When attending yoga, you might choose to go to a class in a yoga studio, a gym, or a community-driven class in a church hall or similar. But what if you’re finding a particular pose hard, and you can’t catch the teacher afterwards, or you’re not getting what you need from those gym classes, you might like to consider hitting someone you like up for a private sesh.

What’s the difference between a 1:1 and a group class?

In a group class, there are a bunch of you (as you might expect). You’ll usually be led through a pre-planned or improvised practice by the teacher. Because there’s a number of you, you naturally have a less personalised experience, as the teacher is keeping an eye on what’s going on across the room, but you also get to practice in community, so there are pros and cons.

In a 1:1, it’s just you and the teacher. 1:1s are often more like a workshop than a flow class, in that they’re focused time for you to work on things you might be having trouble with, want explaining a bit more or have never tried. It’s also a good way of building a relationship with the teacher, if that’s something you’d like.

1:1s can also be great for those new to yoga, as it gives a private environment to learn the basics in your own time and without anyone else watching! You can stop and start, deep dive into particular areas of practice, or even get 60 minutes of relaxation (yoga nidra) if you want. It’s your time, and nobody else has to know about the bits where you got confused.

So you have options: you can specify what you’d like to get out of the 1:1, but sometimes people prefer to leave it up to the teacher, giving them a general theme, and treat it more like a personalised class with a normal class arc. You can go either way - it’s your time.

Do I need lots of sessions?

Totally up to you. Sometimes one session is enough, if you’re trying to unpick a particular posture. If you’re totally new to yoga, you’ll probably want to book a block so we can explore . If you have time and money, the world is your oyster!

A cheaper way to do it might be to run a 2:1, and invite a friend along. That way, it’s not just you staring into the teacher’s eyes (I personally try not to constantly stare at my students when I do run 1:1s, as it can be a bit disconcerting when it’s just the two of you.