All about Yoga

When teaching Yoga classes, there are times when you have to be a “cheer leader.” What do I mean by this? There are many interconnected aspects of life, and we all play a small part in them. Each student’s level of success, in life, depends on constant positive reinforcement during the day.

When you see an accomplishment, do not hesitate to praise your students. This does not have to be artificial praise or flattery. A heart felt compliment is much different. Far too often, people in general, and some of our students, feel they do not deserve praise, or that they have a right to succeed in life.

Every Yoga teacher knows students, who feel they do not deserve a better life. This variation of negative thinking is “baggage” that holds back all of humanity.

As teachers, we have the ability to instill positive habits, which will result in happiness and successful living.

The average student has to see the value of a Yogic lifestyle long enough to cultivate the habit of regular Yoga practice. For many people, this is a big step. You cannot expect new students to be present in their practice, until you point out how to connect mind and body with Pranayama. This may seem very basic, but some students never learn this step because they did not have the guidance.

Does this mean you can reach every student? No – each student has different thoughts, needs, and aspirations. Some people see only the superficial layer of everything. You cannot make everyone see the deeper aspects of life. An example of this is the student who sees Hatha Yoga only as a stretch class.

There is nothing wrong with this. Stretching alone is a good physical exercise, but stretching and exercise are only components of Yoga. Happiness, clarity of mind, tranquility, and Samadhi, require guidance from a competent Yoga teacher.

Eventually, your students will learn to honor the true teacher within themselves, but they need to develop a clear vision of progress, success, and achievement, before they undertake their journey. The starting point in the journey is usually “sparked” by an exceptional teacher.

Teaching Yoga is, in some ways, like parenting. If you have instilled a strong foundation in your students, you will be proud of them and their achievements. The student with Multiple Sclerosis, who is making great progress, or the child who is learning to concentrate, each has a significant success story.

Make it a point to recognize student progress, when you are aware of it. Our advancement, as a species, depends on it.

Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Let’s face it, Yoga teachers who live in Northern climates have been looking forward to a break from the “winter chill.” Your Yoga students have also been looking forward to the warm weather and they want to take a vacation. What can Yoga teachers and Yoga studios do to compensate for the “Summer Slow Down?”

You have taught your Yoga students about empowerment all year, but some students may not return to your regular classes, without a reminder. Many North Americans take a couple of weeks off in July and some summer vacations will be planned for August. Most of my friends in Europe take August off, therefore, Yoga teachers are looking at a minimum of one month during the summer that is predominantly slow, depending on your exact location and culture.

Some Yoga teachers in the Southern United States will experience a slow down, if the temperatures rise too much and too soon. Yoga classes can become sparse, especially if the temperatures jump to the 90’s Fahrenheit during late spring or early summer. So, what action can Yoga teachers take to deal with this vacation season?

How about special classes? Did you ever think about teaching Yoga classes in a pool? What about testing Yoga classes that you had not considered during a busy season? What about an “Introduction to Hot Yoga” or a Vinyasa style Yoga class that is a little warmer than usual? What about testing a short-term Pranayama class or Yoga meditation workshop as a “pilot class” for the busy season?

Once again, I ask you to enlarge your vision and “think outside the box.” Do enough ground work and research to become an innovator, rather than “follow the crowd.” Even if your Yoga classes do slow down a bit, you can cater to your “regular students,” who are with you “through thick and thin.” Ask your Yoga students for feedback.

One last major point to bring up: Make sure you are working on “reminders” to your Yoga students who regularly attend classes during cooler weather. It is best to use this time to get a list of all of your Yoga students and prepare for a mailing in late August, or early September.

This is the time when children go back to school, and family plans are made for the fall schedule. If you teach Yoga for a living, your first priority is to thank your students for their past participation and remind them that you still teach Yoga.

It is very easy for anyone to forget their priorities, and Yoga students are no exception. Yoga teachers contribute to the well being of their student’s mental, physical, and spiritual health. When you see inactive Yoga students around town, they often thank you for what they have learned from you.

Therefore, do not take a summer slow down personally. This is a season that you should make the most of by taking action and testing new ideas for your Yoga classes.

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Yoga Sutras

Yoga is an art of discipline that was developed by an Indian Hindu named Patanjali. He wrote a book on yoga in Sanskrit over two thousand years ago. Yoga sutras comes in many forms specially designed to suit different types of people. Therefore, some forms of yoga have gained popularity significantly.

The word “yoga” derived from the Sanskrit word “Yuj”, which means to yoke, and is typically translated as union, integration, attach, join, or unite. Thus, it is the union and integration of every part of a human being, from the innermost to the external.

The yoga sutras are considered to be a collection of yogic thoughts that is largely raja yogic in nature. In yoga sutras, Patanjali suggests eight steps that are the basic principles of yoga practice to calm one’s mind and unite with the infinite.

The yoga sutras are the physical activities that focus on the body, meditation and the mind. Yoga sutras combine the yoga practices to provide an overall sense of physical and mental health.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras – Ashtanga Yoga

Here are the eight yoga sutras to look at and learn a little about each one.

* Yama – abstentions

* Niyama – self-purification and study

* Asana – posture or pose

* Pranayama – breathe control

* Pratyahara – sense control

* Dharana – concentration

* Dhyana – contemplation

* Samadhi – veridical meditation

Yama and Niyama

The first two yoga sutras, yama and niyama, are ten good logical guidelines for bringing spiritual consciousness into a social perspective to lead a healthier, happier life. They both cope with moral and ethical issues.

They are the fundamental laws to direct the actions of humanity. These yoga sutras help us in respecting the principles of this life, in balancing our inner intensification with outer restraint. Following these principles of yoga sutras means leading a life in a better way, about making it possible to understand and connect with the divine. Thus they lead us to a conscious life.

Asana

Asana refers to the different postures that can be practiced to reinforce the body physically. It is treated as yoga postures in accord with one’s inner consciousness. A Regular practice of this yoga sutra helps to keep our body fit, controls levels of cholesterol, normalizes blood pressure, reduces weight, and recovers heart performance.

Pranayama

Pranayama is a multiple term ‘prana’ and ‘yama’, which means the maintenance of prana in a healthy way throughout one’s life. It is the control of our breathing through yoga exercises. Regular practice of pranayama helps to control the prana in and around us. Thus it leads to a state of inner peace.

Pratyahara

Pratyahara is achieved when all of your senses are withdrawn from the outside world. It is necessary to practice pratyahara for reaching the three meditative stages: dharana, dhyana and samadhi. It is a yoga technique through which you are focusing, on what is going on within your body.

Dharana

Dharana, this one of the yoga sutras centers on your concentration. It’s to help you in developing a one-mindedness that, special concentration techniques to enable you to focus only on your inner world.

Dhyana

Dhyana is translated as meditation, when the mind gains the ability to maintain its concentration without getting diverted. You unite with your inner self and image of concentration. You use the time to reflect on your special qualities.

Samadhi

The last one of the yoga sutras is Samadhi or total absorption, is the capability of becoming one with the true self and unites into the object of concentration. Reaching Samadhi is the ultimate aim of all yoga practitioners of classical yoga. It means “union with the supreme.” For yoga devotees, this is the supreme goal.

It is the identification with static reality. It requires a dedicated practice to achieve the perfect yoga sutra. It takes ample of dedicated practices on concentration, contemplation, and meditation to let you on the way to the final sutra of Samadhi. With this one of the yoga sutras, you develop a great amount of determination and will power.

Most people turn to yoga for asanas, the postures. They are seeking the ways of relaxing, increasing their flexibility and practicing yoga exercises that isn’t tiresome. In Asana, the yoga postures are needed to be firm and pleasant.

It may also take some time for them to feel that way, as there are some postures that are not easy or comfortable to perform at initial stages. So, at this stage, you can make use of supports in order to feel steady and pleasant. Make use of props, such as a pillow to allow more comfort.

You should make challenge of yourself until you feel comfortable with the first postures you learn. It is necessary for you to find a stable and comfortable place within you in order to discover your true potential. The inner center is where all action should originate.

Ultimately, you are able to relax and meditate. While practicing yoga sutras and it’s going smoothly, you’re already half way there. The feeling of success makes you recognize that all things are possible. So, better challenge yourself at the moment in order to discover your quiet, peaceful inner peace.

As any enthusiastic practitioner of Yoga will tell you, physical and mental therapy is the most important benefit of yoga. Aging, largely an artificial condition caused mainly by auto-intoxication or self-poisoning, has people scared of the process. What they do not realise is that the aging process can be slowed down by practicing yoga on a regular basis. And, no doubt, medical research will tell you that a clean, flexible and well lubricated body plays a significant role in reducing the catabolic process of cell deterioration. However, to derive the maximum benefits from doing yoga, one must combine the practice of yoga asana, pranayama and meditation.

Doing pranayama, asanas and meditation daily helps in diverse ailments, such as, diabetes, blood pressure, digestive disorders, arthritis, arteriosclerosis, chronic fatigue, asthma, varicose veins and heart conditions. Scientific tests have proven a yogi’s increased abilities of consciously controlling autonomic or involuntary functions, such as temperature, heartbeat and blood pressure. Currently, research into the effects of yogic practices on HIV is underway and has indicated positive and promising results.

Medical scientists attest to the success of yoga therapy, as it helps to balance both the nervous and endocrine systems, which directly influence all the other systems and organs of the human body. Not only a curative, but a preventative therapy, as well, the very essence of yoga lies in attaining mental peace, improved concentration powers, a relaxed state of living and harmony in relationships.

Practising Yoga makes us aware that there is an inter-connectedness between our emotional, mental and physical levels, as we gradually begin to understand the more subtle areas of existence. The ultimate goal of yoga is to make it possible and enable one to fuse together the gross material (annamaya), physical (pranamaya), mental (manomaya), intellectual (vijnanamaya) and spiritual (anandamaya) levels, within our being.

In case, you are still unconvinced about the benefits of Yoga, why not read some yoga books, including yoga books on meditation and spirituality. There are even online yoga books and audiotapes, one can listen to while driving or running errands. Once you are convinced of the benefits of practising Yoga, the next step before beginning to practise it is to equip yourself with some yoga accessories, such as, a yoga mat, yoga strap and yoga block. Go Yoga!

Yoga for Toning Your Body

Yoga in these days is becoming popular and is practiced by people mainly for its health benefits. The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word “union,” which means ‘to join.’

It aims for the great union of the body, mind, and spirit through a system of postures, breathing exercises, meditation. It refers to far more than these. In reality, it includes a wide range of disciplines designed to eventually bring the practitioners closer to god.

The yoga classes are usually longer than any other exercise classes because practicing yoga generally needs two to three hours. During a yoga session, your yoga instructor will guide you a series of yoga poses, where you will find many for the yoga positions with simple names such as ‘the plank,’ ‘the cat,’ or ‘the warrior.’

Yoga, when compared to other classes, is based on perfection and many yoga practitioners expend large amounts of their time in getting the positions perfect. Many instructors make use of definite terminology in their sessions.

You may feel overwhelmed in the beginning with terms such as asana, pranayama or pratyahara. So, do not allow these put you off, as it is not essential to learn and master all yoga terminology.

Benefits of Yoga

The benefits of yoga are countless. The most important benefit of yoga is physical and mental therapy. Hence yoga is considered therapeutic or beneficial. Yoga helps to increase one’s body flexibility. It also helps to increase the muscle and tendon suppleness, as a result decreasing your risk of injuries.

It can also helps to combat against certain illnesses, and there are some reliable researches proving that it aids in controlling certain illnesses such as headaches, arthritis, stress, anxiety, blood pressure, asthma, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, epilepsy, diabetes and many more.

Practicing yoga doesn’t increase the aerobic fitness of your body, apart from ‘ashtanga yoga’, so it is better to combine yoga sessions with aerobic type of exercises such as brisk walking or jogging. The ultimate aim is to manage the breathing and reduce stress through meditation.

Types of Yoga

Yoga is all about poses, breathing exercises and meditation. There are many types of yoga that are available to practice regularly in order to maintain a healthy body and though no type particularly is harder.

So, it is wise to ensure how experienced your yoga class is prior to join. Generally, beginner’s classes are more available.

Here are some of the types of yoga:

Hatha Yoga

‘Hatha’ is a type of yoga that is an overall term for the physical part of yoga. Hatha yoga is suggested for the yoga beginners. Hatha covers most types of yoga and a class that is known as Hatha Yoga, is usually a balanced and moderately concentrated.

Yoga posture and breathing exercises will be practiced. It’s best to gain knowledge of yoga fundamentals before moving to other type.

Iyengar Yoga

This is one of the Hatha yoga styles, which needs to practice with the body alignment and focusing on the way to understand the body and its work. There is very little focus on breathing exercises and meditation for starting levels. The primary importance is on proper alignment, mainly for the spine and core of the body.

This Hatha yoga style makes use of some supports such as yoga blankets, yoga blocks, and yoga straps in order to bring your body into a proper alignment. Practitioners will hold the yoga poses for longer periods of time than other types of yoga.

Astanga Yoga

Ashtanga is an interesting one among all Hatha yoga styles, which is a series of yoga poses that always practiced in the same order. Astanga yoga is a physically demanding workout. Astanga yoga practitioners practice these postures in a continual flow linking their movements from breath to breath.

Practicing this type of yoga will develop the body strength, stamina and flexibility. It is also called as power yoga. Those who want to practice this type of yoga can fit it easier if they are physically fit.

A basic beginners yoga breathing routine a great start for any yoga class to centre the mind . Basic Pranayama is good for alot of aspect of yoga. The simple act of learning to control the breath has a number of beneficial effects on your wellbeing, ranging from increasing your energy, to improved relaxation into sleep. It purifies the body by flushing away the gaseous by products of metabolism and will also help you to remain calm in the face of the challenges that we encounter in our …