Do Yoga Teachers and Reiki Practitioners Need Liability Insurance?
If you are new to teaching yoga, offering reiki or other wellness related activities, you may wonder if you need yoga or wellness liability insurance.
This isn’t the most exciting topic to explore after becoming a certified yoga teacher or reiki therapist, but it’s an important one.
I’m going to explain all about it here, but if it’s a snooze fest and you know you just need to get some inexpensive insurance right away, here’s the yoga, reiki and coaching liability insurance I use.
QUICK DISCLAIMER (we are talking about legalities, after all): I am not offering nor qualified to offer legal advice. I’ve consulted with my lawyer and industry best practices to make my own decisions, and I strongly encourage you to do the same for your unique situation.
What is the best way for yoga teachers and Reiki teachers to approach liability?
Short answer: Using both liability insurance and waivers will give you comprehensive protection. But if you can’t afford yoga insurance or are not interested, waivers are a free and simple way to cover yourself legally.
What is Yoga Liability Insurance?
Yoga liability insurance is a type of coverage designed to protect yoga teachers, reiki therapists, sound healers, etc. from potential legal or financial claims. It typically covers client accidents, injuries or damages that may occur while offering your services.
Note: I’m going to use “yoga liability insurance,” but I’m talking about coverage for all wellness professionals: yoga teachers, reiki therapists, sound healers, life coaches, pole dance teachers, Zumba, whatever you’re into.
What are Waivers?
Waivers are legal documents that students sign to acknowledge the risks involved in participating in yoga or Reiki sessions. Waiver forms protect you from legal risk by claiming limited liability and ensuring that clients understand and agree to take personal responsibility for their participation.
Liability Insurance for Yoga, Reiki, Coaching and Wellness Professionals
We all know the US is quite litigious, so yoga liability insurance is designed to protect you financially from being sued by a student. That’s pretty straightforward, the more people and the more often you teach, the higher the liability risk.
Pros of Yoga Liability Insurance
Protect Yourself Financially. Saves you from paying medical or legal expenses if a client gets injured or sues.
Professional Credibility. Most gyms, spas and studios I have worked at in the States require it. When you are looking for a job, mentioning you have insurance on your resume will set you apart.
Covers all options: I use just one policy that protects me as a yoga teacher, reiki therapist, sound healer, life coach, pole dance teacher.
Cons of Liability Insurance
Cost (obviously). It sucks to pay for insurance, especially when you are making very little teaching a few free classes, or charging minimal rates.
Not Always Necessary. If you’re offering small, informal sessions to friends or family, liability insurance might not be a top priority for you.
Waivers Offer Simple Liability Protection—And They’re Free!
Whether you invest in yoga liability insurance or not, you can still have some limited free legal protection if your clients sign a waiver.
Pros of Waivers
Free. Waivers are easy to create yourself. If you are on a budget, you can find some sample text online to create your own.
Automated. The simplest way to collect signed waivers is by integrating them into your website’s checkout process when students sign up for your classes. If you don’t have a website, you can use Google Forms and even collect them using a QR code!
Easy for clients. Waivers are not a big inconvenience to your clients. You likely signed these to participate in your yoga teacher training or Reiki training and didn’t really pay much attention.
Beyond legal protection. You can add in clauses about refunds, cancellations and a code of conduct in your waiver. This is helpful to set clear boundaries and expectations with clients.
Studios Often Handle Waivers for You. If you’re working at a reputable gym, spa or yoga studio, they likely already have a waiver process in place.
Cons of Waivers
Hassle. If you are offering yoga in the park, for example, it might be challenging or annoying to get signatures.
Limited Protection. Waivers don’t fully replace the protection liability insurance provides. Lawyers will look for loopholes.
How I personally use Yoga Liability Insurance and Waivers
Whether I purchase Liability Insurance depends on what services I am offering. Sometimes I take breaks in my work. For example, I may have a yoga teacher training happening in November and another happening in April. If my insurance lapses in December, I might wait and renew in April when I need the extra protection again. I always purchase this insurance if I am teaching retreats and yoga teacher trainings. These events generate enough income to justify paying for this coverage.
When I started out teaching low cost or free community classes, it just didn’t make sense personally to spend on liability insurance, as I would actually lose money by teaching. So I would just rely on the waiver system. For teaching pole dance (which is very physical and a higher-risk for injury), I ensured each student signed off on a form. This was back when it was done on paper, and I carried a manilla folder around!
After my yoga teacher certification, I began working in gyms and studios right away, and it was a requirement for me to provide proof of insurance. The benefit is you can claim this expense against your yoga or Reiki income on your taxes.
Waivers are a must! I include them on everything that requires a sign up. If you sign up for my yoga teacher training or a reiki certification, I include a liability clause and a cancel/refund policy as well as a code of conduct and have everyone sign to participate.
Make Protecting Yourself Legally a Priority
Running a yoga or Reiki business is about sharing your gifts and helping others, but protecting yourself is essential. Think of it as an act of self-love and prioritizing your needs first! Take the time to research, reflect and make the decision that’s right for you.
If you’re looking for an insurance option: I use Alternative Balance for liability insurance. Currently, the cost is $269 for the year.
If you need more wellness business advice: You can book a 1:1 mentorship session with me—available by the hour. We can work through all of your questions on insurance, creating waiver forms, hosting retreats, whatever you need. This will be well worth your investment: having a simple check box on my retreat sign up page has saved me literally thousands of dollars when clients try to last minute cancel for a refund once I’ve already paid the hotel.
Again, this is not a substitute for legal advice, but my personal experience and hopefully it helps you decide what is right for you!
Good Karma: If you like my recommendations, it supports my blog if you purchase directly from my provided Alternative Balance affiliate link in this article. Thank you! 💜