All forms of yoga come from the same root and are, therefore, relatively interchangeable, so an hour-long class once or twice a week in any of the disciplines will quickly start to work wonders on both your physical and mental well being.

Yoga has a reputation as a good weight loss programme as well as a women's fitness routine. It steadily shapes your body into new curves and smooths out lumps and bumps but it does it in a way that is long lasting and becomes part of your life style rather than a crash and burn approach which some of the gym based programmes tend to do. Many women find that as they enjoy the other benefit of yoga (calmness) they don't go for food as a prop nearly as much so their weight drops as well as their dress size through the body reshaping.

Yoga, with its emphasis on slow, controlled movements, muscle relaxation, and deep breathing would seem to be an odd addition to a runner's cross training schedule. But these two forms of exercise are more complementary than they seem. Just ask 34-year-old Nicole Nakoneshny.

As many of you have learned in Yoga instructor training, there are many different styles. One sub-style of Hatha is Restorative Yoga. This particular therapeutic style is often recommended for people who are undergoing chemotherapy.

By Gaylene Thoeny If you have taken or seen a Yoga class you may have heard "Lead with your Heart Center" (or something else similar). The Heart Center in Yoga refers to the Heart Chakra. The Heart Chakra is the 4th of 7 Chakras (or Energy Centers in the body). These centers are often used as reference points in Yoga, Chinese Medicine, Thai Massage or other traditional healing methods.

Stress has been shown to be a great contributor to weaken the immune system greatly. With a combination of asana practice, pranayama, meditation and relaxation, yoga can help to balance and strengthening the immune system as it reduces the stress hormones that compromise the immune system.

By Sangeetha Saran Yoga students vary in shapes, sizes, and ages. Each age group presents its own set of limitations and strengths. Teaching Yoga students over the age of 50 is going to be a little different than teaching teenagers. As we age our bodies' change, joints can stiffen, muscles can grow weaker and bones can become more brittle. However, that doesn't mean that all physical activity should stop. It just means that certain modifications may have to be made. The use of props to aid in certain poses may be needed at times.

By Michelle Marie Chant All you need is a comfortable space to place your yoga mat…preferably just over an inch thick to protect the median nerve in the wrist joint. Sit down in a crossed leg position with the sit bones rooting to the floor…As you push down through your sit bones, lift up, through the entire torso….Visualize the top of the head reaching toward the ceiling.

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.

Yoga teachers must be sure to get a complete medical history from pregnant clients, making sure to go over the details of the pregnancy. Is it a first pregnancy? Does the woman fall into a high-risk category due to age or another issue?

If you work with and release your own negative patterns of thinking and behaving during a Yoga instructor training program, you will also provide your students with a beautiful role model of the transformative power of the practice of Yoga. In addition, as you "walk your talk" in your own community; your peace, ease, lightness and joy will positively affect those around you.

We know that when pain is apparent in the back area the cause can often be due to tightness or strain in other areas of the body. Sometimes tight hamstrings, the neck or shoulders are to blame. Yoga teachers should explain this important concept to the client as they provide them a variety of stretches that focus not only on the back specifically but also on the limbs and core.

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.

By Rick A. Lee Not every child is good at sports and it's sometimes difficult to know how to get your children to exercise, when you know they don't enjoy competing. Forcing children into competitive situations can be damaging to their self-confidence and reinforce their dislike of exercise of any kind. When your child isn't getting enough exercise, it can be quite a problem thinking of ways to get them away from the computer or T.V. Well, I want to tell you a little about the benefits of yoga for children and how it can help them to stay physically and mentally active.

Yoga has been known to improve flexibility, strengthen muscles, and enhance balance. However, if practiced incorrectly yoga can do more damage to the body than good. Misaligned poses can lead to injuries ranging from aching joints to pulled muscles. "Yoga injuries are often a result of not knowing or realizing your body's limitations."

Even though yoga was invented and practiced by men for 1000's of years nowadays it has a huge female following. There is really no mystery why- women need the benefits that yoga can bring.

If you do not take yoga classes, but enjoy practicing, you are not alone! Many yoga en thusiasts prefer the comfort of their own home and enjoy doing yoga on their own schedule. While this approach to yoga can slow down progress, mostly by not having a teacher explain and correct, it is still easy to progress with a rewarding home practice.

Yoga can reduce back pain and even heal it. Studies have shown that a regular yoga practice may be the very best remedy to keep the spine flexible and strong and the energy flowing through the nerves. Yoga is the least invasive and most cost effective of any of the recommended methods including chiropractory, acupuncture, drugs, or surgery. Of course it can be used in conjunction with any of the above methods.

Teaching Yoga to children can be a challenging but an extremely rewarding experience. Yoga classes for children are often filled with a lot of laughter, plenty of fun and a little bit of frustration sprinkled here and there. If you plan on teaching Yoga to young students, there are a few things that you should be ready for.

The sitting postures of Hatha Yoga are important as ideal postures for a correct practice of Pranayama and meditation, apart from limbering legs and hips, strengthening the back and improving the posture. They are the most efficient postures of the body to allow psychophysical energy to flow freely with maximum relief of tension.