How to Teach Private Yoga: A Practical Guide for New and Seasoned Teachers

Teaching private yoga can be one of the most rewarding, impactful, and sustainable ways to work as a yoga teacher. It’s also one of the most misunderstood. Many teachers assume private sessions are just “a regular class, but one-on-one.” In reality, teaching privates is a distinct skill set that requires listening, organization, boundaries, and confidence in your value.

Whether you’re brand new to private teaching or refining your approach, here’s how to teach private yoga in a way that supports your student and you.

1. The Intake Is Everything (Yes, Everything)

If there’s one place not to rush, it’s the intake. I remember being so distraught in my early days of teaching trying to make up my own intake form, not knowing why or what I was doing it for.

Before you think about sequencing, poses, or props, you need to understand:

• Why this person is seeking private yoga

• What they hope to feel, change, or resolve

• Their injury history, health considerations, and movement background

• Their relationship to yoga (and to their body)

  
  

A thoughtful intake process:

• Builds trust immediately

• Prevents you from making assumptions

• Helps the student feel seen and taken seriously

  
  

Use a written intake form before the first session and follow it up with a conversation. This allows clients to reflect honestly and gives you a clear foundation to work from.

Tip: Keep your intake form adaptable. What you ask a postpartum client will differ from what you ask a high-performing executive or a long-time yogi with chronic pain.

2. Interview, Don’t Diagnose

Private yoga is not physiotherapy, therapy, or medicine, but it is deeply personal.

Approach the first session like an interview:

• Ask open-ended questions

• Reflect back what you’re hearing

• Notice how they move, breathe, and communicate

• Be human and real enabling your student to talk candidly about their reason for practicing.

• If it is within the scope of your practice, you can do a bodyreading / postural assessment as well.

  
  

Your role is not to “fix” them. It’s to:

• Observe patterns

• Offer options

• Educate gently

• Empower choice

  
  

One of the most common pitfalls in private yoga is trying to prove your expertise instead of listening deeply. The more the student feels heard, the more effective your teaching will be.

3. Organization Is Professionalism

If you teach privates (or plan to), you need systems.

At minimum, keep track of:

• Client names and contact information

• Session numbers and dates

• Injuries, conditions, and contraindications

• Goals and progress notes

  
  

Many teachers use a simple spreadsheet or client management system. This isn’t busywork, it’s what allows you to:

• Track progress over time

• Build intelligently on previous sessions

• Show up prepared and present

  
  

Students feel when you remember what matters to them. But also, between your and their cancellations, 10 class session packs, and navigating this for multiple private clients a week (plus your group classes), you need this strategic backup.

4. Each Session Builds on the Last

Private yoga isn’t about delivering a “perfect” class. It’s about continuity.

Ask yourself:

• What did we explore last time?

• What landed well?

• What felt challenging or unclear?

• What’s the next logical step?

• What didn't work last time, and how can we try it again this time. For example, a recent client just couldn't comprehend Ujayyi breath regardless of the many ways I approached it. Next session, we are going to try it from a totally different approach to lock it in. They'll remember if you remember where they struggled.

  
  

Progress in private yoga is often subtle:

• Improved breath awareness

• Reduced fear around movement

• Better body trust

• Increased confidence

  
  

Not every session needs to feel dramatic to be effective. Don't let your ego try to get them in a handstand to feel you are worthy. Trust that every single yoga pose, stretch, breath they take, minute of meditation is valuable for their overall well being, strength, resilience and nervous system management.

5. Charge Your Worth (and Don’t Apologize)

Private yoga is premium, personalized care and your pricing should reflect that. It was actually a strong badass feminist student of mine who recently snapped at me telling me I should be charging her more, then challenged me to raise my rates and see what happened. Surprisingly, upon raising my rate by almost 40% I only lost one private client (ironically, this client was my wealthiest but also my most challenging, who had been at the same rate for 10 years!!! It was our time to part and I have accepted that).

Specifically, when teaching in a client’s home, consider:

• Travel time

• Setup and breakdown

• Emotional and mental labor

• Your experience and training

When teaching at a studio, you are going to have to pay a rental fee (usually $40-$80 per hour of rental time!) so you have to charge high to cover your costs, energy and time. My naturopath recently charged $400 for a session, and has a full calendar. If you are good at what you do, you charge your worth.

Many experienced teachers charge $130+ per session, and it’s recommended that teachers start at no less than $100 per private, especially for in-home sessions. Note that increasing your rate is a hard thing to do, so start high and save the stress later.

Charging appropriately:

• Protects against burnout

• Sets clear professional boundaries

• Signals confidence and value

I used to offer clients to book one private session, but now we do one trial session to see if it is the right fit, then if so, clients can only purchase 5 or 10 class passes. I cannot seriously help clients with one-off sessions, and these class packs make organization much easier. The effort put into the first three sessions is far more than the latter hundreds of sessions you might do. I discount these packs by offering "1 free class" for every 10 sessions purchased.

Tip: Remember: students who invest financially are often more invested in the process.

6. Determine Your Position on Hands-On Assists

Many of my private clients consistently ask for hands-on assists, and often want more of them week after week. I’ve trained extensively in this area, including fascial manipulation, Thai massage, and yoga assists, which allows me to offer touch that is safe, intentional, effective, and, importantly, non-awkward. This matters more than we sometimes realize. In a private setting, especially in a client’s home, your confidence (or lack of it) is felt immediately. Approaching a hands-on assist with uncertainty can quickly shift the dynamic away from professionalism. When touch is offered with clarity, consent, and confidence, it becomes one of the most powerful tools we have for building trust and supporting meaningful change. If you cannot do it confidently, then do not do it at all. The work is still impactful.

7. Learn From Those Who’ve Done It Well

Even experienced teachers benefit from revisiting the fundamentals. These three resources are excellent references when onboarding new private clients or refining your approach, and happen to be three teachers I have studied with in the past and feel very inspired by their approaches.

• Jason Crandell on teaching privateshttps://jasonyoga.com/podcast/episode162/

• Yoga Medicine: The Art of Interviewinghttps://yogamedicine.com/the-art-of-interviewing/

• Yoga Medicine: Common Private Teaching Pitfallshttps://yogamedicine.com/private-pitfalls/

  
  

These resources reinforce one key truth: private yoga is a practice in itself. It is SO drastically different then the group classes you will teach. It feels more clinical, is incredibly more intimate, and takes a lot out of you. Often, private clients are navigating injuries or anxieties that prevent them from stepping through the studio doors for group classes. It is important to have that intake form filled out to know what you are getting yourself into.

Final Thoughts

Teaching private yoga is not about being more impressive, it’s about being more present.

When you prioritize:

• Listening over performing

• Structure over improvisation

• Clear boundaries over people-pleasing

  
  

You create a container where real transformation can happen for your students and for your career.

Private yoga isn’t just one-on-one teaching.It’s relationship-building, education, and trust, that you get to practice improving session by session.

Check below for a sample private yoga waiver and a chapter from my Yin Yoga Teacher Training Manual on bodyreading, including a private client intake bodyreading assessment chart you can use for yourself in leading private sessions

9 - The Beauty of Bodyreading (1).pdf

Download PDF • 2.58MB

Ashley Holly Yoga Waiver 2026.pdf

Download PDF • 3KB

I offer 1:1 mentoring to new and established teachings looking to refine their teaching. Feel free to contact me at ahdyment@gmail.com for more information!