Yoga For Beginners Guide

By Seema Deshpande Practicing yoga, either in the form of yoga postures, pranayama or meditation, has innumerable benefits. Consistent practice of yoga can help one stay fit both physically and emotionally. In addition, yoga has the potential to improve one's spiritual quotient as well. In comparison to other forms of exercises, such as strenuous gym exercises, practicing safe yoga has relatively lower risks, and can be tailored to suit the needs of various people - young or old, healthy or physically weak, normal or athletes. Yoga can be performed by anybody and everybody.

By Faye Martins How can Yoga help stroke recovery? The fact that a human can survive and potentially recover from a stroke is a testament to the intricate design of the brain. A stroke essentially kills an area of the brain, thus causing the typical symptoms of a stroke. Depending on the location, the brain can make adjustments and compensations, basically rewiring the other areas of the brain to perform the duties of the damaged section of the brain. This is an amazing feat.

By Faye Martins What are the rewards of yoga for arthritis? For those suffering with arthritis, every movement is a painful event. The irony is that individuals with arthritis need physical movement more than the average person in order to keep their disease under control. Yoga training is a practice that provides opportunities for careful, mindful movement.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed Many of the same physical and emotional benefits of a regular practice of postures and breathing exercises can also be found in the practice of Chair Yoga. If you are Yoga student who is living with a chronic health condition that necessitates the use of props in order to safely practice asanas, by participating in chair classes, you will gain many of the benefits of a traditional class, while still maintaining your safety. If you are teacher, offering Chair Yoga classes to those students who need to practice a modified set of postures with the support of a chair will greatly increase your marketability and adaptability in a variety of different teaching environments.

By Faye Martins How can yoga help young athletes? The American Heart Association recommends that all kids ages two and over participate in at least 30 minutes of medium-intensity physical activity every day. Children enjoy physical activity, and many get involved in competitive sports, but more and more, parents and whole families are coming to see the value of cooperative activities. Yoga helps children increase balance and body awareness, and relieves social pressure from trying to "win."

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Helping teenagers cope is a positive side effect of Yoga practice. Many teenagers, today, struggle with a degree of anxiety and depression unknown to previous generations at the same young age. There is a great deal of pressure on teenagers from their parents, teachers, and work obligations. In addition, there is a substantial amount of peer pressure surrounding many teens - both at school and during extra-curricular activities. Some of these causative factors of anxiety and depression have not changed much from generation to generation. However, the contemporary context of a fast-paced, insular and impersonal world, with a distinct lack of family and community structure, in addition to an unclear set of expectations and ethics, can increase the physical and psychological isolation and vulnerability of teens.

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 Can asana practice create an environment for a healthy spine? Due to individual habits, movements, illnesses, injuries, and genetics, each spine is unique in its strengths and weaknesses. This means that one asana (posture) may be beneficial to one person's spine, while it may cause extreme pain to another. When the spine is misaligned, the circulation of spinal fluid, and the nerve responses throughout the body, is affected. With that said - any person who has pre-existing spinal problems, should consult with a medical professional before practicing Yoga postures or any form of exercise.

By Seema Deshpande Yoga can be practised in various forms - asanas or postures, meditation, positive affirmations, and pranayama or breathing exercises. All forms of yoga have countless advantages and can benefit human beings to the fullest if they practise any of these forms sincerely and consistently. In this article, we will specifically learn more about the benefits of practising pranayama, the safest and relatively easier forms of yoga. We will specifically examine if pranayama can help ease anxiety in people, which is the root cause of many psychological illnesses, and some physical disorders too.

By Faye Martins There are challenges of teaching kids inherent in many activities. Quite frankly, the challenges of teaching kids yoga could be endless! These challenges could range from protests about stomachaches and sore arms to not having the correct clothing. There may also be a lack of Yoga mats or the room may be too hot or too cold. The challenges will be similar to the same kind of issues a teacher would run into trying to teach kids chemistry or how to avoid dangling modifiers, with a P.E. twist of course.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed Teaching Yoga can be uplifting, inspiring and challenging. In many ways, this is never truer than when you are teaching a group of teenagers how to focus, concentrate and complete a series of challenging Yoga postures! Teenagers, by their very nature, often vacillate between period of intense focus and periods of lethargy, apathy and oppositional behavior. This is particularly true when a teenager is struggling with any number of difficult issues, which frequently produce defiant and uncooperative behavior patterns.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. In an ideal world, the idea of practicing Yoga solicits feelings of calm equipoise, energy and vibrant health. However, for many people the idea of practicing Yoga in the context of a structured class can bring up feelings of apprehension and fear. There may be any number of reasons for this apprehension. Some of these reasons include being physically or emotionally fragile. This sense of being physically fragile can come from being injured or in the process of healing from a surgical procedure.

By Sangeetha Saran The physical benefits of yoga are well known and well documented, but practicing it provides many exciting benefits for the mind too. Like most people, you may feel like thoughts are zipping through your mind at 100 miles per hour during every waking hour. The hectic nature of modern life is largely to blame for this phenomenon, but practicing yoga on a regular basis can help. If you'd like to learn to live in the moment and to stop fretting endlessly about the past and future, yoga can help you get there.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. One definition of fear is to be anxious about an unpleasant or painful event that you feel is likely to happen in the future. For instance, if you are pursuing your Yoga teacher certification, you may be afraid that you are going to fail your final anatomy exam because you have not spent an ample amount of time studying. This fear may be completely reasonable and understandable, or this fear may be largely exaggerated if you have spent an adequate amount of time preparing for the anatomy final, but you are prone to anxiety.

By Sangeetha Saran During your yoga class you may realize that some of the poses are reminiscent of some stretching and cool down exercises that you did in aerobics class during the '80s or '90s. It is true that some of the physical movements of yoga postures are similar to basic fitness stretches. What you won't remember in these other types of fitness classes is the practice of Pranayama.

By Kathryn Boland In a prior article I described how my father took me to a great little shop/art gallery down a windy and dusty road, and how that led me to reflect on the advantages of going "off the beaten bath" - exploring the unconventional for new knowledge, skill development, and enjoyable experiences. My father said something else while we were in that "arty" little store that led me to reflect on another general theme. He said something to the effect of (I paraphrase) "There's so much to see, it's almost overwhelming - but if you take a second time around the whole store, you'll see totally new and cool stuff."

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. As the warming rays of the sun gently saturate the earth, many of the early spring flowers of the Northeastern United States are beginning to unfurl and grace us with their beauty. With the coming of the springtime, many of us feel the natural urge to do some deep spring-cleaning, both of our external living spaces and our own bodies. Within the context of the rhythms of the year, the springtime naturally lends itself to detoxification and cleansing regimes, including detoxifying Yoga classes.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. Spring is a quintessential time to detoxify. This means detoxifying the extra items in your car, your closet and, of course, your body! Engaging in a systematic process of detoxification on a seasonal basis will help you to release toxic chemicals, emotions, and experiences from your body and mind. You may even find that you are confronted with a toxic work environment or a relationship that no longer serves your highest good. If this is the case, you may also wish to find a compassionate way to move on from those situations and/or relationships.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. How can Yin Yoga help cancer patients? It is quite unfortunate that the cancer rates have jumped so dramatically over the last few decades. Many experts believe that this exponential increase is due to the high levels of toxic chemicals in our food, water and air, in addition to the depleted soil that much of our food is grown in. According to some of the experts, the cancer rates have risen from 1 in 20 people confronting a cancer diagnosis during the 1920s, to 1 in 2 men or 1 in 3 women experiencing cancer at some point in their lives today.

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed. Is music generating enthusiasm in your classes? There is nothing quite as unsettling in a Yoga class as showing up for a Power Yoga class and having melodic new age music playing in the background, or attending a Yin Yoga class with hip hop music playing at a high enough volume that you can feel the reverberations through the floor boards. As a Yoga instructor, a very simple and straightforward way to generate enthusiasm in your classes is to choose appropriate musical selections that match and enhance the postures and breathing exercises through which you are guiding your students.

By Kathryn Boland Are you in challenging yoga teaching environments? It's clear that yoga instructors have a lot to offer with their skills and knowledge in guiding various individuals to greater holistic wellness - Opportunities for doing so range from nursing homes to health clubs to schools. Many resourceful and creative yoga instructors have taken advantage of such diverse opportunities, often apart from the specialized yoga studio atmosphere. It's also clear that yogic philosophy often differs from Western's cultures perspectives on wellness, including the best ways to both work towards and maintain it.