One of the most effective ways to tailor yoga to your body is to hire a private yoga instructor. Yoga can help you reduce your stress level while also getting your body into better shape. However, if you are new to practicing yoga, getting extra attention from a private lesson can help you learn the poses more quickly, and you’ll be able to obtain the benefits of yoga much faster through private lessons.
Private Yoga lessons are worth it because they’ll allow you to learn yoga more quickly while the instructor tailors things to your needs. In a private lesson, you can ask more questions and take things slowly so that you don’t wind up injuring yourself by performing a pose incorrectly. Plus, by taking private yoga lessons, you’ll obtain the benefits of yoga much more quickly.
Since there isn’t much information available on the Internet today about private yoga lessons, we created this article to help you. Below we’ll cover what you can expect from a private yoga session if you should tip a private yoga instructor, why you should consider private yoga and the many benefits to taking a private yoga class.
What to Expect from a Private Yoga Session
If you want to learn how to perform yoga correctly, then taking a private yoga session is a great way to go. By taking a private yoga class, you’ll learn more about
- How to tailor practicing yoga to help your body
- Your mental state
- Your lifestyle
- Your goals
That’s because yoga is not just great practice for your body; it’s also great for your mind. When you start practicing yoga, you’ll learn a lot about the positions, but also about how you can keep your mind at peace.
Many students that are new to yoga don’t feel comfortable in larger group classes because they don’t know how to perform the poses. So, taking a few private yoga sessions is a great way to build confidence before you attend a regular class. Private classes are also great for individuals that are recovering from injuries and illnesses because they allow the instructor to give you full attention.
Your First Private Yoga Class
During your first private yoga class, you’ll most likely need to sign a waiver and give that back to the instructor. That is a common practice in yoga.
Next, the instructor will most likely conduct a short interview with you to ask you a few questions about your background. That will help the instructor to assess your needs. Some of the questions the yoga instructor may ask you may include things like:
- Have you ever done yoga before?
- If so, what types of yoga have you done?
- Do you do any other types of exercises?
- When was the last time that you exercised?
- Do you have any injuries that you are concerned about?
- Are you seeing a doctor?
- Is there anything about yourself physically or mentally that the instructor should know about?
- What is your current job?
- What are your goals in life and in yoga?
- Are there any poses or a flow you would like to see and work on?
- Is there a part of your body that you want to work on?
- Do you mind being adjusted so the instructor can help you with yoga poses?
After the yoga instructor finishes the interview with you, he or she will utilize the information you give to design the class for you. The interview shouldn’t take longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. The more honest the answers are you give, the better job the instructor can do tailoring the class to meet your needs.
Most first-time private yoga lessons will focus on the traditional set-up of a yoga class, which includes:
- The opening
- The warm-up
- The body of the yoga class
- The cooldown
- The closing
Also, all yoga classes will teach you about
- Breath consciousness
- Mindful movement and posturing
- Meditation practice
During the class, the teacher will be performing yoga moves with you. The instructor may stop to reposition you now and then. However, the instructor will be your example and give you visual cues of what positions you should be performing, and how you should hold those various positions. The instructor will also be observing you and giving you feedback as you perform the poses.
During your private lesson, you can ask all the questions that you need to during the middle of the class if you want. That way, if you experience any sensations or feelings you might want to discuss, you can do so immediately with your instructor. If you have any specific questions about yoga or learning yoga, this is the best time to ask those questions.
During the class, the yoga teacher will mention your
- Alignment progress
- Assess your positioning
- Talk about your yoga goals with you.
You may need to work with a teacher one on one to perform some of the more challenging yoga poses.
Do you Tip a Private Yoga Instructor?
After a private yoga session, you are not necessarily required to tip. However, you can tip your private yoga instructor if you want to. The best way to approach this is first to ask your private yoga instructor if he or she accepts tips. If the answer is yes, then you can feel free to hand over some tips.
If you’ve done group lessons, a small cash tip or gift card works well. Something in the range of $5 to $25 should suffice. During a private session, a tip equal to one class is what is expected. That’s especially true of the private yoga instructor is coming to your home to perform your private sessions.
Keep in mind, however, that most private yoga instructors won’t expect you to tip. So, the entire process of tipping is completely up to you.
Integrating Private Yoga into Your Workout
If you are planning on integrating private y oga into your regular workout sessions, you’ll receive many helpful advantages. For example, yoga can
- Reduce the likelihood that you experience an injury
- Relax your muscles
- Make you more flexible
- Reduce your stress level
- Increase your oxygen levels
If you are worried about joining a yoga class because you’ve never done yoga before and you are afraid of doing yoga in a large group of people that already knows the routine, then integrating private yoga into your workout is probably the best thing for you to do. It can be difficult for a shy beginner to get started in yoga during a group class, especially at a gym, where the classes can be quite large. So, if you are shy, then try to invest in a few private yoga sessions before you join a group class.
There are a few reasons why you should consider a private yoga session before you join a group class, which we’ll cover below.
Yoga Requires Unusual Positioning
Yoga does such a great job of helping your body fight diseases like osteoporosis, because yoga requires you to position your body in unusual ways. Your bones will be twisted abnormally, but under the correct supervision of an instructor, safely. That means yoga can create more stress on your bones. However, that helps your body create more calcium in your bones, making them stronger overall. Still, your body won’t be used to moving into a yoga position so that you may experience injury more easily.
If you jump into yoga and try to do it in a large group class, you may wind up doing some of the yoga poses and fail to align yourself properly. If you aren’t able to see the instructor, you might follow what other people are doing—and what they are doing could be incorrect. If somebody you are watching is doing the pose wrong, then you’ll do it incorrectly as well, and that could lead to an avoidable injury.
On the other hand, taking a class with a private yoga instructor means you’ll have somebody with you that can take the time to demonstrate how you can do every pose correctly. The private yoga instructor can even help you position your body so that you are aligned each time correctly. In the beginning, that can be very helpful for any new yoga student, until you learn how to do the poses correctly.
Private Yoga Allows You to Share Your Health History
If you take a large group yoga class, you might be hesitant to approach your instructor and tell that person about your health history within earshot of the rest of the class. That entire process can be embarrassing for some people. Even if you are brave enough to tell the instructor of a group class, it’s unlikely for the instructor to help you modify your poses for the entire class’s duration.
It’s an excellent idea to share your personal health history with your yoga instructor, however, even if you are just getting started with classes. Your instructor can help you better if he or she knows that you are getting over something like
- Surgery
- An illness
- Any injuries
Keep in mind that although yoga looks peaceful and relaxing, it isn’t harmless. If you aren’t able to correctly perform the yoga positions and poses, you may wind up making your injuries worse. That is why working with a private yoga instructor can help, especially while you are just getting used to yoga.
Your private yoga instructor may ask you a few specific questions about your health history, like
- Are you suffering from a chronic disease?
- Do you play sports?
- Have you had any recent sports injuries?
- When was the last time you exercised?
Without knowing your health and workout history, your instructor won’t know what poses you should avoid doing. So, it’s important to be honest and share your background with your private instructor.
Private Yoga Boosts Your Confidence
Many new yoga students believe they aren’t flexible enough to perform yoga, or they think they will be terrible at the workout. It would be unfair for a yoga instructor to expect a beginner to comprehend all of the concepts behind yoga. If you feel underconfident about what you’re doing in a yoga class, this is where private yoga classes can come in handy. By taking private yoga classes, you can boost your confidence in your yoga skills.
If you’ve never done yoga before in your life, then you probably aren’t that flexible. For example, you can’t expect to walk out onto a football field and play football for the first time like a pro, either. Flexibility, like everything else, can be improved with practice. Also, any yoga instructor will tell you that nobody can be terrible at yoga. While you can be inexperienced, yoga is a discipline and a journey that you take with yourself. Yoga isn’t a competitive sport.
So, if you feel less than confident about your yoga skills, then taking a private yoga class can help you to boost your confidence level. A private instructor will encourage you and do everything to help you understand how to perform and hold the poses. By taking a few private yoga lessons, you’ll notice increased flexibility quickly, and that will make you feel more confident about performing yoga overall.
Private Yoga Classes Focus on Your Needs
If you’ve ever attended a yoga class where you needed help with a certain pose and waited around not to receive that help, then you know how disappointing that experience can be. One of the best things about private yoga is the fact that the instructor can make the class focus on your needs as an individual. For example, if you want better hip flexibility, then you can ask the instructor to focus the entire yoga session on your hips.
If you’ve had a stressful day and you need some relaxation, you can show up at a private yoga class and ask your instructor to help you with your breathing and mediation for twenty minutes if you’d like. On occasion, you may wish just to sit and meditate with your yoga instructor, and he or she would be happy to oblige.
Since you are paying for that private yoga class, you can ask your instructor to meet what your needs are on that particular day. That’s quite different from personal training, where a trainer will try to push you to your limits. With yoga, you are also focusing on improving your inner strength and balance as well as your body. Since yoga also focuses on meditation and stress relief, you can get a lot out of a private lesson.
Private Yoga Gives You Great Tools
If you find a great private yoga teacher, you’ll learn skills you can use outside of class and in daily life to help you with your:
- Breathing
- Meditation
- stress techniques
Yoga will help you to learn better posture and proper stretching, for instance. You’ll also learn quite a bit about proper breathing and stress relief, which can help you when you experience a challenging day.
Private yoga provides you with the chance to get to know yourself on a different level, which will help you focus on your spirit and soul. Sometimes, that’s enough to brighten up your day.
Benefits of Booking a Private Yoga Session
People have different reasons for booking private yoga sessions. However, it’s usually best to book private yoga sessions when you are a beginner, or when you need specific help with poses due to some injury or personal health issue.
One problem with group classes, especially at gyms, is that they are often crowded. Even if you find an excellent yoga instructor, that can limit the amount of instruction you’ll get as a beginner. If you don’t get the proper guidance, the impact of the yoga you get can be diluted so that the time you spend doing yoga won’t be as beneficial for you. To get the most out of your time in a yoga class, it’s best to start with private lessons.
To help you understand what the benefits are when it comes to taking private yoga classes, we’ll cover the advantages of private yoga classes below.
Private Yoga Teaches Proper Alignment
People learn yoga differently because we all learn things in different ways. Some individuals might be visual learners, while others might use their auditory skills. When you are in a private lesson, you’ll be able to learn from the instructor in the way that’s best for you. If you learn that way, you’ll grasp proper alignment techniques more easily, and that will help you develop strength and flexibility more rapidly.
Private Yoga Teaches Breathing
Another wonderful thing about private yoga is that you’ll learn how to breathe so you can fuel your muscles and create a feeling of calmness within your body. Yoga’s breathing techniques teach you how to stimulate your overall relaxation response throughout your nervous system. You’ll learn yoga’s breathing techniques much faster with a private instructor.
Private Yoga Teaches You to Modify
In private yoga, you’ll learn how to modify your yoga poses so that your poses are unique to your body. As you learn more about yoga, you’ll discover that you can get better support for your body by making certain modifications. These modifications may or may not utilize props. Regardless, learning these modifications will help you build towards posing properly and safely without overexerting yourself.
Since you’ll learn how to modify your poses more easily in a private yoga lesson, you’ll learn faster and reap the rewards of yoga even more quickly. Also, if you get injured, and you still want to practice yoga, learning how to modify your body’s positioning can help you to recover more quickly from that injury.
Private Yoga Teaches You to Use Props
No matter what yoga studio you attend, there will be props there. Some people aren’t sure how to use the various props in a yoga studio, which include:
- Blocks
- Straps
- Blankets
During a private session, you can ask your instructor how to use these various items. That way, you can learn how to use props to enhance your own yoga experience specifically.
Private Yoga Teaches You About Your Injuries
If you have any specific injuries or conditions that you may worry about when working out or attending a group yoga session, then a private yoga session can help you overcome that. If you have an injury or you have a physical challenge that you are worried about, some private yoga sessions can help you figure out how to overcome those obstacles. You can learn how to safely and effectively practice yoga with the help of your private yoga teacher.
Private Yoga Teaches You About Meditation
In private yoga sessions, you’ll be able to learn how mediation can personally aid you as a wellness tool. Many people attend yoga classes because they are curious to learn more about the benefits of meditation and stress relief. In a private yoga session, you can learn about the variety of different meditation techniques available in yoga.
By learning how to perform seated meditation during your private yoga sessions, you’ll be able to live a healthier life mentally. With the improvement over your stress level, you’ll learn how to stay calm and focused even when things in life seem very difficult.
Private Yoga Can Teach You Challenging Poses
If there are certain yoga poses you find extremely challenging, then you can get additional help and support in a private yoga lesson. Most yoga students find that it’s substantially helpful to learn more about yoga poses when working one-on-one with an instructor. By taking private yoga classes, you’ll get the support you need to learn the more difficult poses. That can also, in turn, help increase your confidence if you want to jump into some group yoga classes.
Private Yoga Provides Easy Rescheduling
If you aren’t able to attend one of your private yoga sessions for some reason, you can easily reschedule your lesson when it’s convenient for you. Some people prefer private yoga lessons because they like practicing alone, or because they cannot make it to the studio when group yoga classes are held. If you book your private yoga session, you can more conveniently adjust your yoga classes to fit in with your schedule.
Private Yoga Makes Questions Easy
It’s also much easier to freely ask questions to your yoga instructor during a private yoga session. During a group class, somebody can spontaneously ask a question, and that can break the concentration of everybody else in the class. So, some people are afraid to ask questions about poses in group classes.
If you are one of those people and you know you’ll have the need to ask a lot of questions about yoga poses, then a private yoga session would be your best bet. That way, you can comfortably ask the instructor questions, and you don’t have to worry about frustrating anybody else during a group class.
Private Yoga Provides Physical Assistance
If you need extra physical assistance to help you learn more about yoga poses, a private lesson will provide you with the hands-on help that you need. Your yoga instructor will likely help modify your body into the right poses. If you don’t like that or don’t want to be touched, you’ll need to communicate that to the instructor before starting. Otherwise, most people enjoy the assistance offered by the private yoga instructor.
Private Yoga Provides Motivation
If you need a little more motivation when it comes to getting your workouts done, then having a private yoga instructor can help. Instead of watching a television screen or a phone that you can shut off at any time, you can’t tune out your yoga instructor during your private yoga class. Since you are paying for that class, you’ll wind up wanting to attend.
The motivation for a private yoga session is phenomenal. You won’t be distracted by a friend canceling and not going to a group yoga class with you at the last minute, nor will you want to avoid the class because it’s in a large group.
Final Thoughts
Now that we’ve covered what you can expect from a private yoga session, why you should attend private yoga sessions and the benefits you can obtain from private yoga sessions, it’s time to get signed up for some private yoga sessions today. You’ll get the benefits of physical fitness, stress relief, and meditation wrapped up into one fun, one-on-one yoga package. Once you start learning and seeing the real benefits, you’ll make progress quickly.
By learning deep breathing techniques and more flexibility, you’ll be surprised about how well your posture can improve, and how well your physical fitness can improve as well. Plus, by learning meditation, you’ll be more at ease with yourself and learn a better mind-body connection. With the assistance of a private yoga instructor, you can learn many of these techniques much more rapidly than you would in a group session.
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