By Kimaya Singh Instructors need continuing education resources for every ailment. In this way, your are able to expand on what your learned in your foundational yoga teacher training. Luckily, this blog has many articles on a variety of subjects. Therefore, if you need to learn more, please use the green search box in the upper right hand corner. All you have to do is enter your keywords and submit.

By Bhavan Kumar How should teachers handle precautions for back pain? Each student who has back pain is different, because no two injuries and students are exactly the same. This is something every instructor should have learned in foundational yoga teacher training. Although I have outlined precautions and prevention guidelines below; these would be considered typical. As Paul would often say, "Back pain threshold and the exact cause of it are unique." Below this paragraph is a handout that you can use to educate your students.

By Sangeetha Saran Many people are suffering in today's world. Common ailments like headaches, backaches, digestive problems, high blood pressure and chronic fatigue are becoming so well known that we barely bat an eye when a friend mentions his or her ailment. While sometimes there are valid medical reasons for an ailment, more often than not the problem is due to a dietary choice or lifestyle habit that can be stopped if someone has the desire to do so. Many people turn to medication for the easy fix which might lead to further side effects and health issues. It's easy to get caught in a vicious cycle.

By Gopi Rao Assisting asanas is an art form that requires communication and observation skills. Teaching a Yoga class is a unique experience, and every class is different. The range of students, along with their comfort and ability levels will obviously vary. As Yoga teachers, we learn to make Yogic methodology an accessible activity for people, no matter what his or her fitness levels are. Offering alternatives to certain poses along with assisting with asanas are integral parts of being a mindful teacher. After all, one of the many reasons people enjoy the practice of Yoga is that it offers something for everyone, regardless of age, fitness level, or experience.

By Faye Martins How much impact does yoga have on the recovery of cancer patients? Yoga is an art form that is greatly appreciated for its positive effects on the body. Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health are each enhanced through the practice of yoga and other holistic methods. Yoga is a calm and relaxing method of strengthening the body and ridding it of toxins, making it an ideal exercise for patients who have long-term or terminal illnesses. Cancer is a disease that is growing rapidly in today's world, but few know the benefits of yoga to cancer patients.

By Gopi Rao After completing my third yoga teacher training course, one student raised her hand and asked, "Now that you know everything, who has more tension in the hips - men or women?" My answer was, and still is, "I don't know it all, but both genders have a lot of tension and tightness in the hips." Whether we're commuting to work or sitting at our desks, many of us have sedentary lifestyles. When we remain in any one position for too long, our muscles contract, creating imbalances in our musculoskeletal systems. One of the most common of these is in the muscles that move the hips.

By Faye Martins After receiving your certification, you might be busy. Many interns have teaching positions before they complete their yoga teacher training courses. This means, we should be prepared to field questions when they arise. Do you have a prepared "elevator speech" for people who express an interest in your classes? If you don't have anything prepared, today is your lucky day, because below this paragraph is a prepared handout for prospective students. This is a gift for you.

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 500 When I graduated from my first yoga instructor training intensive, my first assignment was teaching beginners in a corporate gym setting. Those students were dedicated and I can easily say they taught me as much as I taught them. Most of them had very different ideas about what they thought yoga training was all about.

By Faye Martins What can Yoga do for chronic back pain? From a point of pure speculation, it might be a fair guess to assume that 10% of the world's population is affected by back pain. However, let's look at the statistics in just one country. Back pain is something that impacts more than 31 million Americans in a year's time, according to the American Chiropractic Association, and a study conducted in 2010 called the Global Burden of Disease, which determined that lower back pain is a leading cause for missed days at work. The majority of cases noted in this study were not caused by infections or disorders, whether metabolic or degenerative, but rather by mechanical problems like severe physical trauma.

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 500 More than twenty years ago, I was attending a yoga teacher training and the guru who organized it stated that there was too much emphasis on anatomy in typical instructor intensives. Yoga instructors see a wide range of students over the course of the week. Many of these students arrive either mildly or heavily out of shape, hoping their yoga practice will aid them in sloughing off extra weight while reshaping their lifestyle into something healthier. We also see a lot of students who are in amazing shape. These students lead generally active lives and practice yoga as part of their emotional or spiritual health. With some of these students, I suffer from body envy; their well-sculpted shoulders are strong and flexible. But I also find many of them struggle with shoulder pain, and they practice yoga in hopes of easing the effects of old injuries.

By Faye Martins How can yoga improve heart health. In recent years, yoga has become one of the most popular ways to stay fit in the modern world. Yoga originated, in India, as a form of physical and mental health maintenance, in hopes of attaining total peace. However, you do not have to be a guru to experience the many health benefits of a yoga routine.

By Rachel Holmes How will yoga in schools change the future? With the use of technology and tight school budgets, children and young adults around the world need activity. As a result of this need, certified yoga instructors are finding work as independent contractors in public, private and preschools. It is no surprise, considering the global culture of instant gratification, that the current generation of children has a hard time focusing, does not get enough exercise, and does not get enough nutrition.

By Jenny Park Have you ever met someone who doubted that yoga is beneficial for health? You might be asked, "where's the proof" when you mention the good that yoga can do for practitioners. As yoga teachers, the following information should be made available to our students who have diabetes.

By Kimaya Singh How can we teach Yoga to golfers? Golf centers, courses and retail stores can be found almost everywhere. Golf is a popular game that seems to involve hitting a small ball into a small hole. True golfers know it is much more than that. It's a game of great skill and precision, great concentration and focus. Many golfers complain of lower back pain due to the twisting of the spine during each swing. Yoga training can be an effective way to strengthen the core, loosen the spine and improve any golfer's focus. Private yoga sessions for golfers might be the key to their success on and off the course.

By Rachel Holmes Teaching Yoga to seniors is a skill that requires constant study. A chair yoga teacher training course is an eye opener, but to go out into the world teaching students is an awakening. As a result of its promise for low impact activity that both strengthens the body and makes it more flexible, yoga is becoming ever more popular among seniors. In fact, most people past middle age acknowledge how important to their health a regular activity is, and medical research demonstrates the necessity for body weight strength exercises that build muscle and can help reverse bone loss, as well.

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 Sarah Fisher After graduating from Yoga teacher training, I look back at where I was when I went to my first class. I was so stressed that it was difficult to get up for work. I was starting to make excuses to avoid leaving my home. Jobs are stressful, but these days, you want to keep the one you have. At the same time, I needed to get some physical activity. Luckily, my friends got me out of the house and into a fitness-based Yoga class.

By Sangeetha Saran Chances are you learned plenty about the use of props during your Yoga teacher training, but some of your students might have objections. You've tried to explain the value of good alignment, but many of those same students just don't seem to get it. Let's go over why props are essential and more than a mere marketing gimmick.

By Faye Martins The ancient practice of yoga, which dates back more than 5,000 years, improves skeletal health through skillful selection and consistent application of a variety of exercises. Yoga poses for skeletal health are chosen for their ability to improve posture, increase flexibility and relieve skeletal system tensions. Yoga assists in maintaining bone density. It also helps minerals that are stored in the bones, as well as the blood cells produced in bone marrow, to be released to the bloodstream for the body's use as needed.

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 There seems to be no single text that lists the contraindications for each Yoga technique; the reason being - the monumental task of listing, categorizing, and matching up each technique, with a corresponding contraindication, would be a feat that would take years to complete.