Yoga For Beginners Guide

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 500 The healing and therapeutic nature of yoga is well-known as people across the world with a variety of injuries have found relief from pain and inflammation through carefully selected poses designed to strengthen and tone the targeted problem areas. A person with an injury even has the option now of visiting a certified yoga therapist or incorporating asanas into physical therapy sessions.

By Kathryn Boland Have you wondered how often you should change up your sequences? How much? Does that seem to vary at different places where you teach? Some styles of yoga, such as Bikram and Ashtanga, have a set sequence that students practice every class. With Hatha and Vinyasa, however, teachers have the freedom to vary sequences class to class. In a way, that becomes an obligation, because students start to expect it. Offering new poses, transitions and flows also gives students places into which they can grow. It helps them to drink a few more drops of the vast ocean that is yoga practice.

By Faye Martins The American Chiropractic Association states that 80% of people will experience a back problem in the course of their lives. Studies suggest that about 31 million Americans suffer from lower back pain, and it is the most common disability for people worldwide. Chronic back pain can impact a person's quality of life, but a strong asana practice can relieve some of these symptoms.

By Kathryn Boland Do you see students practicing backbends in similar potentially dangerous ways? Do you have strategies for working against this - proactively and/or retroactively? Backbending has incredible benefits- contributing to strength-building, stretching out various muscles, and offering energy boosts. We're dealing with the spine, however, so the potential for significant damage is very real.

By Dr. Rita Khanna We have been taking care of the physical body, trying to meet our nutritional needs with adequate vitamins and minerals but we have not been trying to supplement the necessary needs of the mind, the state of the inner being which constitutes real health. Therefore, man has become mentally ill. He does not even know how to think, what to think, or why to think; what to feel, how to feel, or why to feel. His mind is like a motor car being driven by a driver who is heavily drunk. By chance the car may reach its destination, but more than likely it will meet with an accident along the way.

By Faye Martins In a perfect world, productivity would be at its maximum all hours of the workday, employees would feel clear-headed and motivated to wipe out their to-do lists during an eight-hour stretch, and people would save any emotional stress or physical weariness for when they stepped out of the office. The reality is that people get tired, productivity rises and falls throughout the day, and everyone hits a little afternoon slump where they would rather be napping than sitting at work.

By Gopi Rao Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that fluctuates with the seasons. It is most prevalent in areas of the world that receive little or no sunlight during the fall and winter seasons. The sun's rays and Vitamin D production from sunlight helps to keep our brain chemistry optimally balanced. When we don't get enough sunlight, serotonin and dopamine levels begin to fall. These are two critical neurotransmitters in the brain that keep our moods positive and healthy. Low levels of serotonin, dopamine and Vitamin D are some of the main causes of depression. Taking walks in the brief periods of winter sunshine is a great way to help boost your serotonin and Vitimin D levels.

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 250 Most of us take the ability to breathe freely for granted, but for many people the basic task of taking in air is painful due to respiratory ailments. Those suffering from problems of this nature may find themselves wishing that there was some way to exercise and care for the lungs. Fortunately, there is.

By Faye Martins How can meditation rid addictions? With Patanjali's Yoga Sutras we are taught the higher value of meditation. Yet, Hatha Yoga classes are filled with people who focus on the physical body. You can't blame the masses for taking care of themselves physically, but the mental and emotional Yogic benefits are worth consideration. Yoga meditation is being taught to support groups for the purpose of eliminating addictions.

By Kimaya Singh It is an exciting time for yoga students and teachers, with so many different types of yoga classes offered today. However, we must not forget the importance of choosing the right class because not every class is one-size-fits-all. Some classes are geared toward beginners, while others require prior knowledge of poses. Students who attend an advanced class without knowing the associated risks are putting themselves in a position for potential injuries.

By Dr. Rita Khanna Osteo means bones and porosis means porous. Osteoporosis is the disease which affects the bones inside the body of the human beings. In this disorder, the bones of the skeleton become fragile due to excessive loss of tissues. Ladies are affected more than the males by osteoporosis. This difficulty is noticed mostly in postmenopausal women who cross the age of 50 to 55. When a person suffers from osteoporosis, the bones become susceptible to fractures even by small injuries. It could result in cracking and collapsing of the bones in the three parts of the body areas like wrists, hips and spine. Normal bone consists of a series of thin, intersecting plates called 'trabeculae'. These plates are surrounded by a dense shell. These plates form is called the bone mass. In osteoporosis, they become filled with holes or may even totally disappear.

By Bhavan Kumar How does Yoga help bone density? An increasing number of individuals are finding themselves suffering with ailments related to a weakening of the bones. Age is typically blamed for this decrease in bone density and strength, but in truth extreme bone weakness is not a normal side effect of aging. This new problem has only been an issue in recent years, and our current lifestyle is to blame. Postmenopausal women are most prone to bone weakness, but this problem is starting to extend to young women and even men. The bones are like anything else in the body and must be used in order to be strong and durable.

By Amruta Kulkarni, CYT 500 What are ski postures? After a challenging day on the slopes, it is important to stretch out your muscles and ligaments. Yoga poses that help to elongate and release tension in the muscles and ligaments are critical to preventing injury and stiffness after an exhilarating day of skiing. Your level of skiing ability does not impact the necessity of keeping your muscles, joints and ligaments flexible and pliable. Our bodies work hard to provide us with a perfect run down a favorite bump run or a fast time through the gates on a GS race course. Practicing Yoga asanas that stretch out the hamstrings, quadriceps, lower back and shoulders will help to keep you feeling loose and flexible.

By Gopi Rao There are many misconceptions about menopause that generally cast this natural change in a completely negative light. The truth is that menopause is a natural change that should be embraced rather than fought, and yoga can be instrumental in helping women adapt to this new state of physical being.

By Kimaya Singh Virtually everyone has had a headache at one point or another during the course of their lives, and it's an undeniable fact that they make basic activities, decision-making, and even normally enjoyable hobbies difficult or nearly impossible depending on the severity of the pain. Modern pain killers are usually quite effective at masking this discomfort, but extended use of these drugs leads to some unpleasant side effects, including headaches themselves.

By Bhavan Kumar In order to be an effective yoga teacher, strive to provide a comfortable, challenging environment for students. You must have knowledge of the philosophy of yoga, the poses, and breathing exercises, but knowledge alone is not enough. You must also be able to communicate with your students in a positive manner, keeping them coming back class after class. It is important to think about the logistics of how you will format the class, how you will address the different levels of expertise within the class, how you will explain the poses and philosophy so the average person can understand, and how you will correct incorrect postures in gentle, nonjudgmental ways.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 The importance of warm-ups, before asana practice, cannot be overstated. The number one reason why we should teach warm-ups is to reduce the chances of student injury. It is amazing to listen to educated people, who believe that experienced students and teachers, do not have to warm up. This mindset that believes warm-ups are only for beginners should have its own mantra: "I am all that!" If you practice a physical form of Yoga, it only makes sense that you should warm up before asana practice.

By Michael Gleason What can yoga postures do for tailbone pain? The objective to yoga is taking the time to realize you are in your body. While sweating and caloric output have their places, yoga is the opportunity to learn what your body is non-verbally conveying to you. In this modern age of working at desks, or being hunched over on squishy coffeehouse sofas, your yoga practice is your chance to address issues brought on by sedentary life. One of the culprits being tailbone pain. Any aches or muscle spasm just south of the lumbar region, therefore, is your body's message that you need a change of pace. Even an hour of yoga every other day or every few days will affect these changes.

By Michael Gleason Can Yoga help women suffering with postpartum back pain? The literal meaning of yoga is to join or to yoke. And after a life-changing event, such as giving birth, resuming your yoga practice is very important in order for a mother to feel whole again - especially in the singular sense. During the postpartum segment of young motherhood is the reality of back pain or discomfort. First, a mother has been carrying a baby whilst the embryo developed into an infant. Second, the care for an infant includes nursing, skin-to-skin contact in order to bond, and rocking. At the end of each day or, as often the case, another series of nursing, changing, or lulling but in the middle of the night.

By Michael Gleason Can Yoga relieve postpartum depression? Entering motherhood can be an exciting time: buying baby clothes, either turning a spare bedroom or making space in the home for a nursery, and choosing a name. And then the woman goes to the hospital around the baby's due date and comes home as a mother with an infant. Due to the rapid changes in the body - especially when it comes to hormones and core muscles - it is not unheard of for the postpartum period to bring about feelings of sadness or develop a condition known as postpartum depression. In this modern age, a mother may only be allotted six to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave from her employer. Even if paternity time is unavailable for the father, or the baby is constantly fussy then postpartum blues can be exacerbated.