Yoga For Beginners Guide

By Marie Jerard, E-RYT 200, RYT 500 If you have long been avoiding teaching yoga to pregnant students, you can complete a few basic training requirements that will allow you to move ahead without worry. As a certified instructor, you can enroll in a specialist prenatal training program for yoga teachers. Since pregnant students will necessarily have different needs than yoga students who are not pregnant, you will undoubtedly want to learn about the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy itself. Once you've been officially designated a Certified Prenatal Yoga Teacher (CPYT), you'll be qualified to lead women through the various physical and emotional challenges that precede childbirth.

By Bhavan Kumar The romance between yoga and your hinge joints is a bittersweet one. In addition to being very conscious of your knees, it is also imperative to be mindful of your elbows. Either of these complex hinge joints can easily be hyperextended, which can lead to injury and pain. Generally speaking, hyperextensions require rest to heal, which means that holding postures will be better for you than flowing through them. For teachers, this means recommending a student to the restorative class and advising him or her to avoid the vinyasa class. Additionally, postures that stress the elbows will not help the healing process.

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 Gopi Rao Sometimes mixing yoga and money can feel about as unlikely as mixing oil and water. Many begin their practice from a personal and spiritual level, which evolves into the desire to pursue yoga as a career. Making the transition from an inward pursuit to a moneymaking opportunity is tricky.

By Faye Martins The human back is a miraculous assembly of bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves. Backs should be both incredibly strong and supremely flexible at the same time. The back supports the whole body from the neck, through the upper back into the lower and then to the bottom of the spine. We use it for every single movement we make. If your back is hurting nothing seems to go right. Your back is the entire support system for your body and keeping it strong and supple is important for your overall wellbeing.

By Kimaya Singh Yoga is a high sought after class among many, and a good yoga instructor is hard to come by. There are many characteristics that go into what classifies an excellent yoga instructor. While some teachers are freelance and can go to almost any location, the secret to building relationships is providing a safe environment that they can return to each week, such as a studio. Even if you are teaching yoga at a local community center, you can still make sure that your class is the most popular location for yoga in your neighborhood.

By Faye Martins The ancient practice of yoga, which dates back more than 5,000 years, improves skeletal health through skillful selection and consistent application of a variety of exercises. Yoga poses for skeletal health are chosen for their ability to improve posture, increase flexibility and relieve skeletal system tensions. Yoga assists in maintaining bone density. It also helps minerals that are stored in the bones, as well as the blood cells produced in bone marrow, to be released to the bloodstream for the body's use as needed.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 If there is one lesson that I can pass onto you in this lifetime, it is to question everything. Please do not take anyone's word as gospel - including mine. Find your answers through research. Lately, there has been a lot of misinformation about Yoga and many related issues. Some people would have you think that all of the teaching opportunities are only in the studios. When you consider that Yoga sessions are taught in health clubs, church basements, kids day care centers, salons, and hundreds of other locations, where people of all ages meet, it is safe to say the 90% of the teaching opportunities are outside the studios.

By Faye Martins Headaches occur for a number of reasons, from stress and hunger, to a lack of sleep and dehydration. Even poor posture, allergies and eye strain can cause tension headaches in millions of people every day. In various yoga forums, new members often complain about headaches after their first yoga session. Does this complaint warrant further investigation into yoga as a potential cause of headaches?

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 How can teachers establish Yoga student safety guidelines? For all Yoga instructors, the number one priority in our classes is student safety. Hatha Yoga is important for the health of the mind and body, but, unfortunately, it can be unsafe if not practiced properly. In comparison to many other physical activities, Yogic methods are in the lower risk category.

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 Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Managers of fitness centers, wellness boutiques, and studios may, or may not, also be yoga teachers. Some managers are strictly business oriented and only focus on staying in business. Let's be honest - some teachers cannot manage a business. The nature of business is not for everyone. Managing a group of instructors gives one a unique position. You have to make sure the classes run smoothly, your numbers are good, and everybody is happy.

By Faye Martins Yoga teacher ethics are an extremely complex issue. What if you met your soul mate in your classroom? If you are faithfully married, then the moral guidelines are simple, but what about single teachers who meet single students? If a student is married, that is also a simple matter of avoiding a real bad situation. However, is it right for a single teacher to date a single student?

By Faye Martins There is so much information available about teaching yoga classes, but there is not much information about making a living. Some certification courses teach you everything about running a safe class, but they teach you nothing about finding a teaching position, private lessons, or the many opportunities outside of the yoga studios. Outside of Aura Wellness Center and Bikram's Yoga College of India, I don't know of any instructors who have learned anything about marketing or business. Teaching full-time requires instructors to be creative in their business plan. If you teach for donations, you probably don't need the money or someone made you think that taking payments for services is wrong. Yet, you paid thousands for lessons and possibly thousands more for a yoga teacher's diploma.

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 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 Faye Martins What can Yoga do for chronic lower back pain? Residents of the developed world are doing plenty of things our ancestors of only a few thousand years ago never would have dreamed of doing. Among other things, the modern world has us sitting far more than our body was designed for. We sit at desks, on couches, we sit to drive, and we sit to eat. All this sitting has created a number of health problems unique to modern society. People of the modern developed world are fatter than ever before, engage in less physical activity than ever before and, as a result of all this sitting, lack of exercise and extra weight, they have weaker backs that are much more prone to lower back pain.

By Faye Martins The practice of yoga is meant to calm both the body and the mind. With slow movements and a focus on breath, we learn to quiet the mind and focus on the present moment. Most often, we need to be calm enough to handle the stresses of daily life, regret over past actions, and worries about the future. It is easier than it sounds to think only of the present moment. Our minds wander quickly, and thoughts tend to "snowball" toward worst case scenarios. When our minds are in an anxious state and we forget about the present, we may notice our breath quickens and our heart beats faster. Whatever we are doing in the present is quickly forgotten.

By Faye Martins Should yoga teachers physically assist their students to help them get into the correct poses, or should teachers rely solely upon verbal instructions? The question is a good one, and sometimes a controversial one, since not all students feel comfortable with being touched by the yoga instructor. Other students, meanwhile, feel that they cannot get the most out of a yoga class without being touched. Take a look at these four tips for using physical assists during a yoga class.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. We often her that Yoga benefits cancer patients, but how does this happen? For those of us who are regular Yoga practitioners, and who are facing a cancer diagnosis, maintaining a daily or weekly Yoga practice can help to engender a sense of normalcy and promote self-care during a very difficult time period in your life. This is particularly true if you are accustomed to practicing several times a week, in order to generate energy, balance and well-being. However, if you are undergoing treatment for cancer, you may find it difficult to do the same kind of Yoga practice that you are used to doing for months, or even years to come.