Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Paul M. Jerard Jr.


If you are a Yoga teacher, or thinking about becoming a Yoga teacher, the concepts contained within this series will save you money and, potentially, earn you a lot more money. How much money you want to earn as a Yoga teacher, is up to you. If you are willing to put in your time, marketing your Yoga teaching skills, the sky is the limit. None of us has to teach Yoga; we choose to teach Yoga because we love it and know the many rewards of steady Yoga practice.

That is why I pass on Yoga Business and Marketing information to my Yoga teacher interns, friends, peers, Yoga coaching clients, and competitors. Many great Yoga teachers are guilty of unwise business decisions, and desperately scratch out a living, without the proper business skills.

Speaking of Yoga business competitors, you would be better off to network with other local Yoga teachers. Some of the neighboring Yoga studios, in Providence, RI, refer prospective Yoga students to me, and I do the same for them. You can’t fill every Yoga niche and do you want to really try? Even McDonald’s has a limit on the menu and we can all learn from this. Better to do one or a few things very well, than do nothing well at all.

“Yoga Business” – Is this an Oxymoron, a Conflict of Interest, or Blasphemy? Do you feel guilty taking a Yoga students’ money? Why should you? What do your Yoga students expect you to live on? Would you feel bad paying for scuba lessons, skiing instruction, golf instruction, or a day with a fishing guide?

Of course not – because these instructors put in the time, practicing a skill, and are worth the money you pay them. If you have Yoga students who do not appreciate your skills in the same way – refuse to teach Yoga to them. You put in 200 or 500 hours of Yoga teacher training, worked on refining each aspect of teaching Yoga, and invested years of training as a Yoga student before that.

Yoga instructors deserve to be paid well. Continuing education courses for Yoga teachers, Yoga retreats, workshops, Yoga teacher seminars, books, Yoga correspondence courses for instructors, and Yoga videos are rarely free. If you join a local Yoga teacher association, or decide to become a registered Yoga teacher, that’s not free either.

So, where does all this guilt about taking money for your Yoga teaching services come from? It comes from being a “giver.” Yoga teachers are some of the biggest givers I have ever met. Which is nice, and restores my faith in humanity, but Yoga teachers are also supposed to be a living example of quality life. You cannot support your family, pay your rent, eat properly, or receive medical care by teaching Yoga for free.

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Guest Author: Dev Sri


Yoga, the extreme heights of peacefulness attained through the silencing of the soul.

Yoga, the oldest way of spiritual practice is one of the six schools in Hindu philosophy. Towards the end of twentieth century, yoga teachers moved to the West and travelers from the West to India led to the flourishing of Yoga in western countries. In the West, yoga gives stress on different postures associated with it. The Bhagavad Geetha, The Upanishads, The Yoga Sutras of Patajali, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Yoga Rahasya and many other Hindu texts holds writings based on Yoga.

Classification:

Karma yoga- Yoga of action

Jnana Yoga- Yoga of wisdom

Bhakti Yoga-Yoga of devotion

Raja Yoga- Yoga of meditation

Yoga, the science of liberation helps its disciples to reach the extreme point of liberation. Since Yoga has a basic therapeutic healing power, is practiced together with other medications. Ashtanga Yoga and Ayurveda is simply mixed in the practice of Yoga.

Yoga lay emphasis on the body, mind and the emotional area of a person. At the final stage the Yogi (one who practice Yoga) reaches the ‘moksha’ stage where there is no interruption of thoughts occurs. Concentration and meditation are indivisible parts of Yoga that infills the meditator with the extreme pleasures of peace and joy.

According to Hinduism, yoga is practiced to attain the union with the God and Buddhism says Yoga as a practice that deepens wisdom, thought and insight. Western countries give emphasis on individualism. Yoga is a practice to spiritual awareness and insight for a normal person.

Yoga Therapy:

Yoga Therapy is an extensive healer that promotes positive health. Anxiety, hypertension, heart problems, asthma, diabetes, etc are some of the conditions in which Yoga is applicable. Yoga therapy is approved by the Medical Researchers as it is found to be effective in most of the ailments. Yoga therapy is an effective stress manager. It includes physical postures, breathing techniques and other relaxation methods.

Sri Ramakrishna Parama Hamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, Parama Hamsa Yoga Nanda, Mira Bhai from Bhakti tradition, Sankaracharya from jnana tradition, etc are some of the celebrated yogis of the ancient India.

Guest Author: anonymous


Most of the time, prospective Yoga teachers have a very strong foundation in Yoga; but sometimes, they originally come from a related-field, such as Martial Arts, Pilates, Dance, Gymnastics, or Fitness. This is fine, but be prepared for a “learning curve” and do not expect to learn all about Yoga in one Yoga teacher training intensive course. Even if you “lock yourself up” in an ashram for months, you should realize that learning Yoga is a life-long journey and not a race.

Now, if you come from a related field – you have a lot more mental work to do than a long-time student of Yoga. Hatha Yoga is a physical form of Yoga, but being athletic is not as important as the knowledge a Yoga teacher should possess. So, what should you know in order to become a Yoga teacher? Below is a list of what a Hatha Yoga teacher should know in order to successfully teach Yoga classes.

Anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology should always be covered during a Yoga teacher training session. Yoga student safety is especially an important issue for those who will be teaching Yoga. Students are always physically different, and Hatha Yoga practice can be made to adapt to anyone – regardless of age or physical ability. Anyone who desires to teach Yoga should have a complete understanding of how the physical body works.

Asanas are the postures held during Yoga practice. Hatha Yoga teachers do not have to know hundreds of Asanas to teach a Yoga class, but they should be very familiar with 26 to 100 different Yoga postures – depending upon the style of Yoga. Yoga teachers should be able to design a lesson plan using these postures, their variations, and the many other aspects of Hatha Yoga teaching.

Yoga teachers should know how to give Asana modifications to their students. Sometimes, this could be advising a Yoga student to use a block, strap, bolster, chair, ball, blanket, or any other prop for proper alignment and safety. Other times, this might be giving a Yoga student an alternative variation of an Asana.

Yoga teachers should be familiar with contraindications for Asanas; which are cautions that can be related to a specific Yoga posture. This is very important when working with Yoga students who are pregnant, have high blood pressure, or have a specific ailment.

Yoga teachers should take the time to be familiar with each student and his or her particular health condition. This means researching health conditions that Yoga students have and staying on top of your own continuing education. After becoming familiar with an ailment; learn how you can help, but never give medical advice.

No Yoga teacher should ever put a student at risk. The body of a Yoga student cannot be forced into a position that a Yoga teacher feels is correct. Instead, the body is gently guided to its natural limits, without pain and little discomfort.

Copyright 2007 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Guest Author: Steve Evans


Children is a wonderful antidote to the hectic lives that our children lead. Yoga can be relaxing, stimulating, and promotes well being. It provides closely controlled exercise and is enormous fun for children at the same time.

A number of Yoga for Children programmes have been created by Yoga teachers to introduce the benefits of yoga and relaxation at an early age in a playful, simple and fun way. The combination of special yoga moves, breathing exercises and relaxations will energize, strengthen, loosen and balance little bodies, while helping to calm and control and relax little minds.

Kids yoga is a wonderful opportunity for the child to learn life skills that can be implemented into their daily routine. Whether it\’s breathing and relaxation techniques that will help them, focus, concentrate or be calm; or postures that will help their endurance, flexibility, balance and coordination these are all very naturally a strong part of yoga.

Yoga for children is most successful if the children are encouraged to use their imagination. A dynamic, creative and stimulating approach grabs the children\’s attention.

Yoga for children is practiced in the United Kingdom. It is not new to Britain, with after-school clubs and classes gaining popularity in recent years as parents realize its wide-ranging benefits. What is new to the UK, however, is the method of Research on Yoga in Education (RYE), an international non-profit making organization which blends the standard school curriculum with exercises on concentration, attention and relaxation, drawn mainly from traditional yoga.

What is also claimed is that Yoga for children gives the benefit that the children may be protected from injuries and at the same time they get all the benefits of exercising the system. This is not to suggest that the other exercise including outdoor forms of exercises and sports and games are not beneficial.

Parents have expressed appreciation for the presentation of yoga in a playful manner with its presentation of actively moving exercises balanced with those that require stillness and inner concentration, all in a child-friendly way. Parents may be practicing yoga themselves, and kids are always interested in what their parents are up to.

When assessing yoga trainers for children, parents should also inquire as to the spiritual nature of the classes; some instructors take a strong religious stance, while others offer no particular religious slant, instead focusing simply on the movements and breathing.

In the best classes the kids learn balance with dozens of yoga poses, develop strength, improve coordination and enhance their flexibility all with these children\’s yoga exercises. Furthermore, kids develop an overall sense of strength, flexibility and well-being, while they get hold of their active lives and sometimes overactive minds. Kids get to prowl, growl and wiggle through yoga animal poses from Alligator to Zebra! Certified children\’s yoga instructors will introduce stretching, breathing, standing poses and simple meditation.

Kids yoga provides an answer to children who we might described as being are little bit harder to reach, although we stand firm with our belief that every child has an angel deep down inside them.

We have said that children’s Yoga allows a child to deal with daily stress. What do we mean by that?

The answer is that each time a child enters a Yoga class for kids, he or she can “close the door” on negative feelings that stress overload brings. They can simply put that behind them throughout the lesson and afterward doing that tend to take a more mature perspective. Kids need a way to manage all of their stress and anxiety. It is not healthy for a child to feel so much anxiety over any given situation.

There you have it! Kids and yoga seem like a natural match. It can be immensely therapeutic for those who need it.

However, yoga can be presented well and insensitively. The best trainers recognize that kids need a practice that suits their physical and emotional needs. Luckily, many yoga schools across the nation are responding to the growing interest in yoga for the younger set in a very well managed and sensitive way.

It is a fact that to provide kids yoga a specialized training might be needed, and is in some places being made available, but patience is a key quality needed for Yoga instructors who want to embark on this path. I teach children myself, and a Kids Yoga class has to be well devised, be fun, and include games.

So, we hope that we have shown you how yoga is such a great way to relax and de-stress equally for the child and the adult.

However, did you know that there are even now some yoga practitioners who are providing training to parents in yoga from soon after birth?

By using yoga with babies, parents confidence grows in handling, playing and having fun with their babies. The classes are fun class in a system which also offers gentle post-natal yoga and tummy toning exercises for mummy!

The Real Youth Potion