Yoga For Beginners Guide

By Faye Martins Is Yoga for weight loss a reality? Yoga is a great tool for enhancing your weight loss efforts. Yoga tones the entire body. It also helps to keep you limber and, if performed in optimal alignment, the Yoga poses will help to prevent injury and heal injuries that you may have previously suffered. Vigorous Yoga practices, such as Power Yoga, Bikram Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga all increase your heart rate, metabolism and muscular strength. A well-rounded Yoga practice will also enhance your balance, coordination and flexibility. If you integrate Yoga pose that specifically target your abdominal muscles into your practice, you will also tone your entire abdominal area and help to trim resistant belly fat.

By Kimaya Singh Can yoga improve your eyesight? It may be surprising, but with persistence and patience, eyesight can be drastically improved through the therapeutic use of yoga. Steadily, more and more yoga practitioners are using yoga to improve eyesight. Around the world, myopia, or nearsightedness, and hyperopia, farsightedness, have become epidemics in the past years, as well as other eye problems. Over 70 million Americans suffer from myopia alone, or about 25% of adult Americans. One of the main keys to improving eyesight with yoga is to have a relaxed state of mind. Relaxation, eye cleansing, simple eye exercises and meditation can all improve vision and treat eyesight defects drastically. One thing that is also necessary is to abandon all the preconceived notions about how eyesight works. Much of how of this process works is not only in the eyes, but in the brain. Many people also tend to abuse their eyes by straining, squinting and overuse of the television and computers. Focusing on anything for too long is dangerous to the eyesight.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 What you are about to read applies to teaching, in general. In fact, we are all teachers, to some degree. You teach your friends, coworkers, strangers and family members on a daily basis. The example you set teaches someone in some way. Whether you are a positive role model or not, people, and the world, react to you. Sorry to say, you have more responsibility than you thought possible.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Every challenging occupation yields some sort of satisfaction, but the fitness professionals industry had an amazing 85% job satisfaction rate according to an Idea Health & Fitness survey. Job Satisfaction In the same survey, 98% of those interviewed felt that "My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment." Lack of personal satisfaction is the most frequent reason why people leave a job. These statistics make it obvious that this is an extremely harmonious atmosphere to work in.

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 Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 The following are questions that Yoga teachers still need to answer, despite overwhelming evidence that Yoga is "the mother of all health maintenance systems." Mainstream thought is finally catching up, with the progress Yoga is making, but it has taken 5,000 years for us to get this far. Seriously, How Can Yoga Make You Lose Weight? Finally, some of the "Yoga and Weight Loss" studies have come in, and even, a little bit of Yoga is much better, than none, for weight control, but there are a number of reasons why. Yoga is a lifestyle change that includes a safe diet; exercise, adjusting posture, breathing, and a whole lot more. Most of the practitioners, I know, consume more water, eat more moderately, and take more care of their bodies, in comparison to the many who don't want to leave the couch.

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 Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Are there any difficult Yoga students? For the most part, our students are the best part of what we do. Many student / teacher relationships are friendships as well. However, at least once a week, I receive an Email about how to handle difficult Yoga students. Unfortunately, you could be the kindest and safest teacher within a 100-mile radius, but eventually you will run into a difficult student. One common reaction to being verbally assaulted by a student is to think, "Why me?"

By Kimaya Singh Feeling under the weather or down in the dumps does not indicate depression. Depression exists entirely on another level and causes symptoms of extreme sadness, feelings of hopelessness and endless fatigue. In severe cases, people with clinical depression no longer want to live, thus resulting in suicide. Doctors prescribe drugs, group therapy, and psychotherapy, but depression does not let go of the mind so easily.

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 Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Kinesiology is the study of movement. It includes the study of all of the physiological mechanisms of the body. The study of kinetics is important in educational disciplines such as rehabilitation therapy, sports medicine, exercise, biomechanics, and orthopedics. Since Hatha Yoga is based on movement, it makes perfect sense that someone specializing in teaching a physical form of Yoga would be knowledgeable about the kinetics of the body.

By Bhavan Kumar Internet technology has made it possible for many more Yoga practitioners to participate in a Yoga teacher training program in their own homes, at their own pace and in an affordable fashion. Traditionally, Yoga teacher training programs required the dedication of a substantial amount of time and money. An aspiring Yoga teacher may even have traveled to India to study with a Yogacharya for a substantial length of time.

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 Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 The study of Hatha Yoga involves many different aspects. Yoga teacher interns should study the history and philosophies of Yoga, the poses (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), meditation techniques, teaching methods, ethics, and guidelines for student safety. Anatomy and Kinesiology are also important areas of study for Yoga instructors. The study of human anatomy encompasses the placement of the body's bones, and the specific systems within the body. Since every aspect of Hatha Yoga involves the mind and body, the study of anatomy makes sense for a well-rounded Yoga education.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 The typical office setting often includes quiet cubicles, where people spend most of the day sitting in a chair, facing a computer keyboard. Perhaps, they roll over to a fax machine once in a while, pick up the phone, or turn and bend to pull open a file drawer. Sitting for up to eight hours a day, while performing very little physical activity, can affect the overall health of a person. Studies even show an increase in heart disease, diabetes, body weight, cholesterol and more, in people who sit all day long.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Teaching Yoga is an evolving process, regardless of how long we have been teaching. One of the ways that Yoga teachers grow, and learn, in their profession is by finding a mentor. A mentor teacher is usually someone with a few more years of experience; someone who excels at what they do; and someone wishing to enrich the teaching skills of a younger Yoga instructor.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Parents often read or hear that Yoga will help their children. However, what can parents expect from Kids Yoga classes? Starting with the very first Yoga lesson, classes are a great way to constructively keep children active, teach them lifelong habits, reduce temper tantrums, and give them improved body awareness. The benefits of kids Yoga classes include increased flexibility and strength, improved focus and concentration, and an ability to cope with stress and anxiety. While children aren't necessarily aware of each of these benefits, the most important things they do know is that it's fun and it feels good. Parents, on the other hand, want to know precisely what they can expect when they enroll their kids in a Yoga class.

By Faye Martins What doctors should know about yoga is obvious? New research and studies take place everyday. Yoga is being studied more and more, following an explosion of interest in it over the last ten years. As a result, experienced practitioners feel gratified that their claims of derived benefits have been and will continue to be substantiated by science. However, not everyone in the medical community is on board, and there are a few things to keep in mind when talking to doctors about yoga.

By Faye Martins With violence and bullying reaching epidemic proportions in both the real world and cyberspace, many people are looking for ways to reduce violent outbursts in children. Yoga is proving to be an inexpensive but effective solution to violence problems and has shown great promise. By allowing youngsters to learn control over both their physical body and emotional processes, yoga provides a much safer outlet for negative energy and thoughts than many other activities. Here is a look at why and how the practice helps children.

By Faye Martins How much impact does yoga have on the recovery of cancer patients? Yoga is an art form that is greatly appreciated for its positive effects on the body. Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health are each enhanced through the practice of yoga and other holistic methods. Yoga is a calm and relaxing method of strengthening the body and ridding it of toxins, making it an ideal exercise for patients who have long-term or terminal illnesses. Cancer is a disease that is growing rapidly in today's world, but few know the benefits of yoga to cancer patients.