Yoga For Beginners Guide

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 A medical procedure, as traumatic as chemotherapy, requires patience, strength, and a fierce desire to get well. Chemotherapy affects the entire body and mind, causing patients to feel weak, tired, and sometimes, hopeless. The process of healing must involve the mind as well as the body.

By Faye Martins Teaching kids yoga classes requires creativity, energy, and variety. Children will soon grow weary of a class that is the same every single time. While you don't have to reinvent the wheel for each class, it helps to have an arsenal full of ideas. There are many ways to spice up a class that has gone stale.

By Dr. Rita Khanna Our back or spine is like the pillar on which the entire body rests but the strongest part can also be the vulnerable spot if not taken care of well. About 80% of the people suffer back pain at some time or the other in their lives.

By Faye Martins The patients of physical rehabilitation centers have special needs, which yoga will be able to address. By offering yoga as a complementary therapy, physical rehabilitation centers can take care of the needs of individuals as a whole, leading to a swifter and less stressful recovery.

By Sangeetha Saran Often times, our hamstrings are tight from many of the athletic activities we engage in. From the repetitive action of aerobics to skiing and running to cycling, our hamstrings tighten and shorten over time. There are a number of Yoga asanas that will keep your hamstrings strong and flexible. Maintaining flexibility in your hamstrings is important because you are much less likely to sustain an injury in your hamstring area or lower back area. Flexible and strong hamstring muscles will also help you to keep your spine in an easy, optimal alignment as you move through the course of your daily activities.

By Virginia Iversen Anxiety is often defined as the fear of being hurt in the future. Anxiety is a form of fear, fear of physical or emotional harm in some form. Anxious feeling may be completely appropriate for the situation we are in, or the anxious feelings may be dramatically disproportionate for the situation at hand. In either case, the physical and emotional reactions to anxiety will remain similar in each situation. Your palms may sweat and your heart may beat faster. You may find yourself perspiring more and experiencing digestive distress. All of these physical reactions occur in order to prepare the body to fight or flee a dangerous situation.

By Jenny Park As yoga continues to gain ground and popularity, we can look forward to seeing more variations and interpretations of the basic ancient wisdom. The following are four modern yoga styles with their own unique focus, methodology, and philisophy.

By Gopi Rao Everyone agrees that Yoga has become more mainstream in the world today. With Yogic methods in the limelight, however, there is increasing focus on styles, trends, and fads sweeping through the community. Unfortunately, some of these trends are annoying and even detrimental. Here are eight trends that many Yoga teachers wish would end as soon as possible.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 What is happiness? Is it something acquired from sources outside of the self, is it something found within every human being, or is it something carefully developed within us? Studies on happiness over the years have questioned where this feeling comes from: Does it come from obtaining material possessions or from a place within the brain, mind or soul? The results primarily point toward happiness as a feeling coming from within a person. Although certain material possessions can cause brief bouts of happiness, these feeling are usually temporary.

By Faye Martins There are a number of Yoga poses that effectively release tension in the shoulders. Many of these shoulder opening Yoga poses also help to release tension in the throat and neck areas. Our shoulders are often repositories of anxiety, anger, stress and unresolved emotions such as grief. When we hold our shoulders tensely, we are often holding our tongues as well. This emotional and muscular contraction will stagnant the free flow of energy throughout your body. Tension in the shoulders can also cause tension headaches as the muscle tightness creeps up into the neck area. Working at a computer or desk for several hours in a row may also create tension in the shoulders.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Around the world, Yoga has moved from private studios to large, mainstream gyms as its stress-relieving body benefits become known to the general public. Is the move to the mainstream good for Yoga? How does gym Yoga compare to Yoga practiced in a Yoga studio?

By Gopi Rao Pranayama refers to the deep and deliberate breathing associated with yoga. More specifically, pranayama is a Sanskrit word meaning "control of the life force." Pranayama is often referred to as breath control, or yogic breathing. Pranayama techniquess are beneficial in keeping the body healthy and free of toxins.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Chemotherapy, used most often in cancer treatment, is a powerful tool. However, like killing bugs with a sledgehammer, it packs a powerful punch to the entire body, not just the cancerous cells. Chemotherapy indiscriminately kills cells that divide rapidly, meaning that it also harms non-cancerous cells dividing rapidly under normal circumstances. Bone marrow cells, digestive tract cells, and hair follicles are all targeted by the chemotherapy, resulting in the most common side effects of the treatment: alopecia (hair loss), myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells), and mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract).

By Bhavan Kumar Although a specialist work shop or yoga teacher training course for arthritis is rare, there is much information available. We know that controlled movement such as traditional asana practice can give pain relief. We also know that too much repetitive motion will cause pain. Therefore, if a student has arthritis, holding asanas are fine, but flowing through them isn't recommended.

By Bhavan Kumar Hatha Yoga is an intense physical and mental exercise that yields high levels of conditioning and flexibility, especially when compared to other popular fitness techniques. However, yoga has a greater potential to lead to serious injuries as well. As a yoga teacher, there are steps you can take to prevent student injuries from happening in your classroom.

By Jenny Park Ironically, quantum physicists are now telling us the same thing that sages have said for thousands of years. We are living in a sea of energy that connects us to everything else in the universe. Ancient healing arts, such as Yoga, Reiki, and qigong, are all methods of harnessing this vital life force and bringing it into the body to promote wellness and healing. In recent years, many medical professionals and scientists have recognized the importance of energy work as a viable complement to traditional therapies, and the knowledge of these practices is no longer a mystery.

By Kimaya Singh Yoga can be a wonderful tool for supporting you in your weight loss efforts. Many of the standing Yoga poses are very strengthening and vigorous. When you learn how to enter more deeply into the postures, in correct alignment, you will greatly increase the beneficial effects of the practice. Yogic standing postures increase balance, coordination, flexibility and strength. Each Yoga posture targets different areas of the body. Engaging in a regular practice of standing Yoga postures that are linked together by a series of Sun Salutations will enliven and invigorate you. It will also strengthen all of the major muscle groups in your body, keep your spine strong and flexible, and enhance the circulation of fresh blood and nutrients throughout your entire being.

By Bhavan Kumar Having a set of well thought out goals prevents individuals from drifting aimlessly through life but goals should never become distanced and removed from present moment reality. Pairing meditation with efforts to reach goals leads to heightened levels of productivity and success easily and with less perceived effort. It's a state worth living in.

By Asha Saith The word yoga has been a part of my existence since I was a child. My mother employed the exercises for an injury to her spine and my grandmother, noting the benefits started Yoga in her forties and was able to achieve an unassisted headstand in her fifties! For me personally, I do Yoga classes because I leave each class feeling good - rejuvenated and relaxed and also recharged - and ready to face whatever life has in store for me. In my humble opinion this mental state is a strong contributor to good health.

By Dr. Rita Khanna Tube lights require a certain voltage to come on. If the voltage is required to be 220 and it goes down to 180, what happens? No light. Air conditioners have a booster attached which completes the circuit so that they can continue to function even when the voltage is low. However, if the voltage is very high, say 440, the tube light and the armature in the air conditioner will burn out. Similarly, in our bodies there is energy, Shakti, which can be increased or decreased. When this Shakti is decreased, the mind-body and all of its functions are impaired.