Yoga For Beginners Guide

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 When you are mindful, you are alert and active. You recognize the thoughts coming in and out of your head, while noticing how your body is moving and feeling. Mindfulness is a total body and thought awareness that comes with deliberate consciousness. Mindfulness is an important part of Yoga practice because it allows you to let your thoughts come in and out, without focusing too heavily on any one thought. It allows you to be completely present as you move your body, stretch your muscles, and bring a fresh oxygen supply to your organs. Yoga instructors should always model mindfulness for their students.

By Gopi Rao, CYT 500 Most people know that Yoga can lead to better physical health, but many are unaware of just how thorough the practice can be. When it comes to spinal disc decompression, Yoga can provide relief in several ways, making it a holistic treatment appropriate for people of all ages. Here are some of the ways in which Yoga helps lead to better spine health.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 When you are teaching a Yoga class for kids, it's important to be ready to interact with the parents, as well as the children. If Yoga is a new activity for some, the parents are sure to have questions and concerns about what Yoga is, how it's taught, and what they can expect their kids to experience during each class. If the parents have little experience with the practice and philosophies of Yoga, they probably have a few preconceived notions about Yoga. It is your job as a Yoga instructor to provide a positive experience for both the children and their parents.

By Sangeetha Saran Depression symptoms can range from mild to severe. You can take medications for depression, but they can have side effects, and, they do not always work. Studies have shown that yoga can help relieve depression, and keep depression from returning.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 What should Yoga teachers know about giving an assist before a potential legal problem arises? Have you ever had an assist that didn't really help much? Have you ever had a physical assist that hurt you physically or in any way? Do physical assists in Yoga postures make you feel uncomfortable? Is it really necessary for Yoga teachers to give a physical assist?

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 You have heard it a thousand times: "Don't lock your knees." or "Keep your elbows soft." Locking joints, while performing Yoga, means you are overextending the joint and putting yourself at risk for potential injuries. When you lock your knees, the muscles surrounding the joint become passive in the pose, which puts the strain on the ligaments instead.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 All too frequently, I am asked by middle-aged or senior students, who aspire to become a Yoga teacher, "When is the best time to become a Yoga teacher?" Has the window of time passed for this opportunity, and is a younger Yoga instructor better suited to teach Yoga to the public? Some of these veteran Yoga students have decades of experience, but feel intimidated by the "young hard bodies." This is a deep subject, so let's take a closer look at what holds some of us back from becoming a Yoga teacher.

By Natalie Clee Vinyasa refers to a series of yoga movements synchronized with the breath. The poses flow with rhythmic variations through each inhalation and exhalation. The breathing style used is called Ujjayi, which is a relaxed diaphragmatic breath with the sound coming from the back of the throat like the sound of the ocean. Vinyasa and Ujjayi together create internal heat, which purifies the body through increased oxygen, circulation and sweat. This breath helps take in fresh oxygen, build energy, and clear toxins from the body. Ujjayi is also said to aide in self - awareness and staying grounded and present during your practice, which is also helpful during meditation. Improved circulation can help ward off illness and aide in recovery of sickness and repair of injury.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 The traditional medical approach to helping people recover from serious injuries is to focus on healing the specific afflicted area, but Chair Yoga offers a unique holistic approach that deals with the mind and body as a complete system. There are numerous benefits to this more intuitive method of rehabilitation.

By Faye Martins On any given day, Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat might be standing on his hands with his knees tucked behind his armpits and his big toes touching. He's practicing Crow Pose, a yoga posture, as part of his rigorous training program that enables him to be a top player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Why do he and other athletes, such as Eli Manning of the New York Giants, practice yoga?

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 After centering, the warm-up is an important component for the beginning of any Yoga class. Students need that transition time to go from an active and noisy environment to a more soothing, quiet place. It is also important to warm up the body before stretching the muscles and joints to avoid injuries. Children, especially, need time to transition into the Yoga environment. Warm-ups for children should be engaging and fun. Accompany Yoga warm-up poses, with songs or other narration, to keep kids' interest.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Teaching Yoga to seniors is now more popular than ever. Seniors often show dedication toward activities that improve the quality of their lives. For many people, growing older means focusing more on good health, which most people take for granted. This is especially true of physical and mental health. Many seniors have faced the realization that special steps must be taken to promote and maintain high levels of physical and mental health. One of the safest and most approachable ways of improving the quality of life is through participation in a chair Yoga class.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Since most headaches are caused by tension, which is caused by stress, Yoga should be at the top of the list of headache relief and prevention strategies. Most people carry their tension in the back, shoulders and neck, and this can create a contraction of muscles around the neck and jaw as well as reduced blood flow to the brain. The result is often a tension headache.

By Faye Martins Both intermittent and chronic insomnia can have a profoundly negative impact on your quality of life. If you struggle with insomnia, you are aware of how difficult it is to focus on your daily activities when you have not slept well. You may even have a flu-like feeling for most of the day, accompanied by a pervasive headache. You mood may also suffer, and you may find it more difficult to look on the bright side of life. Chronic insomnia also lowers your body's ability to fight off colds and flus as well as more serious health conditions.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 A panic, or anxiety attack, describes the rapid onset of psychosomatic symptoms related to increased fear or overwhelming anxiety. Symptoms include difficult, labored, or rapid breathing, rapid heart rate or palpitations, dizziness, nausea, and trembling or shaking. Many sufferers feel such intense physical symptoms that they think they are having a heart attack. Often, the panic attack starts out as a feeling of vague anxiety that does not pass, but intensifies over time. Sometimes, the attack is triggered by a known cause, like fear of flying, but often the individual has no idea what brought the panic attack on.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 With advances in modern medicine, people are living longer and healthier lives than ever before. Yet, aging still remains a physically challenging process, where the body breaks down in various places and ways. This is why Yoga is a health maintenance system for dealing with the pain, loss of flexibility, and decreased mobility, which come with aging.

By Faye Martins The reasons why yoga props will always have a place in every studio and class, no matter what the skill level or flexibility of the practitioners, is because they elevate the integrity of many poses and allow those who would not otherwise be able to get into said poses, due to flexibility limitations, to access them properly.

By Ntathu Allen Are you interested in yoga? Has your partner recently started yoga lessons? Maybe your doctor has suggested you take up yoga as a form of stress management. Yoga, is a holistic health care system. It consists of a series of yoga stretches, known as asanas or poses, meditation techniques, breathing exercises and relaxation. Together, these techniques give your body a complete overhaul and calms and clears your mind. At the end of a yoga lesson you are blissed out, chilled and relaxed.

By Charu Mehta How about beginning a day with the blessings of ancestors? One biggest gift and blessing to the new generation is the art of living with Yoga. This ancestral and traditional way of exercising is not only making the body free from various diseases, but is also making it possible for the people to avoid drugs and other medicines. The universally accepted benefits of this art form is making it popular and is also being recommended by the medical professionals for minimizing the use of medications in curing diseases.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 It is no secret that maintaining muscle strength is an essential component of building and retaining excellent health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends adults practice muscle-strengthening activity two days a week, and one of their preferred methods of strength training is Yoga.