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By Faye Martins Yoga is growing in popularity every single day as one of the best ways to get in great physical shape and rejuvenate the mind and body. However, due to the physical demands of yoga, it is important for every yoga instructor to emphasize yoga student safety in all yoga classes.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 The term "flow Yoga" is an abbreviated form of the phrase "Vinyasa Flow Yoga." This form of Yoga is based on movements synchronized with breath. The word 'flow' refers to the way the poses are strung together gracefully, and how the Yoga practitioner moves with each breath, while the sequence of movements come together like a dance. Even though it is seen in many Hatha style classes, one of the most popular sequences of Vinyasa Yoga is Surya Namaskar (the Sun Salutations). Many Yoga practitioners know this series, and its many variations, quite well. For anyone who wants to add flowing movement into his or her asana routine, this can be a great starting point. Chandra Namaskar (Moon Salutations) may also be of interest for anyone looking to go further into Vinyasa flows.

By Bhavan Patel What has caused the attraction of vinyasa yoga classes? Vinyasa yoga is an active and flowing style of yoga. Vinyasa refers to movements that are synchronized with breath. This type of yoga uses a breathing technique called ujjayi pranayama. This breathing technique is performed by keeping the mouth closed and slightly constricting the throat. The effect is less air passing through which increases its force and speed.

By Sangeetha Saran There are numerous benefits of practicing power yoga. You can depend on this ancient exercise to help you shed off some weight. Power yoga is an effective form of exercise for caloric burn. Practicing frequently can help you improve your physical and psychological well being. Within a typical power yoga class you are performing cardiovascular exercise at a fair pace and resistance training with your body weight.

By Kathryn Boland Have you been injured in another activity, but still had to teach classes as a yoga instructor? Did this teach you something valuable in the long run? Getting injured can be irritating, frustrating, and even stressful - considering that we heavily rely upon full functioning of our bodies as yoga instructors. You may have to find alternate ways to teach beginners and more advanced postures (those ways apart from demonstrating). You might find you need to reduce your teaching schedule, to give your body time to heal. These, among others, can be challenging adjustments to make. On the other hand, getting injured can offer invaluable learning - if we can remain open to that.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 After centering, the warm-up is an important component for the beginning of any Yoga class. Students need that transition time to go from an active and noisy environment to a more soothing, quiet place. It is also important to warm up the body before stretching the muscles and joints to avoid injuries. Children, especially, need time to transition into the Yoga environment. Warm-ups for children should be engaging and fun. Accompany Yoga warm-up poses, with songs or other narration, to keep kids' interest.

By Faye Martins How can you educate prospective yoga students? You don't have much time to capture the attention of anyone these days. People are distracted by the beeps and chirps of electronic devices. Therefore, when prospective yoga students seek you out for information about your classes, you must be prepared. Many in the yoga industry feel uncomfortable with the business aspect of their practice. Even so, most who find themselves following the path to teaching yoga still need to earn an income. As a studio owner or teacher, one way to be more successful is to convert the curious browsers into regular yoga practitioners.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Kids Yoga stories fall naturally into the lives of children. Parents often begin introducing children to books and stories during infancy, and continue to share throughout childhood. Upon entering school, children find that stories continue to play a huge role in learning a variety of skills and concepts. Stories nurture the imagination, provide an outlet for discussing emotions, and make life a bit easier to understand for children. It would seem natural, then, to find stories in a Yoga class for children.

By Gopi Rao How are happiness and the art of yoga connected? In the search for perpetual happiness, many men and women are turning to yoga classes a few times each week. In fact, certified yoga instructors will be able to help their students gently coax their bodies into various flexible positions. When the blood flows through the muscles in just the right way, peace and serenity can be restored to both the mind and the soul. Here are three yoga poses that will leave students ready to confront anything and everything that life can throw at them.

Teaching Yoga to children can be a challenging but an extremely rewarding experience. Yoga classes for children are often filled with a lot of laughter, plenty of fun and a little bit of frustration sprinkled here and there. If you plan on teaching Yoga to young students, there are a few things that you should be ready for.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 How can teachers establish Yoga student safety guidelines? For all Yoga instructors, the number one priority in our classes is student safety. Hatha Yoga is important for the health of the mind and body, but, unfortunately, it can be unsafe if not practiced properly. In comparison to many other physical activities, Yogic methods are in the lower risk category.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Many Yoga teacher training interns envision classes with fit students, who want physical challenges. Hatha Yoga training is well known as a form of exercise designed to build flexibility, strength, and general fitness. What is less well known is that practicing Yoga can improve your ability to deal with stress. As many of us realize, stress is a very corrosive aspect of our modern society, and it takes an especially heavy toll on our children. Students often find themselves under severe emotional stress and have a difficult time coping with the feelings and problems this can create. Yoga training is an excellent tool to teach students how to integrate all aspects of their lives.

By Faye Martins Becoming a certified yoga instructor can help you make a career out of something that you enjoy. If you are interested in increasing your physical and mental fitness, teaching a yoga class enables you to do both in a single setting. Additionally, you can meet new people and develop friendships that can last for years. How could online yoga certification programs help you earn your spot as a yoga instructor?

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. One definition of fear is to be anxious about an unpleasant or painful event that you feel is likely to happen in the future. For instance, if you are pursuing your Yoga teacher certification, you may be afraid that you are going to fail your final anatomy exam because you have not spent an ample amount of time studying. This fear may be completely reasonable and understandable, or this fear may be largely exaggerated if you have spent an adequate amount of time preparing for the anatomy final, but you are prone to anxiety.

By Faye Martins Laughter Yoga - are you serious? Many Yoga teachers don't even consider it. Yoga is a serious art, science, and way of life. Should we make it into a joke? Paul Jerard often says, "we have to learn to laugh at ourselves." In fact, taking life too seriously could kill us. Next time you think about adding a new class to the schedule, you might want to smile while you're doing it.

By Rachel Holmes No yoga teacher wants to deal with marketing. Most instructors still have trouble with asking for money for the classes they teach. The problem is that you won't be teaching long, if you do it for free. Unfortunately, all of us need money to live. Paul Jerard often compares teachers to authors. The point is: Writing a book is a lot of work, but marketing the book is also a full-time job and a completely different skill.

By Jenny Park What can you do to boost your metabolism? Is there an optimum time of year for you to boost your metabolism? Many people set weight loss goals for themselves at the beginning of the New Year. This is one reason why so many new faces show up to Yoga classes every January. A regular practice of Yoga asanas combined with a healthy diet, restorative sleep, and a program of stress reduction, will all help anyone reach his or her weight loss goals. A healthy diet consists of a balance of lean protein, whole grains and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. The more colorful your selection of fruits and vegetables is, the more variety of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants your diet will contain. Dietary lean protein may come from a diversity sources. If you are not a strict vegetarian, wild caught fish, such as salmon and mackerel, have a high level of Omega 3 fatty acids that help to protect the health of your heart and brain. Omega 3 fatty acids are also found in flax seeds, flax seed oil, hemp products and eggs. A sufficient amount of Omega 3 fatty acids helps the body function well and the metabolism to work at optimal levels.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 How can Yoga help pre-existing injuries? As the benefits of practicing Yoga, to cope with chronic health concerns and pre-existing injuries, becomes more well known, the need to choose an experienced instructor and appropriate class is more important that ever. Yoga is more than a physical exercise; it is a healing art that is good for the mind, body, and spirit.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 What is the key to motivating students? Teaching Yoga, and maintaining student interest, is an art form. Although the benefits of Yogic practices are indisputable, it is not unusual for students to become discouraged, or bored, every now and then. Whether progress has reached a plateau, or personal problems make getting to class more difficult, it sometimes becomes difficult to maintain one's level of motivation. With a little persistence, and the help of a well-trained instructor, the problem is usually short lived and easily remedied. There are, however, a few things for both Yoga teachers and students to consider when the doldrums strike.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 What is the importance of warm ups in Yoga Classes? Yoga asana practice, like all other physical activities, requires the practitioner to challenge and stretch the muscles, while creating safe space in the joints. Since an integral part of most physical Yogic practices includes meditation and breathing exercises, many practitioners feel that Yogic exercise provides a "gentle workout" and skip the vital warm up session to tackle more challenging postures as soon as possible. This can be very dangerous, since warming up the body before attempting these more challenging postures can prevent injury.