The Lowdown on One-On-One Yoga Classes

When you think about “going to yoga” you probably think about going to classes wit other students, which has lots of great benefits, but there are also a lot of good reasons to learn yoga one-on-one with a teacher.

This typically costs more than group classes, but has many benefits and, because of the targeted individual attention, can often get you going on your yoga path without a long-term commitment.

Some of the reasons I teach yoga one-on-one include:

• Working with you to put together a home practice you can continue on your own.
• Having time to experiment to find the yoga techniques and tools that are just right for you in your life right now.
• Adapting the practice each time we work together to meet your need that day. (This can be parpicularly helpful for people with chronic illness or other chronic health concerns.)

Supreme Release Yoga

Most of the time, when working with someone one-on-one, I use an approach called Supreme Release Yoga.
Don’t be alarmed by the lofty name. This practice is beautifully simple and down-to-Earth.

Supreme release yoga was synthesized by my teacher Kaya Mindlin bringing together everything she learned from her teachers and her own direct experience.

SRY (pronounced shree) is a gentle, thoughtful practice that helps you turn inward and relieve the effects of tension and stress.

SRY uses asana (yoga postures), pranayama (yogic breathing and breath awareness practices), and yoga nidra (guided awareness) to help you unwind tension and build self-knowledge or self-discovery.

“advancing” in this approach doesn’t mean doing more complicated postures and breathing practices.

I teach SRY one-on-one so that we can really individualize the practice, finding the approaches that will meet you where you are right now.

The Benefits of SRY

Every mind and body will experience SRY differently, but here are some of the ways this practice can help and support you.

• Improved sleep.
• Easier, more available stress management.
• Tension-release for the deep muscles in your back and pelvis (also known as core muscles).
• Deep relaxation for both body and mind

Many approaches to yoga are based on the idea that you first work with the body through asana (movements and postures) before you work with other aspects of the yoga practice.
This is not how SRY is designed. All approaches (physical, breathing-related, mental, etc.) are introduced at the same time.

This also means that if all or most of the asana (postures) aren’t accessible for your body, you can and will still benefit from working with breathing and other guided awareness practices.

The breathwork and guided awareness practices are also adaptable, so if you have impairments or limitations in these areas we will frequently be able to find a different way.

Yoga is the process of turning inward and of self-discovery.
For each one of us the way in will be different.
Much of my work as a yoga teacher is helping you find the way in that works for you.

Physical Requirements

SRY is a gentle, adaptable practice. However, there are a few things you need to be able to do with your body to do the asana.

You need to be able to:

• Sit or lie on the floor.
• Move your arms and legs, hands and feet, to some degree.
• Bear some weight through your hands and arms.

You will not need to

• Move rapidly or athletically.
• Get up and down off the floor repeatedly during the practice. That is, if you can get down on the floor, and up again once practice is over, you can do this approach to yoga.
• Increase your heart rate.
• Have full range of motion in your joints.
• Stretch or move your body into extreme angles.

People often think they need to be really flexible or bendy to do yoga.

This isn’t true. Yoga has nothing to do with whether you can touch your toes or turn yourself into a pretzel.
I like to call SRY “bend less yoga.”

In SRY each asana (pose) is held for 3 to 5 minutes.
We use props (blocks, blankets, towels, the wall, the floor) and body position to make holding each asana as effortless and soft as possible.

This approach to yoga is gentle and restorative, but may not look like the gentle and restorative yoga you see in yoga studios or on Youtube.

What do I need for this approach to yoga?

At the very minimum you need an open space on the floor big enough for you to lie down on easily, an open space at the wall you can lean your body against, and a raised surface like a couch, coffee table, chair, or low bed. It also helps to have firm pillows and/or several folded blankets or bath towels.

You do not need a special yoga mat.

Other specific yoga tools like foam blocks or bolsters are useful, but household objects like towels and blankets can often work just as well.