Group Class or Private Lessons?
Group Class or Private Lessons:
What Do You Need During Pregnancy/Postpartum?
Congratulations! You’ve just seen those two little pink lines, or perhaps you are cradling your newborn baby. You want to continue your yoga practice. Or, your midwife told you yoga can be helpful.
But what do you need? A group class, or private sessions?
Group Class: Group lessons are great if you are experiencing a fairly normal pregnancy or postpartum with the common aches and pains. It’s a fantastic way to meet other parents and create friendships and community support.
In a Whole Mama Yoga group class, you'll learn poses and sequences that are good for the group. Your teacher will offer simple modifications and alternatives so you can find a version of the shape that works for your body. Wrist pain in Tabletop? Come onto forearms. If your knees hurt in Virasana, place two yoga blocks under your sit bones. You can stay here, or make this spicier by lifting the top leg.
In a group class, your teacher’s eyes will be on you sometimes. But they have 14 other students to watch, too. Your teacher may ask for general feedback from the group, like: “Give me a thumbs up if you feel this in your glutes,” or ask you questions to reflect on in your mind, “notice the after-effects of that breathing pattern.” But they can’t ask each student how they feel in every pose. That would be a time-suck.
Private Lessons: Private lessons are great if you're looking for a truly bespoke experience, but they are especially useful for people with injuries or chronic conditions. If you have any of these conditions, private lessons are the way to go:
Severe pelvic pain
Wide and/or deep Diastasis Recti (abdominal separation)
Pelvic floor dysfunction
In private class, your teacher will create a yoga practice that is specifically tailored to your unique body, preferences and goals.
If you hate Chair Pose, guess what? It doesn’t have to be a part of your practice.
If it’s difficult for you to relax in Savasana, we might find a different way to seal your practice that feels more relaxing to you.
You get to ask as many questions as you want, and we will ask YOU a lot of questions to figure out how your body responds to certain movements, what you like (and why you like it), what you don’t like, etc.
While a perinatal group class with a trained yoga teacher shouldn’t make these issues worse, it might not make them better.
My private students who have come to me with severe pelvic pain, prolapse, pelvic floor tightness and DR feel better immediately and notice progress faster than in a group class. Private sessions will also be useful if you have no prenatal/postnatal classes at your local studio or gym, or if the regular pre/postnatal classes don’t work for your schedule.
Many of the teachers here at Whole Mama Yoga offer private sessions, both in-person and online (including me!). If you’re interested in learning more, email wholemamayoga@gmail.com to connect with the teacher that is right for you.