Recently, a student arrived at the studio for her appointment. We talk briefly about weather, clothes, food, their family or work, how they woke up. It was early, we were both still waking up.
As we both began to show up for one another, we needed our minds to direct ourselves. I often feel the teaching a private is in many ways a date. It is a one-on-one conversation with that client’s whole person. It a dance of giving and receiving. Sometimes, I need to wait until an emotional storm passes by and we can begin to move and work. Always, I need to assist people into being present. Coaching and inviting the client to bring their mind and body together for the purpose of directing themselves into balance.
A lot of things can happen In a private session. The dynamic experience of a private session is quite different from that of a group class – small or large. As a teacher I strive to help my clients travel into and use areas of their body they might not even have been aware of before. I receive joy from the littlest things in a private session. I have been seen doing big jumps of joy beside a client that figures out the missing link on some days! Sometimes, it is a big day where changes are obvious, but most of the time the changes are in small increments. The client can feel them but needs me to give them feedback almost to validate that what they are feeling in their body is accurate.
Privates for me now during Covid-19 are very collaborative. I have asked my clients to be more expressive and brutally honest as of late (for ones that don’t open up about much in class) so I can meet them where they really are. When a client says, all is ok, all is in progress right now, it’s a green light for me to see if we can work on some new things. Often now, when a client comes in stressed, overwhelmed or even sad, we turn the opportunity into fuel for the session. We begin to practice with the basics and then literally move through the hour. The changes that occur in the hour are nothing short of little miracles. Tight becomes open, scrunched becomes long, flat and dull becomes lively; I literally see people transform in front of my eyes.
When it comes to actually changing how we use ourselves or waking up muscles and areas of the body that are dull or unlively, feedback is the missing link. A private session allows me a certain comfort of making the feedback more on point, more precise.It’s a chance to dive in and go for what’s possible. It’s quality time with someone. In a world where shortcuts are normal and quality time comes in little bits and snippets, a private is a wonderful experience between teacher and client. It’s mutual respect and collaboration to a T.
