I love teaching Pilates, especially Private Pilates Classes! And if you’re practicing Pilates with an instructor, you might want to consider one-on-ones, because there are a few potentially unexpected benefits, relative to group classes.
Focused and Tailored Feedback
Since you’re the only person in the class, your instructor will really have the space and time to focus on you. Just you. And when your instructor examines your movements with that kind of focus, you’ll end up getting quite a bit more feedback, that you in turn can use to zone in on your body. It’s a really lovely thing, this zoning in on your body. Your experience of your class can be fundamentally different. Although I see my clients progressing faster during one-on-one, its not even that progress that’s the real beauty of Privates. It’s the mindfulness. And when I see my clients dropping in on their experiences in class, I start to really feel grateful that chance got me into this job.
KAV’S DIGRESSION
It feels super random sometimes that I’m now a Pilates Instructor and small studio owner. I thought I’d be an artist when I was a kid, then a neuroscientist when I studied psychology, before I saw all the horrible things we do to animals at York University. I didn’t want non of that. It felt like I’d go to hell working in neuroscience. But I still wanted to help people. And I’m just so glad that I ended up teaching Pilates instead of pivoting to Counselling. I’d call Pilates the joyful path to emotional and physical recovery, and Counselling the rocky, blizzard-bashed, cold, dirty and ruminative path to emotional and cognitive recovery. Anyhow, I digress! But hey, that’s the sweet thing about having a blog, HAHAHA!
Faster Progress when Personalized
Anyhow, you might be wondering, “But, why? Why would I progress faster in Privates that Groups, if I’m putting in the same time?” And to you, I say, my friend, the personalized feedback that leads to increased body awareness, includes not just information about your body and your movements. It also includes on-the-spot changes to what your instructor is asking you to do, based on the body that you walk into class with. That is, your instructor will observe how you move during that particular class, like a hawk, but a loving, fun one, of course, and change up the instructions that you hear on the spot if she or he observes something about your posture, comfort level (looking at body language), movement or breathing, that can be better addressed with a modification than sticking to the plan.
No-Plans & Increased Mindfulness
Speaking of plans, I know that many instructors, especially new ones, create an exercise plan for their group based on the group’s level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), participant injuries, and goals (all the stuff from the intake forms merged and tailored to the group). Some new instructors also create plans for Private classes.
But I don’t feel like it makes as much sense to plan a Private class. That’s because it’s just way more fun as an instructor to observe the client and modify movements compared to memorizing and sticking to some plan that you jot down on a notepad. The plan gets you out of the moment. And the client can feel the rigidity. It gets in the way of the fluid human-to-human relationship that characterizes two people who are equal and open to each other’s expressions. That is, the instructor’s words and tactile feedback, and the client’s body language, and movement patterns.
You might find that what I’m saying here about the benefit of non-planning is a load of bull-poop, and that might be because I can’t quite articulate this bit. But maybe if you experience the lack of planning in a Private Pilates Class vs. a Group Pilates Class, and the increased comfort and respect in the air, you’d know what I mean. I know that’s a bit of a cop out, telling you to go and experience it, so I’ll circle back to this point in a future article after researching more deeply into the mindfulness of no-plans v. plans. I think that would be a really cool topic!
Empowered to Reach Goals
I mentioned the Intake Form, and the client’s goals. These goals are a big part of Pilates! They’re the things that keep many of us coming back for more classes. It’s why we invest our money, time, mental resources and shift around our schedule to fit Pilates in. Now, you can target goals in Privates, Duos and Groups, Virtual Classes, and YouTube Pilates Classes, but you might approach your goals in more comfort in Privates.
Example: Neck Tension in Group Pilates Classes vs. Private Pilates Classes
Let’s look at Group Pilates Classes. Imagine your goal is improved core strength. One common experience for those new to Pilates, is neck tension during abdominal flexion exercises like the Hundreds, Double Leg Stretch and the Teaser. In a group class, many folks aren’t quite comfortable expressing their neck discomfort and they push through it. And this can sometimes lead to great core results over time, but potentially some unnecessary neck and face tension. For this person, abdominal flexion might get associated with neck discomfort, at least in the beginning (that neck discomfort will hopefully decline as the core strengthens). So you get a rougher beginning to core strengthening work in Groups if you experience that neck tension without speaking up.
On the other hand, in a Private, there’s less social pressure to go with the flow, and if you have a good relationship with your instructor (and if you don’t, I’d recommend finding a new instructor to guide you), you’re more likely to feel open to expressing your discomfort. Once you do that, your instructor should give you a neck relieving mod, like, in the example of the Hundreds, only pulsing one arm, while supporting the neck with the other hand, elbow bent wide in your peripheral vision. It can also build confidence and feel empowering when we walk out of class without worrying about neck tension, and, instead, focus on the sweet feeling of having challenged our core.
Let me take a minute to address YouTube videos. Well, that social pressure to go with the flow and push through your discomfort is absent during online videos, unless you have an aunty monitoring your fitness as she sips her cup of cha from the dining room table, one eyebrow plastered to her scalp, discerningly. Therefore, you’re more likely to allow yourself to take a break during discomfort, or stop to shake it off, before diving back in, relative to Group Pilates Classes. But I’ll address YouTube Pilates Classes in more depth in the future! It has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. Namely, affordability and accessibility on one end of the spectrum, and the lack of personalization and feedback on the other.
Closing
At the end of the day, in my books, the whole point of Pilates is to feel good. And Private Pilates classes are a great way to get just the right kind of challenge, personalized to our physical and mental needs and our goals. If Private Pilates Classes were to cost just the same as Groups, I bet we’d see a surge in Private signups, and a drop in Groups.
By the way, if you’re wondering why Privates cost more than Groups, I’ll be addressing that soon! But you can sum it up by looking into the cost of the space, including the equipment, local pricing norms in the Pilates world, and the cost of your instructor’s education. But that topic’s for another time!
Thanks so much for reading or listening to this little talk about the benefits of Private Pilates Classes relative to Group Pilates Classes!