Why Private Yoga Sessions are Amazing and Why You Should Include Them in Your Routine
Have you thought about private sessions, but have a hard time justifying scheduling them over group classes? Private sessions are entirely different from group classes, and there are many reasons to consider adding some private yoga sessions into your routine. Read on for more information about the main benefits and reasons to schedule a private yoga session at Yoga Baum.
Benefits
1-on-1 attention
You can’t beat taking a session that was made specifically for you, to help you reach your goals. Whether you’re seeing a teacher to help you relieve pain or to help you with a specific pose, scheduling a private session allows the teacher to assess where you are right now and create a highly specialized session for you. The teacher evaluates your current state, your goals, and your needs, and is able to provide a yoga session that is just what you are looking for.
Specific and constant feedback
You might be doing all of the right things to meet your goals, but you may not be doing them effectively or well. Having a teacher look at how you perform certain movements and poses will help you get maximum benefit from your efforts. You might also be doing everything perfectly according to general yogic wisdom and alignment, but you might not being doing in the best way for you. A teacher can see whether you’re doing it the right way for YOU. If the teacher sees that something isn’t working for you during the session, they can instantly adjust and get your feedback about how everything feels. You will make progress more quickly if you are working with your body and not against it, and a teacher can show you how.
Hands-on adjustments
Hands-on adjustments aren’t always a part of private sessions, but they are a major perk of private sessions if you want and like them. The student is always in control and can decide whether or not they want to receive any sort of hands-on touch. If you’re not familiar with hands-on adjustments in yoga, they are nothing like chiropractic adjustments. They are soft, more guiding as opposed to forcing. Adjustments offer deeper stretches, and sometimes they can just give you tactile feedback to help you strengthen your mind-body connection. There are also adjustments offered in restorative yoga that are meant to be purely relaxing and rejuvenating. If you decide you want hands-on adjustments, they can help in a variety of ways, such as providing proprioceptive feedback, helping you understand alignment in a position, deepening a sensation of stretch, and relaxing the mind and body. If you choose not to receive hands-on adjustments, your teacher will be skilled enough to provide a practice that’s just as effective without hands-on adjustments, should you choose for forgo them.
Accountability
Similar to a personal trainer, your yoga teacher creates a plan for you and holds you accountable to a specific appointment time. Private sessions allow you and your teacher to program your practice into your weekly or monthly routine in a more high-stakes way (since you’ve already paid and will have more motivation to show up :) ).
Now that you know some of the benefits, let’s look at some reasons to schedule private yoga sessions and what they are really good at addressing.
Pain
Chronic pain can be life altering, depressing, and utterly motivation-killing. We know that pain can be tricky work with, which is why we get as much information as possible about your pain history before the session. We also immediately adjust if something is not working, and come ready with a variety of strategies for addressing your pain. We keep up with pain science and, specifically, how to implement approaches to movement to provide pain relief. We want you to leave the session feeling incredible, and we are passionate about pain relief.
Anxiety
Even though yoga is not about how you look and it’s not about comparing yourself to others, we understand that old habits can be very difficult to break. If you know that you judge yourself harshly or compare yourself to others, it can be nice to simply separate yourself from that opportunity. Private sessions are a great setting if you suffer from anxiety, because you take out the social element of the class, and you can just focus on you and your movement. With the teacher’s guidance, you will build confidence in your practice. Your teacher will work with you on your individual insecurities in your alignment and practice, preparing you to walk into the world more confidently, or, perhaps, even into a group class (if that’s your goal).
Alignment and efficiency
Two of the most common questions we receive as yoga teachers is, “am I doing this right?” and, “what’s the alignment of this pose?” And our answer to both is usually, “it depends.” It depends on what your goals are. It depends on your movement and injury history. It depends on your unique anatomy and skeleton. BUT what rocks about private sessions is that we can give you a much more specific answer that makes sense to your body, because we get to see you in real time and know your goals. So all of the sudden this alignment conundrum becomes way easier to solve! We can accurately answer these questions in a private session, because we have much more information about you and your practice.
You’re new to yoga
Start off on the strongest foot possible in your yoga practice with tailored feedback and alignment tips that will help you practice effectively and strongly. Working on the yoga basics, one-on-one with a teacher will drive the foundations home and also give you ample opportunity to ask questions.
Injury, illness, and depression
Private sessions are the ideal place to explore the therapeutic benefits of yoga as they apply to specific ailments. Through a thorough intake form and conversation, your teacher will learn about you and your history, and devise a plan to help you feel better. Your teacher will be able to check in, and provide and receive constant feedback, to make your yoga practice as effective and beneficial as possible.
Private yoga sessions have even more benefits and can help with more than is listed here, but this gives you an overview of why they are so awesome and why you should schedule!
Are you looking for a private yoga session in Louisville, KY? Contact us here for more information or schedule your session here.
We are also available for virtual sessions, and you can specify whether you would like to see us virtually or in-person upon booking.