By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal column that puts pressure on the spinal cord, or narrowing of the openings where spinal nerves leave the spinal column. The condition typically occurs with age, as a person's spinal disks become drier and begin to shrink. Symptoms include numbness, cramping, or pain in the back, thighs, buttocks or calves, neck, shoulders, or arms.

By Sangeetha Saran Yoga is generally safe and beneficial for a wide range of health issues. However certain pre-existing medical conditions may not benefit from regular practice. Students should be mindful of how their health and yoga practice interact. The following tips are helpful for students with a pre-existing medical condition.

By Faye Martins When you teach yoga classes, how often do students ask about techniques to reduce back pain? Study after study shows that yogic exercise helps significantly with managing back pain in conjunction with medical treatment. Yoga strengthens and balances the body while it grants students more control of their minds. Each of these factors alone become huge benefits, when dealing with back pain, but together, they feel like a miracle. Participants of one study reported a decrease in pain, functional disability, and depression. Sixty-eight percent of the participants of that study assigned to practice yoga training also continued to practice the art after the study concluded. Even though chronic back pain can be one of the hardest common conditions to live with and treat, yogic exercise can significantly improve the quality of life of back pain sufferers.

By Faye Martins When you decided to become a yoga instructor, did you think you would get so many different requests? Many women and men want to gain strength without gaining size. As we know, more size is stressful on the leg joints and the heart. As a yoga instructor your mission is to help people maintain a long and healthy life.

By Faye Martins What you are about to read applies to any style of Yoga. The point is: There is much potential in teacher training of any kind. Why would you want to take a Yin Yoga teacher course? For those who are interested in yogic methods, it could be a worthwhile way to combine a hobby with a career. When you are doing something that you love, you won't feel like you have worked a day in your entire life. What are some other reasons to take such a course?

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: 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 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 Sanjeev Patel Meditation is the process of calming and focusing the mind. It can effectively relieve anxiety, stress, or depression. Many people use it every day to calm and refresh the mind. There are many positions to take upon meditation, but we often think of the image of a person sitting with his or her legs crossed, hands resting on the knees, and eyes closed.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 It is not uncommon to hear about former students, who dismiss the practice, due to the knee pain they experienced during a complex pose. At the same time, it is not uncommon to encounter devoted students, who point to Yoga practice as a therapy and practical cure for the knee pain they once experienced, prior to beginning practice. As a result of these two conflicting ideas, people might wonder what is the truth.

By Narendra Maheshri Yoga teacher training courses prepare us for working with a diversified population. Some graduates quickly forget that our mission as yoga instructors is to maintain a safe atmosphere in the classroom. Even more proactive action on our parts is prevention of student injuries. I am in agreement with the direction of Aura yoga's doctrine of absolute safety for all students at all times. People who suffer from knee pain and injuries are increasingly turning to Yoga as an alternative treatment rather than resorting to surgery and other intensive medical interventions. It has been shown through scientific studies that by strengthening the muscles that surround the knee, which are known as stabilizing muscles, yoga can end knee pain that has plagued practitioners for years.

By Rachel Holmes With millions of people practicing the art of yoga worldwide, people everywhere are experiencing such benefits as improved strength and flexibility, reduced tension, lower blood pressure, and much more. However, while many people who practice yoga are able to stay injury-free, others who are new to the practice may try to do too much too quickly. As a result of their enthusiasm, they often suffer various types of injuries that may hinder their progress. However, as yoga instructors gain experience and knowledge through continuing education, they can often help students' progress at a safer pace and allow them to avoid many nagging injuries.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Yogic exercise is a very popular activity in many communities, as people increasingly come to recognize the myriad benefits it has to offer our bodies, minds, and lives. Yoga teacher training programs that specialize in training instructors for teaching children are also becoming quite prevalent, but what sort of classes should kids participate in?

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 Sangeetha Saran When we talk about Yoga, we seldom mention the eyes and the major role they play in our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Located in the sixth chakra - the area associated with the pineal gland and intuition - the eyes work with the brain to control the central nervous system.

By Kathryn Boland Language in yoga instruction is extremely important. Being invited to something - to a party, to a meaningful life passage event, even to do something that just plain feels good - carries its own special joy. It's even difficult; at least for me personally, to put into just the right words that special feeling of allowance and/or inclusion. Invitation can also be part of when one seeks to direct another in more formalized, structured activity (that which we might not commonly associate with such simple joy). As yoga instructors, we can both direct and ease our students through using "invitatory" language. Furthermore, it opens up opportunities for students to make their practices truly their own - versus our ideas of what we think those practices should be.

By Faye Martins Among our Yoga certification requirements should be and ethics agreement that should contain a message about ahimsa (non-harming). I'm sure most Yoga teacher training courses have a form similar to the ethics agreement that interns in my class signed. Ahimsa is so important that you can't have compassion for others without it. When teaching Yoga students who have any neurological disorder, the instructor must show compassion.

By Bhavan Kumar If you teach hatha yoga to younger adults, their minds focus on the muscles during asana practice. If you are a hatha yoga instructor who teaches asana to older adults, the mental emphasis of the average student is on the bones and joints. Although a yoga teacher asks students to be present for class, there is some outside thinking going on in the minds of our best students.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. Throughout the ages, there have been innumerable stories of individuals who faced their fears and surmounted unbelievable odds, in order to achieve their ultimate goals. These goals are far ranging. Some examples of courageous individuals who achieved their goals with courage and persistence are the first blind man to climb Mt. Everest and a veteran who is a certified Bikram Yoga instructor, even though he is a double amputee. In fact, Iyengar, who is credited with being one of the very first teachers to bring the practice to the west, healed himself of a disabling physical condition, through the rigorous and dedicated practice of Yoga postures.

By Faye Martins Yoga teacher training courses prepare you to help students develop balanced bodies. Biking is a great activity, but enthusiasts really need to practice Hatha Yoga. With growing interest in healthy living and eco-friendly lifestyles, biking has become one of the top two outdoor activities around the world. In spite of its benefits, it is, nevertheless, a relatively one-dimensional sport that taxes the upper body and hips, leaving muscles tight and strained if core strength is lacking.