By Kathryn Boland Do you see students practicing backbends in similar potentially dangerous ways? Do you have strategies for working against this - proactively and/or retroactively? Backbending has incredible benefits- contributing to strength-building, stretching out various muscles, and offering energy boosts. We're dealing with the spine, however, so the potential for significant damage is very real.

By Sangeetha Saran Does Yoga therapy have viable solutions for Osteoporosis? We hear conflicting information about preventative actions that we can take for our health, but women don't want to take a wrong turn in regard to prevention or treatment. Many women worry about the possibility of Osteoporosis occurring after menopause. Osteoporosis is a disease that breaks down bone density in post-menopausal women. This disease causes the bones to weaken, which can lead to broken bones with the slightest bump or fall.

By Faye Martins If you teach or work in a yoga school, it may be hard to believe that some people only want physical benefits from one's practice. Yet, the public seems to only know that Hatha yoga training is often mentioned as a system to bring one's physical body into balance. Obviously yoga is much more than a physical exercise, but systems, such as Pilates have sprouted to address the needs of athletes who didn't have a desire for the mental, spiritual, or emotional benefits of yoga. Competitive athletes are certainly the more likely candidates to injure muscles and joints, but anyone can receive an injury.

By Kimaya Singh Once in a while, you meet a person who refuses to see the value of pranayama. When you finish yoga teacher training, you have an arsenal of stress reducing techniques, but the public has a right to choose to do them, or not. Doctors, nurses and therapists are also amazed at the mindset of their patients. The point I'm diving at is nothing works, if a person refuses to put the effort into it.

By Jenny Park Most yoga teacher training courses don't go into running partner sessions. Many of us learn more about it after yoga certification. If you've never taught partner yoga it is a wonderful way to not only connect and bring people together, but a great way for one who is very much into yoga to share the benefits with a loved one who may be a little timid about starting a routine.

By Sanjeev Patel Good digestion is something that many of us take for granted. For those who do not enjoy a stable and reliable digestive system, life is often very difficult. Frequent diarrhea makes you feel like a prisoner in your own bathroom, while frequent constipation is painful and distracting. We all want our digestion to work well so that we don't even have to think about it, and for many people yoga is an important key that gets the digestive engine running smoothly again.

By Faye Martins How much time did you spend on perfecting pranayama techniques during your yoga teacher certification course? Let's face it; most trainers emphasize asana during a yoga instructor training. We could blame the trainer for the rest of our lives, but it is our responsibility to participate in continuing education and independent research. There are too many therapeutic benefits to be gained to ignore pranayama.

By Faye Martins Fans of yoga claim that yoga is proven to provide anxiety relief. Given that an estimated 20 percent of Americans now take some sort of pill for a psychological problem, anxiety relief is a major selling point for yoga. However, is there anything more than anecdotal evidence to support this claim? The next time a yoga student asks you this question, here's how you can respond.

By Sangeetha Saran It is important to remember one of the primary purposes of yoga. Yogic practices tend to reduce suffering - Although the goal is to end all suffering. This is the reason why we still see so many therapeutic yoga teacher trainings to this day.

By Faye Martins How much do you really know about the inner workings of your shoulders in yoga training? It's important that anatomy be covered within every teacher training course. If there is so much emphasis on asana in the physical styles, it would be natural for instructors to know exactly how the body works, its limitations and how to modify asanas for people with ailments.

By Faye Martins Yogic methodology is sometimes referred to as a solution to all problems, but with laws as they are, many yoga instructors are careful not to over promise. Yoga teacher training web sites constantly warn instructors about making unrealistic promises that we can't deliver. What we can morally promise is reduced pain and prevention.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed Many students of Yoga come to the practice with a wide array of habits that they wish to change or modify. Habits that dim our internal light may range from not managing our time well to negative thinking patterns. Some practitioners may even struggle with drug or alcohol addiction. Addictions to any substance, person or experience outside of us are often employed to numb physical or emotional pain; learning to regularly use the many tools that Yoga offers can be a very effective way of changing harmful and dimming mental and physical habits.

By Faye Martins Sometimes, students have joint problems and Yoga instructors find solutions to work around an injury. The point is to take a whole body viewpoint, because Hatha Yoga works on the entire being. Some of the asanas are for specific injuries, prevention, and different stages of recovery. At the same time, modification and the use of props are extremely important.

By Bhavan Kumar Many athletes turn to yoga to provide a balance to their usual vigorous and demanding workout routines. Yoga training gives athletes' muscles and ligaments the necessary stretching that they need after intense work. Postures help prevent soreness, strain or injury. Power yoga combines the best of both worlds by giving athletes a more intense, cardio-based workout combined with the stretching and lengthening of muscles. In addition to the physical aspects, physically challenging classes help athletes work on focus and concentration through breathing and meditative practice. Power yoga teachers can pinpoint some key areas of the body to work on to give students a satisfying workout.

By Faye Martins People understand that Yoga training can be beneficial to their overall health, but few of them understand the importance of breathing properly while performing yoga. Each breath we take, whether it is a long and deep breath or a short panting breath, has a physical effect on our bodies. Combine this with the mental and muscular exercises in Hatha Yoga, and the way one breathes while transitioning through or when holding a pose is just as important as the pose itself.

By Faye Martins Let's say you're a yoga instructor who never gets questions about hip pain. My guess is your students are fairly young and haven't experienced pains and aches that come with age and skeletal health. If you never covered maintenance and prevention for hip health during your 200-hour yoga teacher training course, it's time to dust off your instructor manual and write a new chapter.

By Jenny Park Many prospective students are pregnant. Some of them read about the benefits of prenatal yoga or they hear about it from their friends. However, students who are pregnant and new to yoga training should have their doctor's approval. Additionally, pregnant students should attend classes taught by an instructor who is a graduate of a prenatal yoga teacher training course.

By Kimaya Singh When teaching students with ailments, there should be an encyclopedia that would compile suggested pranayama techniques and asanas for each condition. Can you imagine the size that book would be? Each of us has manuals, notes, texts, and study guides from our yoga teacher training courses, but we need comprehensive medical studies for every ailment. Many yoga instructors still do trial and error methods.

By Sangeetha Saran Prenatal yoga offers a host of benefits for women. Pregnancy is an important time for women to be as healthy as possible as their babies grow and change inside them for nine months. Exercise is an important component of overall health and should not be overlooked during pregnancy. Many women choose yogic exercise because it is a gentle and low-impact way to keep their bodies agile and strong. Meditation and breathing techniques help reduce stress and increase blood flow to the fetus. Women can also learn specific postures and breathing that will benefit them during labor and delivery.

By Faye Martins As a hatha yoga instructor, you might always include hip openers in your classes, and they are needed now, more than ever. The majority of our yoga students spend all day sitting behind a desk and staring at a computer screen. Even those, who don't have an office job, spend a disproportionate amount of time sitting. All of this sitting leads to some very tight hips. What yoga poses are best for restoring hip health? Take a look at these three hip-opening poses below and modify the directions to accommodate your students.