Teaching yoga students privately can be very rewarding for a yoga teacher. It offers the opportunity to support the student in a way that isn’t possible in a yoga class. But the truth is, working with students 1 to 1 can present very real challenges for a yoga teacher.
If you’re a yoga teacher considering offering one to one sessions, it’s important to understand why yoga therapy training is essential.
1. Private Yoga Classes Aren’t Just “Group Classes with One Person”
It’s a common misunderstanding: “I already modify poses for individuals in class, so I can do that one-on-one too.” But in a therapeutic setting, the stakes are higher. Your client may be dealing with pain, injury, mental health concerns, chronic illness, or trauma. Often they are not coming to you to just stretch or relax – they are coming for help with a specific issue.
Without proper training, it’s easy to:
- Overstep your scope of practice
- Misinterpret symptoms
- Prescribe inappropriate practices
- Miss red flags that require medical referral
Yoga therapy training gives you a framework to work effectively with yoga students in a 1 to 1 setting.
2. Complex Stuff Will Come Up
In private, students often open up. They may share their struggles – physical, mental, and emotional. You might hear about a relationship breakdown, grief after a death, a history of trauma or a serious medical diagnosis. Without training, yoga teachers can feel overwhelmed or unsure how to respond. Worse, they might unintentionally cause harm.
Yoga therapy training teaches you:
- How to create a safe therapeutic space
- How to respond when a client shares an experience of trauma
- When to refer on to another professional
Miya Spears is a yoga teacher and a yoga therapist. She observed, “Recently, I taught a class where only one student showed up. The student wanted to share all her stress and problems with me. I felt so grateful for my yoga therapy training. It gave me the skills to assist my student without feeling overwhelmed and burdened by her difficulties.”
3. The Importance of Assessment Skills
In a yoga class, teachers often follow a class plan for a group but when you are working 1 to 1, it is most effective when you:
- Conduct an initial client interview
- Understand the client’s condition or diagnosis
- Assess their movement, breath, and lifestyle
- Develop a progressive, personalised program
- Track progress and adjust the practice over time
Without yoga therapy training, most yoga teachers aren’t equipped with these skills.
Yoga therapy training provides a structured, evidence-informed approach to personalised practice design.
4. The Therapeutic Relationship Is a Skill in Itself
In 1 to 1 work, the relationship between the client and the yoga therapist is part of the intervention. The therapeutic relationship is a key factor in 1 to 1 client work. These skills need to be learned. They are not innate.
Yoga therapy training teaches you how to:
- Build trust and rapport
- Maintain professional boundaries
- Avoid becoming over-involved or burnt out
As Sal Flynn, leading Yoga therapy educator explains, “Working with clients begins with a trusting and respectful therapeutic relationship that places the client at the centre of the process. The yoga therapist must ask, ‘Who is this person I’m working with and what will best support their unique needs at this time in their life?’ Without a collaborative, therapeutic relationship we can’t know.”
5. Scope of Practice and Ethics Matter
When you work 1 to 1 with clients with health challenges, the role of teacher shifts. You are offering a personalised, health-related service and so your boundaries, responsibilities and professional conduct must align with the therapeutic role.
Yoga therapy training covers:
- Scope of practice – what you can and cannot do
- How to communicate with other health professionals that your client may also see
- Ethical decision-making in complex client situations
- Legal and professional accountability
Without this foundation, yoga teachers risk crossing ethical lines or working outside their scope of practice to the detriment of the client.
6. You’ll Be Taken More Seriously – By Clients and Professionals
Completing an accredited yoga therapy training signals that you are serious about your role. It positions you as a professional who:
- Has completed rigorous education
- Can explain and justify your approach
- Works within an ethical and clinical framework
- Has the ability to collaborate with other health providers
It boosts your credibility – not only from a marketing point of view, but also increases your confidence and capacity to assist your clients.
You Don’t Have to Know It All – But You Do Need the Right Foundation
Yoga therapy training isn’t about becoming perfect or knowing everything. It’s about gaining the skills, frameworks, and support systems to work safely, ethically, and effectively with individual clients.
If you’re a yoga teacher who wants to go deeper, help more people, and work 1 to 1, consider investing in an accredited yoga therapy training.
Yoga therapy training will give you the confidence to say, “Yes, I can help you and I know how.”
If you want to learn more about becoming a yoga therapist, click here to find out more.
Author:
Trina Bawden-Smith is the founder and director of the Yoga Therapy Institute, which has trained over 420 Yoga therapists. She has been overseeing the development of the Yoga Therapy Institute’s Accredited Yoga Therapy Certification since 2012, has conducted 8 Yoga therapy conferences and directed numerous professional development programs for Yoga therapists and Yoga teachers since 2003.