By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed There are many different styles and nuances of Yoga classes that you can offer to your students as a certified instructor. Although you may have trained to become a professionally certified Yoga teacher in a specific style, there are many ways that you can creatively sequence your classes, in order to address the individual needs of your students. One way to creatively design a sequence of Yoga postures, pranayama exercises and relaxation techniques, is to follow the natural rhythm and flow of the seasons.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed How important is it to teach your students about setting an intention? Teaching Yoga to new students can be both enormously satisfying and intimidating. At first, you may feel overwhelmed at trying to introduce the entire system of the physical postures, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to a group of new students, in addition to the philosophical underpinnings of this time honored practice! However, simply guiding your students through a balanced Yoga class will help your new students to become familiar with the flow and pacing of the postures and breathing exercises.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. What is the link between discipline and teaching Yoga? As a professional Yoga teacher, you have a great deal of opportunity to truly influence your students in the way that they move both on and off the mat. Of course, while you are leading a class, your students will practice the asanas according to your guidance. However, what is often overlooked is the impact that you can have on your students, both verbally and nonverbally, through the way that you approach challenges in your classes. Just as a child takes cues from his or her parents about the appropriate steps needed to address problematic situations in their lives, your students will also take cues from you about how to approach obstacles and challenges both on and off the mat, as their practice unfolds and deepens.

By Kathryn Boland Are you curious about balancing your brain? Do you enjoy taking yoga classes, when you're not teaching? Do you find your instructor "brain" talking to you, even when you're in a student role? Many sources that I've encountered affirm that taking class can greatly expand your skills as an instructor. You can learn new ways to enter into postures, helpful accommodations for certain types of students, and more. On the other hand, not allowing yourself to sometimes be a student can limit your abilities to understand your students' experiences in class, and to otherwise develop as a yoga practitioner. Like many aspects of being a yoga instructor, it's a fine balance that we learn to more skillfully walk with time, experience, and engaging with those in our yoga communities.

By Kathryn Boland You're Not Me - Avoiding Students Comparisons to Instructors Have you noticed students making comparisons to instructors in yoga practice - in less obvious signs (such as glances and facial expressions) or more directly (such as clear verbal statements)? Do you wonder how best to balance modeling mindful, strong and anatomically informed practice and avoiding the creation of these student comparisons?

By Kathryn Boland Challenges, Success, and Fun How can you create classes that are a fruitful yoga experience for your students? In Dance Studio Life Magazine's November 2014 issue, master modern dance teacher Bill Evans states that he seeks to offer his students three elements in every dance class - challenges, success, and fun. Challenges offer growth; without pushing the boundaries of our comfort zones, people can't expand their skills and achievements. Success, in some measure, keeps us coming back for more. Without feeling some sense of accomplishment, after a certain amount of time and trial-and-error, we (some might argue, wisely) often move on to other pursuits. Success also brings the confidence we need to be at our bests. Fun engages students, and also puts them in a positive, confident frame of mind.

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.

By Kathryn Boland Are you in challenging yoga teaching environments? It's clear that yoga instructors have a lot to offer with their skills and knowledge in guiding various individuals to greater holistic wellness - Opportunities for doing so range from nursing homes to health clubs to schools. Many resourceful and creative yoga instructors have taken advantage of such diverse opportunities, often apart from the specialized yoga studio atmosphere. It's also clear that yogic philosophy often differs from Western's cultures perspectives on wellness, including the best ways to both work towards and maintain it.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. Is music generating enthusiasm in your classes? There is nothing quite as unsettling in a Yoga class as showing up for a Power Yoga class and having melodic new age music playing in the background, or attending a Yin Yoga class with hip hop music playing at a high enough volume that you can feel the reverberations through the floor boards. As a Yoga instructor, a very simple and straightforward way to generate enthusiasm in your classes is to choose appropriate musical selections that match and enhance the postures and breathing exercises through which you are guiding your students.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. How can Yin Yoga help cancer patients? It is quite unfortunate that the cancer rates have jumped so dramatically over the last few decades. Many experts believe that this exponential increase is due to the high levels of toxic chemicals in our food, water and air, in addition to the depleted soil that much of our food is grown in. According to some of the experts, the cancer rates have risen from 1 in 20 people confronting a cancer diagnosis during the 1920s, to 1 in 2 men or 1 in 3 women experiencing cancer at some point in their lives today.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. Spring is a quintessential time to detoxify. This means detoxifying the extra items in your car, your closet and, of course, your body! Engaging in a systematic process of detoxification on a seasonal basis will help you to release toxic chemicals, emotions, and experiences from your body and mind. You may even find that you are confronted with a toxic work environment or a relationship that no longer serves your highest good. If this is the case, you may also wish to find a compassionate way to move on from those situations and/or relationships.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. As the warming rays of the sun gently saturate the earth, many of the early spring flowers of the Northeastern United States are beginning to unfurl and grace us with their beauty. With the coming of the springtime, many of us feel the natural urge to do some deep spring-cleaning, both of our external living spaces and our own bodies. Within the context of the rhythms of the year, the springtime naturally lends itself to detoxification and cleansing regimes, including detoxifying Yoga classes.

By Kathryn Boland In a prior article I described how my father took me to a great little shop/art gallery down a windy and dusty road, and how that led me to reflect on the advantages of going "off the beaten bath" - exploring the unconventional for new knowledge, skill development, and enjoyable experiences. My father said something else while we were in that "arty" little store that led me to reflect on another general theme. He said something to the effect of (I paraphrase) "There's so much to see, it's almost overwhelming - but if you take a second time around the whole store, you'll see totally new and cool stuff."

By Sangeetha Saran During your yoga class you may realize that some of the poses are reminiscent of some stretching and cool down exercises that you did in aerobics class during the '80s or '90s. It is true that some of the physical movements of yoga postures are similar to basic fitness stretches. What you won't remember in these other types of fitness classes is the practice of Pranayama.

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 Sangeetha Saran The physical benefits of yoga are well known and well documented, but practicing it provides many exciting benefits for the mind too. Like most people, you may feel like thoughts are zipping through your mind at 100 miles per hour during every waking hour. The hectic nature of modern life is largely to blame for this phenomenon, but practicing yoga on a regular basis can help. If you'd like to learn to live in the moment and to stop fretting endlessly about the past and future, yoga can help you get there.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. In an ideal world, the idea of practicing Yoga solicits feelings of calm equipoise, energy and vibrant health. However, for many people the idea of practicing Yoga in the context of a structured class can bring up feelings of apprehension and fear. There may be any number of reasons for this apprehension. Some of these reasons include being physically or emotionally fragile. This sense of being physically fragile can come from being injured or in the process of healing from a surgical procedure.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed Teaching Yoga can be uplifting, inspiring and challenging. In many ways, this is never truer than when you are teaching a group of teenagers how to focus, concentrate and complete a series of challenging Yoga postures! Teenagers, by their very nature, often vacillate between period of intense focus and periods of lethargy, apathy and oppositional behavior. This is particularly true when a teenager is struggling with any number of difficult issues, which frequently produce defiant and uncooperative behavior patterns.

By Faye Martins There are challenges of teaching kids inherent in many activities. Quite frankly, the challenges of teaching kids yoga could be endless! These challenges could range from protests about stomachaches and sore arms to not having the correct clothing. There may also be a lack of Yoga mats or the room may be too hot or too cold. The challenges will be similar to the same kind of issues a teacher would run into trying to teach kids chemistry or how to avoid dangling modifiers, with a P.E. twist of course.

By Seema Deshpande Yoga can be practised in various forms - asanas or postures, meditation, positive affirmations, and pranayama or breathing exercises. All forms of yoga have countless advantages and can benefit human beings to the fullest if they practise any of these forms sincerely and consistently. In this article, we will specifically learn more about the benefits of practising pranayama, the safest and relatively easier forms of yoga. We will specifically examine if pranayama can help ease anxiety in people, which is the root cause of many psychological illnesses, and some physical disorders too.