily yoga classes in Amsterdam. They lead retreats, deliver corporate yoga programs, and continue growing a thriving yoga community through their own yoga studio YOGADNA. Looking at where they are now, it’s easy to admire the success they’ve built. What people don’t always see are the years of learning, discipline, consistency, and lifelong commitment that made it possible.
Read their full story below:
We asked Seth and Pleunie a few questions, they each gave their personal answer, to show how different goals lead to an aligned path:
Where were you before Arhanta?
Seth: I’d been practicing yoga since 2003, after breaking my back — it became a genuine healing tool for me, and from very early on I knew I wanted to teach. But for years I stayed directionless: doing construction work, trying to get writing projects off the ground, all while knowing in my mind where I wanted to end up but not living it yet. What I did know was that I needed to professionalize my practice into something real. After researching my options, Arhanta stood out as the right place to take that next step.
Pleunie: I came from the corporate world — banking and accounting — always knowing I wanted to eventually build something of my own in the health and movement space. After falling in love with Seth and taking many of his classes, I realized teaching yoga was something I wanted too, alongside building something entrepreneurial. On Seth’s recommendation, I took the teacher training at Arhanta myself, and it shaped not just my practice but how I communicate with students and the people around me.
What challenges or goals did you have?
Seth: My biggest challenge was translation — I already felt yoga deeply in my body and mind, but I needed to learn how to structure that feeling into something I could actually teach and pass on to others. My goal was simple at its core: bring as many people as possible to healing — body and mind — in the most natural, profound way possible.
Pleunie: When I joined Arhanta, I didn’t even know yet whether I wanted to teach — for me it started as a way to deepen my own practice. My goal wasn’t necessarily to become a teacher first; it was to support Seth in building something real — a company and a community rooted in health, wellness, and consciousness.
What changed after your training?
Seth: The difference between before and after was night and day. The moment I graduated, I felt fully confident walking into any gym or studio in Amsterdam and offering to teach. I started teaching around 20 classes a week right away — making plenty of mistakes, getting better with every one. What Arhanta gave me wasn’t just confidence, it was legitimacy: I was now educated in a traditional, authentic yoga system, and that’s carried me as a professional ever since. A few years later, in 2019, I went back for my 300-hour advanced training in Yin and Vinyasa — which rounded me out as both an all-round teacher and a yoga entrepreneur.
Pleunie: Teaching turned out to come surprisingly naturally to me. My very first class was thrown in at the deep end — teaching 20 people outdoors at our summer event in the park, right after finishing an intensive month of training. It was a wonderful challenge, but I already felt confident and knowledgeable enough to carry it. Now it’s something that comes easily and joyfully — and we’ve both made sure to keep our own asana practice alive alongside teaching others.
What are you doing now?
For the last three years, we’ve been building something we’re proud of: daily morning classes in Vondelpark — two full sessions every day, 7:15 and 9:00. Seth leads the powerful, dynamic practices; Pleunie leads the gentle, classical Hatha. Beyond the park, we run corporate yoga programs and have built wonderful client relationships that keep growing through word of mouth. We work out of a beautiful studio in Oud-Zuid that we currently rent, and we’re on the lookout for a bigger space in the near future. We also lead retreats — two already this past May, with two more planned for Ibiza this October.
We’re entrepreneurs in the truest sense — 14–15 hour days, now with our little one, Shiloh, at home too — but we love it. And no matter how full the days get, we keep our Sadna. That’s the foundation Arhanta gave us: it lets us keep our eyes on the horizon while staying rooted in the present moment.
Any measurable results?
We’re now living fully off the income YOGADNA generates — Seth has stepped away from nearly all outside freelance work, and we’re both relying on the company we’ve built together. We’re in the early, seeding phase of entrepreneurship, so it’s a disciplined, frugal life — tapas, as it’s called in the yamas and niyamas — and honestly, it feels good. We’re focused, joyful, and building something we genuinely believe is valuable.
A fun milestone: Seth is the first yogi in the Netherlands to hold a Nike clothing contract. We’re also actively growing on Instagram (@yogadna.nl) and exploring small collaborations and multiple revenue streams. But the core stays the same — our daily 7:15 and 9:00 classes are non-negotiable. That’s where we take ourselves seriously as teachers, and everything else grows outward from that daily practice.
One more thing: our theme for this summer is “Summer of Health” — if there’s a natural way to weave that into how the piece is framed, we’d love that, since it really captures where we are right now: disciplined, present, and focused on bringing health to as many people as possible.
Want to meet Seth and Pleunie yourself?
You can find them at YOGADNA here:
www.yogadna.nl
or Instagram: @yogadna.nl
