By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed If you are coping with a cancer diagnosis, remember that you are not alone! Unfortunately, the incidence of cancer has risen dramatically over the last fifty years. By some estimates, one in two people will be affected by cancer at some point in their lives, as opposed to one in twenty people fifty years ago. This increase in the incidence of cancer is quite daunting. So, if you are a Yoga practitioner and you are facing a cancer diagnosis, you are clearly not the only one. However, even if you are not alone, dealing with cancer can be very overwhelming and incredibly upsetting.

By Faye Martins Body shaping is not an exact art. Athletic bodies come in all shapes and sizes. Those who lift weights have bulky chests and arms; runners have lean legs, but often lack in upper body strength. Swimmers have broad shoulders, and dancers have thick muscled thighs.

By Kimaya Singh The way one chooses to earn their living is an important life choice. Most people need to work to support themselves, that's a given. Not everybody does what they love, though. If you have a passion for yoga and would like to share what you know with others, teaching could be your ideal employment solution.

By Kimaya Singh There are many variables in the type of Yoga training each of us might choose to practice and there are many ways to injure one's knee. Let's look at the safest way for a person to enter a class, without slowing down the recovery process or causing self-injury. Therefore, medical clearance in the form of your doctor's approval is imperative before considering asana (posture) practice. A conference explaining your surgery, with a certified Yoga instructor before you take a class, insures that you will get proper attention.

By Gopi Rao If you are considering a yoga certification course, you may want to understand diabetes and many other ailments. For those of us who already teach classes, all of the progress we have seen against diseases and suffering do not count in the eyes of scientific research. Science only recognizes its testing, studies and research as factual. At first, we might resent science for throwing out thousands of years of yogic research and claiming it is all biased information. For us to prove yogic methods work, yoga schools have to open the doors to medical and scientific scrutiny. We also have to be prepared to deliver proof and name sources of studies.

By Kathryn Boland Are you recognizing your students' needs shifting as the temperatures drop? Are you looking for unique ways to help meet these needs? Winter places new demands on the body - more energy needed to keep the body warm, and more rest needed because of that.

By Jenny Park The atmosphere in a yoga school contributes a lot toward the overall effectiveness of the class. If the studio environment is too cold, cluttered, smelly or generally unkempt, it will take away from the students' experience with yoga training. The school should address a number of concerns to keep the students comfortable and allow the yoga teacher to do his or her best teaching.

By Jenny Park The term "hot yoga" may refer to a wide variety of yogic styles. Classes might include a series of static postures or a flowing vinyasa sequence with continuous movement. What "hot yoga" classes have in common is that they are typically practiced in a room heated anywhere from 90 to 110 degrees.

By Jenny Park Ever since you decided to become a yoga instructor, you've dreamed of teaching a full class of athletic students. Now that you have them, you're concerned about safety and you want your students to have the best possible experience in your classes. Below are five tips that you may want to pass on to your students.

By Faye Martins Many Hatha Yoga teacher training courses don't have an oath for graduates, but maybe we should all have one. In this way, instructors would be constantly mindful of ethics, compassion, safety, and loving kindness, at all times. Here is the oath of a Kundalini Yoga teacher: "I am not a woman. I am not a man. I am not a person. I am not myself. I am a teacher."

By Jenny Park Ethics and philosophy are covered in every Yoga teacher training intensive, but there is no guarantee an instructor will walk the straight line for life. Yoga is based on a foundation of principles including compassion, integrity, truthfulness, kindness, generosity, patience, forgiveness and helpfulness. The purpose of yogic methods is for students and instructors to learn to live a life that follows these virtues as closely as possible. It makes sense that those who choose to teach yoga would follow the yogic philosophies on a regular basis, incorporating them into their lives whether they are in front of a class or not. There are many wa

By Sangeetha Saran How can Yoga improve your emotional health? Most people who do yoga understand how daily practice can give a person a healthier, leaner, more balanced body. What people may not be aware of is the very real possibility that regular and repeated yoga sessions can greatly improve the emotional health of the practitioner. If you've been a yoga instructor for some time, you've certainly noticed your students becoming more limber and flexible. Look closely, and you will probably see positive emotional changes to their innermost beings, as well. Yogis and yoginis who begin every day with a sun salutation tend to keep that glow about them everywhere they go.

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 500 Perhaps you love taking yoga and have felt a calling to teach it. Your best course of action, then, begins with a period of reflection on the subject. If you decide to pursue this plan, you'll need to enroll in an excellent yoga teacher training program.

By Jenny Park When you are young, you might be lucky enough to live without joint pain. You might not understand why skeletal health is such a big part of a yoga teacher training course. Anyone who has suffered joint pain knows what an important role the joints play in overall body function and a healthy, happy lifestyle. When the joints are uncared for, the pain can make it unbearable to accomplish everyday tasks. Whether you currently suffer from joint pain in the form of things like arthritis and other rheumatic conditions, or you don't suffer at all, yoga is great for prevention, reduction or elimination of pain.

By Jenny Park Many people who practice yoga regularly are much healthier than those who don't. However, our bodies are different and not every person who decides to become a yoga instructor will be the best example of a person with an optimal immune system. Yet, there is a perception among students that yoga teachers never get sick.

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 500 The most talented and experienced yoga teachers do a lot more than teach students how to achieve poses. They go well beyond the physical by teaching students how to be more mindful and aware of their bodies too. Body awareness is an intrinsic part of yoga. After all, the word "yoga" itself translates to mean, "to yoke," which is another way of saying "to unite." Without making students aware of this exciting benefit, though, they could easily miss out on it. Therefore, yoga teachers should make a point of explaining the concept of propioception to their students.

By Gopi Rao Yoga needs few accessories. It implements your own weight instead of dumbbells. No machines are necessary. When you are travelling, it is easy to wrap up your mat with a yoga belt and throw it in the car or tie it to your carry-on bag. Your phone will always be there to provide the soothing music you may want to incorporate into your routine.

By Michael Gleason Life is getting faster and faster - both physically and virtually. And while getting a lot accomplished in the course of a work day is good, as is completing many overdue chores on the weekend that does not mean we as human beings experience anxiety and burnout. Thankfully there is yoga for anxiety.[1] Sally Susinno, RYT-200 of Wellesley, Massachusetts, pointed out that more and more people are waking up and drinking larger and larger flagons of sweetened coffee drinks and diet colas which make their bodies more and more wound up. Caffeine is also a diuretic which can lead to dehydration, or just not enough water consumption over the course of the day. At the end of the day, the sweeteners and the stimulants have people reaching for sleeping pills - both over the counter and prescription strength.

By Faye Martins I know, we have plenty of guys out there teaching, taking Yoga teacher training courses, and practicing in the studio or at home. I'm happy to see an increase among men who teach Yoga or attend classes regularly. However, I see a few young mothers during the week that really need some downtime. For some, they have a supportive family unit. For others, it sounds like their unit has fragmented. I'm thankful that my parents always worked together for the sake of the family, but times are certainly different one generation later.

By Jenny Park Chances are a student has asked you about yoga for diabetes. You might want to create a handout for the most common health conditions, but you don't have enough time. You look through your old papers and books to find that your yoga certification course didn't cover diabetes. Let's be honest, how many medical conditions can you cover in one yoga teacher training intensive? Don't worry, below this line I've prepared a handout for your diabetic students and their friends.