By Kimaya Singh If you're passionate about yoga and want to expand your horizons, deepen your understanding and embrace it to the fullest possible extent, yoga instructor training is an excellent option. There are many practical benefits to be derived from yoga instructor courses; five excellent examples include:

By Sangeetha Saran The decision to teach others is one that comes with responsibility. The decision to teach others comes with the highest level of responsibility. The field of yoga is changing so rapidly, that many teacher certification programs need to modify their curriculums accordingly in order to prevent injuries in classes.

By Rachel Holmes Many yoga enthusiasts believe their practice to be the perfect balancing act. It is unusual to find one activity that will get you in good physical, spiritual, and emotional condition. Nevertheless, will becoming a dedicated yogi actually improve your brain function? Research is emerging that indicates yoga has the potential to strengthen your brain. Neha Gothe is a professor of kinesiology, which led him to become curious if one could differentiate between yoga and other forms of movement as a means of boosting cognitive function.

By Kimaya Singh Traditionally, yoga was practiced on a one-on-one basis. Students and teachers worked closely together and developed long-term relationships that were conducive to keeping people safe and healthy. Now that yoga has skyrocketed in popularity and become more mainstream, these one-on-one sessions have given way to classes in which a single teacher is in charge of a large group of students. In some cases, students are crammed together in small rooms, which increases the risk of injury even more. Classes are the most logical way to teach yoga to large groups, but what can yoga studios do to keep injuries to a minimum?

By Kimaya Singh Our modern world is a hotbed of stress inducers - from traffic jams to long lines at the grocery store, it seems as though triggers of anxiety and frustration constantly surround us. The hectic life we live is one of the reasons that the regular practice of yoga is essential for our well-being. Using pranayama, we can learn to breathe in rhythmically and breathe out all of the stress that's present in both our body and our mind.

By Sangeetha Saran Although yoga has been practiced for centuries, it has emerged from a secret tradition for spiritual evolution to become a popular mainstream philosophy for holistic self-improvement. This popularity has resulted in the emergence of teacher training courses.

By Kimaya Singh As a certified yoga instructor, when to offer different yoga classes depends on whether you are teaching yoga to individuals or groups as an employee or whether you are a business owner with your own yoga studio. Offering Different Yoga Classes as an Employee As an employee for yoga studios or gyms, you may have to work within restricted limits or you may be given full latitude to create any type of courses that you like. Assuming that you have the freedom to choose your own curriculum, then one way to offer different classes is to simply divide your particular style of yoga into different skill levels. So, you could have beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes.

By Jenny Park As much as the world is growing technologically, alternative medicine is equally improving. Initially yoga was created to be more of a spiritual practice, but many studies have shown that the physical techniques help in healing the body and mind. Additionally, Yoga asanas are significant in promoting spinal health and improving skeletal alignment. In order to achieve maximum results, students must look for a well-trained instructor to take them through a typical class. Therapeutic techniques have made this practice very useful in the daily lives for millions of people around the world.

By Sanjeev Patel, CYT 500 What are the marketing secrets of successful yoga teachers? Some teachers will tell you to wait for the flow of the universe to help you with your teaching career. Some people will gladly tell you, "It's unethical to put yourself out there." Advertising is bad? How will people know I teach, if I keep it a secret?

By Kimaya Singh Any owner of a business understands the need for liability insurance. Accidents happen and it is not possible to control clients although you may caution them against the dangers. Asking clients to sign a liability waiver is certainly a must, but what can you do to prevent accidents in your yoga studio in order to protect against an act of negligence? Negligence that causes an accident will affect your legal case, where your liability insurance would have to cover you for the payout. It could also cost you your business. Rather than have an issue with negligence or common accidents in your study, you can be prepared by considering the following suggestions.

By Gopi Rao The practice of physical assisting or adjusting during yoga tends to receive a mixed review from students and teachers. While some students welcome the idea, others are more comfortable with verbal adjustments due to personal space. There are also teachers who are more at ease with verbal assisting instead of physical. However, the effect of achieving success through physical adjusting can be wonderful for the student and helps them reach a boundary they never knew existed. When communication is open between you and your student, physical adjustments are excellent ways to practice yoga. As long as you implement certain safety guidelines then there should be no room for errors.

By Faye Martins What is the best yoga teacher training for you? Are you thinking about making the transition from being a student of yoga to a yoga instructor? These days, it seems that nearly every yoga studio offers a yoga teacher training program. For yoga studios, training instructors is big business. However, how do you know which programs are the most qualified? The following three questions will help you find the best yoga teacher training programs for you.

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 500 Like any other workplace, it is important for yoga teachers to stay up-to-date on harassment prevention, whether it is physical, sexual, verbal, or another form of harassment. With recent headlines seeming to indicate that harassment in the studio is on the rise, it's especially imperative that instructors take steps to protect themselves and their students. One of the best ways to prevent harassment issues in the studio is to regularly engage in continuing education courses involving harassment recognition and prevention. Learning about the different types of harassment is key to preventing messy harassment scenarios in your own classes. Taking classes and educating yourself will ensure that all your students feel at ease in the studio, whether they are completely new to the practice or have been visiting your studio for years.

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: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed A very effective way of improving Yoga student safety during a class is by modifying the postures and using appropriate props when needed. By modifying Yoga postures and using props when necessary, you will help your students to move in and out of poses that are challenging, in a safe and effective manner. Using well-placed props and modifying postures will also allow you to teach challenging multi-level Yoga classes in a safe manner.

By Kathryn Boland Do you have a certain structure in which you organize your time - such as monthly, weekly, daily, seasonally or annually? Does that help you to organize yourself personally and professionally? We yoga instructors are busy, with many moving parts and pieces to handle. It's therefore beneficial to have some sort of time framework, fitting within a week or some other set structure of time.

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 Kathryn Boland In the first post of this series, I described some advantages of seeking mentorship as a yoga instructor, and/or offering your services as a mentor to another budding instructor. Some of you dearest readers might have wondered how you can offer time, energy, and mental space to that endeavor - given how you already likely juggle several important and demanding things such as your existing yoga teaching and practice life, family and other social life, other jobs, perhaps even higher education and/or service work - and oh yes, taking care of yourself, remember that one? Below I offer some ideas for incorporating mentorship into what you already likely do as an instructor and practitioner.

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: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed Facing a cancer diagnosis can be shocking and terrifying for many people. A cancer diagnosis can "come out of left field" for many people and cause so much distress and heartache that the person may become immobilized in the face of such a serious health crisis. However, being proactive in the face of a cancer diagnosis and the ensuing treatments has a profound ripple effect on your ability to navigate a challenging situation with as much grace, dignity and ease as possible. There are many different ways to help support your mental and physical health if you are diagnosed with cancer.