Private Yoga For Beginners
Starting a yoga practice can be harder than most people think. It isn’t surprising yoga is a saturated industry, but this makes it hard for those of us navigating the yoga world for the first time. Finding a quality beginner friendly yoga class can be difficult amongst the shiny, trendy NYC yoga studio claiming every class is “open level”. If you’ve been to an “open level” class at a yoga studio, you know that those classes often lean more toward a face paced intermediate/advanced level. Beginners need an experienced teacher to help them get more familiar with yoga so they remain healthy and safe.
Private yoga lessons are a great option for first time yogis, those with minimal experience, or those returning to practice after a long break. Below are just a few of the reasons many beginners choose private yoga lessons over group classes.
Safety:
We’ve all heard the phrase safety first, and yoga is no different! A yoga teacher’s number one goal should be to keep yoga students safe. Unfortunately as yoga studios try to fill the room, the number of teachers remains the same. This leaves group yoga instructors scattered and running across the room to serve students they literally just meat. As you can imagine this is not the ideal environment for first time or newly returning yoga students. Beginner yogis benefit greatly from learning proper breathing and alignment for each pose. Private yoga lessons allow someone new to yoga the time to deeply get to know themselves inside their yoga practice. First time yoga students learn how they should feel as they practice, keeping them safe and confident during their yoga sessions.
Props:
Still on the safety note, props help keep people safe when they’re doing yoga, but you have to know how to use the props to include them in your yoga practice. As a private yoga instructor I often spend a generous amount of time teaching my clients how to use props, to avoid injury and just unnecessary discomfort within their yoga practice. Learning to use props is especially important if you want to practice yoga regularly as well as gain long term benefits from yoga. We never know what life will throw our way so it’s important to know how to modify our yoga practices for any twist or turn life sends our way.
Privacy:
Learning a new skill is hard and intimidating, especially when it requires you to walk into a room of yoga pant wearing, handstanding, and even sometimes chanting people. Many beginners gravitate toward private yoga lessons because it allows them the ability to learn yoga in the comfort of their own home, without the perceived judgement of other people in the room. Sometimes being in a room where everyone except you seems to know what they’re doing can be a super stressful experience, which for the majority (or all) people is the complete opposite of why they’re at a yoga class in the first place.
Interactive Learning:
When starting a yoga practice a lot of questions might come up; “Should this feel this way?”, “Why am I out of breath?”, “Are there any yoga poses I can do to stretch my hip?” (just to name a few). A typical yoga class doesn't have time built in for students to ask questions and get thoughtful answers. A first time yogi might be able to grab a group class teacher for a few moments after class, but other than that this time is limited. Private yoga clients often enjoy being able to ask questions or express concerns as they come up during their session, allowing the teacher to modify and make a yoga practice better suited for each individual.
If you are reading this and saying “Yes! This is me.”, it might be time to look into private yoga lessons. At private Yoga Soho we believe everyone needs a yoga teacher! If the group class mentality is holding you back now is the time to receive the self-care you deserve.
More Info About the Benefits of Private Yoga: