Personalised supportive yoga: what it is and what it is not

Personalised supportive yoga means a practice built around one person's needs, preferences and limitations rather than a single sequence delivered to a full room. At Yog Jivan this takes the form of private 60-minute sessions with a matched teacher from the Yog Jivan teaching team, in studio or live online. It is a wellness service. It is not medical treatment, and it does not diagnose or cure anything.

How it differs from a general class

• The sequence is chosen for you rather than for the group.
• Movements that feel provocative or uncomfortable for you are left out or modified.
• Pace, props and rest are adjusted to your experience and energy on the day.
• You can ask questions throughout instead of holding them until the end.

What a session involves

• A conversation about your background, activity level, comfort limits and what you want from the practice.
• Gentle movement within your comfortable range, with real-time verbal guidance.
• Simple breathing practice and a period of rest.
• A short home sequence, usually 12 to 20 minutes, so the work continues between sessions.

A teaching principle we come back to at Yog Jivan: we are not teaching a pose, we are teaching the person in front of us, and the pose is only the instrument.

What it can reasonably support

Many students find that a steady, well-adapted practice helps them feel more comfortable moving, more aware of posture during the day, and calmer at the end of it. Those are the kinds of general wellbeing outcomes we can honestly describe. Individual experience varies, and we do not measure clinical outcomes, promise symptom reduction, or track medical baselines — that is the role of your healthcare team.

Where medical care must come first

Please see a doctor before booking if you have undiagnosed or worsening pain, a recent injury or surgery, numbness or weakness in a limb, loss of bladder or bowel control, fever alongside pain, an unstable cardiac condition, or a high-risk pregnancy. If your answers suggest you need assessment rather than a mat, we will say so and ask you to come back once you have clearance.

Group or private?

If you mainly want structure and routine, a group class is usually enough — our live online groups cap at eight students so verbal correction is still possible. If you have specific limitations, an unusual schedule, or you would simply rather not practise in a group, private sessions are the better fit. Private scheduling and pricing are confirmed by enquiry.

Our condition-focused pages for back discomfort, stress and PCOD explain how the practice is adapted in each case, always alongside — never instead of — qualified medical care.