What is private yoga and is it for me?
What is private yoga and is it for me?
October 21, 2021 by Lesley Seto
What is the difference between a group yoga class and a therapeutic yoga class?
Aside from the obvious difference of practicing with others versus being alone, there is more to private yoga than you might think! Private yoga is not just a class catered to your needs, it is also an invitation to organize your body and your internal world. In a private session, you can more deeply explore the connection between your physical and mental state. By doing so, you'll enter onto a path of self-inquiry, developing insights that relieve physical, mental, and emotional pain and inspire growth.
Private versus group sessions
Private sessions are a different type of practice than group classes. Group classes allow you to play in the community as part of a team and to build stamina. Different skills emerge from group classes that help you move beyond yourself and into the collective.
Comparatively, private sessions have a greater focus on the mind-body connection. We spend more time exploring your physical self - your strengths, habits, and natural tendencies that influence other areas of your life. Private sessions are designed to be nurturing and realign your body, releasing deeply held stress, tension, and emotions.
New and seasoned practitioners of yoga can benefit from private sessions. For some, private sessions can attune you to your body and to yoga poses, so that you can practice and connect with the community with greater confidence. For others, private sessions can set the foundation for developing a deeper at-home practice.
Private sessions at Embodhi: integrating Katonah Yoga theory
Typically, yoga instructors who offer private yoga will design the session to focus on your concerns, pain points, or intentions. They are often structured similar to a group class, with a sequence of poses based on your goals (i.e. build strength, boost energy, improve flexibility, etc.)
At Embodhi, private yoga sessions incorporate practice and theory from Katonah yoga. Your sessions will still focus on your concerns and intentions, but our time together will be centered using the following methods:
Your body is a map
Think of your body as a map spanning the landscape. Katonah yoga theory encourages you to orient yourself along the grid system. Your well-traveled routes show up as your usual habits and talents (the stronger hand, the better foot, the well-trained mind, etc.). Thinking of your body as a map can show you how to take a different route - one you wouldn't usually take - to realign yourself outside your comfort zone. It is here that you can begin to connect your physical and mental self. These are the places where you can broaden your perspective, empower yourself, and experience greater freedom through expanded options and choices.
Considering the body as a map can also be used as a tool to identify the root cause of discomfort and pain. Where we go frequently (or the places we tend to avoid) are often where pain manifests in the body. Pain alerts you to a problem. While most teachers would inform a session targeting the pain point, in a Katonah yoga session, you will traverse the landscape of your body in search of the root of the problem. As you deepen your mind-body connection, the root of the problem often arises as a personal insight or conclusion.
This practice requires training. There is no paved road for you yet. Imagine trying to get to the café down the street after a fresh 40 cm snowfall. The first time you go, it’s dreadful. Your feet and legs might get cold and wet. But when you take the same route back, it’s easier. Every time you go, the snow packs down more, and it gets easier and easier. So, know that creating this path requires conscious work. Putting in the time and working with the technique will always lead to insight.
Leveraging yoga props and archetypal form
Yoga poses and forms are informed by sacred geometry. Practicing with sacred geometry in mind allows you to make things formal and objective. You start to see where things don’t line up. When things don’t line up, it’s not right or wrong, it just is. It shows you where you access more easily and where you might not.
This includes using methods like setting up the body in 90-degree angles and learning to fit into yourself (knees into armpits, palms into elbows, etc.). When we have difficulty finding our right angles and fits, it gives us information about the routes that we usually take, our habits, and the places we don’t go. In the end, the onus is up to you, if you don’t like where you’re going then you can take a different path.
Katonah yoga makes use of props and hands-on assists to support exploring these paths and finding fits. Many see props as a "crutch" for those who are not "good at yoga". But using yoga props is an advanced practice, allowing new forms that change your perspective and deepen your practice. In Katonah yoga, we use blocks, straps, blankets, bolsters, and even chairs to support you in reforming the body and rewiring the circuitry so that it’s easier to pave new paths, clean up, and organize the body.
Set up the conditions for insight and transformation
The body is a representation of the mind. When you organize the body, you organize the mind. You can think of your body as your house, a private session shows you how to clean your house. Cleaning and organizing the body helps to set up the conditions for transformation. We as teachers are not fixers of your ailments or complaints, but instead, our goal is to provide you with insight, which then sets up the conditions for liberation from your ailments or complaints.
Private yoga offers many benefits to new and seasoned practitioners. While private sessions can be used to set a foundation and build confidence, many report therapeutic benefits that extend beyond the physical. Private yoga sessions give you space to traverse your physical, mental, and emotional territory and reflect on where you are and where you want to be. Sessions are nurturing, insightful, and transformative. In the seat of the teacher, it brings me so much pleasure to be invited to travel with you.
Book a discovery call with Lesley if you think therapeutic might be for you or you have more questions!
