Private vs. Group Yoga Classes
Understanding when personalized instruction or community practice serves you best.
Private yoga sessions offer individualized instruction, custom sequences for specific goals or limitations, undivided teacher attention, and scheduling flexibility. Group classes provide community connection, lower cost, energy from practicing alongside others, and exposure to varied teaching styles. Most practitioners benefit from combining both formats.
What Private Sessions Offer
Personalized sequences: Every pose and transition is chosen for your body, goals, and current state—not averaged for a room of twenty different bodies.
Detailed instruction: Teachers can offer minute alignment corrections impossible in group settings. They can watch your breath, observe compensation patterns, and refine technique in real time.
Your pace: Stay longer in poses you're exploring; move quickly through what feels easy. No waiting for the room to catch up, no rushing to keep pace.
Questions welcome: Ask why poses work, request alternatives, explore philosophy—the session is a conversation between you and your teacher.
What Group Classes Offer
Community: Practicing alongside others creates connection and accountability. The energy of a room breathing together has its own power—something intangible but real.
Affordability: A $150 private session costs what 5-10 group classes might. For regular practice, group classes make yoga financially sustainable.
Teacher variety: Different teachers offer different perspectives, styles, and sequencing. Exposure to multiple teaching approaches enriches your understanding of yoga.
Group classes teach you to maintain focus despite distractions—a skill that translates directly into life off the mat.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Private Sessions
- Custom sequences for your body
- Undivided attention
- Flexible scheduling
- Deep dive into technique
- Higher cost per session
Group Classes
- Community energy
- Affordable for regular practice
- Varied teaching styles
- Set schedule creates routine
- Less individual attention
When Private Sessions Make Particular Sense
Consider private instruction when recovering from injury, as a complete beginner wanting foundational guidance, preparing for specific goals, dealing with anxiety about group settings, or wanting to deepen understanding beyond what group classes provide.
Many practitioners book periodic private sessions—perhaps monthly—to refine technique and ask questions, while maintaining regular group class attendance for community and consistency.
Find studios offering private sessions
Many studios offer one-on-one instruction alongside group classes.
Find Studios