Archive for April, 2008

Written By Katheryn Hoban

Here are a few more great stretches for your back, shoulders, and arms all while sitting in the chair. The point to most of these is to make time for your self and to do them consistently. I suggest to all my clients and you that you will get greater benefit if you stretch at a minimum of ten minutes per day to about thirty minutes. We can usually find a few minutes here and there during our day. If you have less time do the minimum if you have more time, and you want to extend your stretch time, that’s all up to you. But I’m going to giving you a starting place.

Some more Easy Chair Stretches:

(Seated- Modified Fish)

Step One: Push your chair back from your desk for the time of stretching.

Step Two: Uncross your legs and sit with your legs slightly open, which is chair or hip width. Put your feet solidly on the ground. Your hands can rest on the tops of your thighs for now. During the stretching please breathe in and out through your nose only.

Step Three: Move your body away from the chair back so that you have a few inches behind you and the chair. Next place both of your hands on the chair seat behind your hips. Put your hands close together behind you on the chair seat.

Step Four: Arch your back and chest upward. Look up towards the ceiling. At this moment since you are leaning back you can breathe out of your MOUTH because any time you lean backwards that becomes a moment of release and you can breathe out of your mouth. Hold the position for a few minutes and then release. You can repeat as often as you like.

This stretches the arms, chest and shoulders and neck. It releases a lot of built up chest and shoulder tension and is a great refreshing moment of recharge.

New Stretch:

(Diagonal Twist)

Step One: You can sit fully back on your chair now.

Step Two: Uncross your legs and sit with your legs slightly open, which is chair or hip width. Put your feet solidly on the ground. Your hands can rest on the tops of your thighs for now. During the stretching please breathe in and out through your nose only.

Step Three: Take your LEFT ELBOW and bring it down to the outside of your RIGHT KNEE or as close as you can get it. Extend your arm and fingers downward by your leg. Keep your hand open. Now take your RIGHT ARM and hand and extend all the way up towards the ceiling. Turn your head towards the RIGHT SHOULDER and look at the ceiling. Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds. Breath in and out only through your nose as you can. Release and come back to your original seating position.

Switch sides-

Step Four: Take your RIGHT ELBOW and bring it down to the outside of your LEFT KNEE or as close as you can get it. Extend your arm and fingers downward by your leg. Keep your hand open. Now take your LEFT ARM and hand and extend all the way up towards the ceiling. Turn your head towards the LEFT SHOULDER and look at the ceiling. Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds. Breath in and out only through your nose as you can. Release and come back to your original seating position.

This is a great diagonal twist across your back, your arms, and chest. You may feel a nice release in your lower back. You can repeat these simple exercises for as many times as you like.

New Stretch:

(Forward Extension and Stretch)

Step One: Sit with your hands palms down close to your body on the tops of your legs. The fingers are pointing in the direction of your knees.

Step Two: You are now going to slide your hands all the way down your legs. Down past your knees and continue down towards your feet. Bend your body over your legs as you do this.

Step Three: When you reach your feet, stretch and extend your arms straight out towards the floor in front of your feet and beyond. Keep extending outward and upward with your arms.

Step Four: Grasp your two thumbs together as you extend your fingers out and upward.

Your arms are now going to come upward off the floor. Keep extending upward.

Step Five: As you are lifting your body and arms upward from the bent over position, your arms, and hands extend upward, and continue to arch backward. Keep your thumbs together. Now push your chest slightly forward. Hold for a few seconds. Release.

Step Six: Repeat this forward extension and stretch a few times. This stretch is really beneficial to extend the spine and back. As an added benefit it stretches the arms, chest, and shoulders, and you get some needed oxygen to the brain.

Take a few moments each day to do some of these simple stretches. You will feel a difference in the flexibility of your spine and back, and you will feel that your mind will be clearer and sharper in just a few minutes. Anything that you can do is better than not doing it.

Yoga Kat–aka Katheryn Hoban is a yoga teacher and Reiki Master Teacher with twelve years experience. She teaches children’s yoga ages 3-6, and Adults privately in NJ. She is the author of the book -Masters of Consciousness-A Guide Book for the Cosmic Traveler. She has created a children’s affirmation CD (ages 3-6) and an affirmation CD for adults. Yoga Kat is available for speaking or writing and can be reached at or 201 970-9340 or go to http://www.thecircleofpeace.com and sign up for our newsletter from there or send an e-mail to circleofpeace@aweber.com and click on the e-mailed link. See me in a discussion from my book on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FSCTfi0rW0 The selection is called INSPIRATIONAL YOU

Written By B D Kenny

More and more employers are realizing the benefits of practicing Yoga in the workforce. With the increase in stress levels of employees, employers are now exploring different ways of relieving these stresses. While some are allowing employees to take naps others have decided to begin practicing yoga at work.

Some businesses have even gone so far as incorporating yoga into the daily routine of their employees and have seen an increase in productivity as well as a more content workforce.

Many employers have become aware of the fact that in addition to reducing stress they’re also contributing to the overall health of their employees. As a result employees are taking fewer days off work for sickness. It just makes good business sense to encourage Yoga in the workplace as it seems to be paying dividends in the long term.

Yoga has increased in popularity with business professionals who lead a fast paced and stressful life who find that regular sessions of yoga help to reduce their stress considerably and make them more productive.

The fact that a person practicing Yoga doesn’t require the use of bulky equipment simply means that Yoga can be practiced anywhere and is not restricted to a gym or even a designated room within the office. A practitioner can easily perform a series of Yoga exercises at their desk with the use of a reasonable chair in a carpeted office. This makes it convenient for the practitioner as well as economical for the employer.

Another benefit to the employer is the fact that Yoga can be practiced by employees of all ages. Even people who have never exercised in their life are able to start yoga and see results almost immediately. Practicing Yoga in the workplace can also help in relieving those aches and pains which are so common among those employees who work for hours sitting at a desk working on a computer.

Research has shown that taking short breaks during the day where basic yoga exercises are performed can relieve pain, reduce fatigue and increase safety in the workforce due to the improvements in these areas. While all employees would benefit by having Yoga in the workforce, employees whose daily tasks are repetitive such as office workers or factory workers would benefit most from practicing yoga in the workforce.

To download your FREE guide “STRESS-BUSTING STRETCHES” click on Yoga Stretches For The Office and for a limited time you’ll also receive our Weekly Yoga For Exercise Or Alternative Health newsletter, jammed packed full of special offers and reviews delivered to your inbox absolutely FREE.

Yoga For Health has now partnered with one of the fastest growing healthy living companies in the country. This is great news as we are now pleased to offer Yoga Accessories like YOGA MATS, CLOTHES, STRAPS and SHOES at discounted prices. Visit us today!

Written By Michael J Mckay

It is a long-standing belief amongst yoga practitioners that yoga breathing exercises can definitely help those people suffering from mild asthma and similar symptoms. It is further maintained that these exercises may improve their capabilities of breathing without the aid of low-dose drug inhalers, used by sufferers in wheezing attacks. If they don’t totally remove the use of inhalers, then the systematic practice of the breathing exercises will reduce their usage greatly.

Scientific research carried out at the Respiratory Medicine Unit, City University, Nottingham, England has called for more studies based on ways and techniques of improving breathing control. Their social studies have indicated that the types of studies mentioned earlier have been largely ignored by Western medicine and medical researchers. If this is indeed the case then a more natural, Eastern alternative such as yoga is a ready and able alternative.

Yoga practitioners have long believed in the benefits of pranayama breathing exercises to aid people suffering from breathing difficulties, especially asthmatics. Although this may be the case, it has been hard to study formally under laboratory or test conditions. However, by using a device known as a Pink City lung – this device imposes slow, artificial breathing on the user , which can mimic the pranayama breathing exercises – it has been possible to measure the effects of controlled breathing in a hospital trial. Two simulated pranayama exercises were tested during this trial, the slow , deep breathing technique and the breathing out for twice as long as breathing in technique.

Generally speaking, as an asthma sufferer your airways become restricted making it difficult for you to breathe. The condition is increasing rapidly in the Western world, where in the UK more than three-and-a-half million children and adults are affected. The condition is also responsible for over 2,000 deaths annually. Recent medical studies involving the amount of air a patient could blow out in a second, and the testing of the general irritability of the patient’s airways showed that after practising yoga breathing exercises, their affected airways were two times less irritable!

Though it is not the intention of this piece to advise asthma sufferers to stop using their medication, its purpose is to educate them to the benefits they will receive from trying the breathing exercises and discovering the freedom they will receive from doing so.

Start your yoga breathing exercises today and see the great, long-term health benefits you will receive.

Take action now by clicking here to discover the most effective way to dramatically improve your physical and mental well-being permanently.

Written By Cindy Heller

History of Hatha Yoga: The history of hatha yoga goes back in the fifteenth century India when Yogi Swatmarama, a sage during those times, introduced it as a form of “a stairway to the heights” of Raja Yoga which is the preparatory stage of physical purification that makes the body fit for the practice of higher form of meditation. Hatha yoga is also known to be called as “hatha vidya” and the word “hatha” is a combination of the words, “ha” which means sun “tha” that means moon and they are said to refer to the prinicipal “nadis” or the energy channels of the body and must be fully operational to attain the state of “dhyana” or a certain aspect of meditation.

Some people may link that the origins of hatha yoga which dates back in the tenth or eleventh century with Goraknath, a yogin during those times. However, the oldest surviving text about hatha yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by yogin, Yogi Swatmarama. The text is said to be taken from old Sanskrit writings and personal yogin experiences of the yogin himself. The text relates about shatkarma, asana, pranayama, chakras, kundalini, bandhas, kriyas, shakti, nadis, and mudras among others.

Concept of Hatha yoga: The total concept of the traditional hatha yoga is a holistic yogic path comprising of moral disciplines, physical exercises, breath control, and meditation. The hatha yoga that is widely practiced and popular in the western countries mainly composed of the “asanas” or postures and other exercises.

Hatha yoga is only one of the two concepts of yoga that concentrates on the physical culture and the other yoga is the Raja yoga but both of these are referred to as Ashtanga yoga. The main difference is that the Raja yoga concentrates more on the “asanas” or postures to get the body ready for a prolonged meditation that concentrates mainly on the meditative “asana” poses. The hatha yoga on the other hand concentrates on balancing the mind and body through physical exercises, controlled breathing, and calming the mind through meditation and sheer relaxation.

Different positions or postures are recommended by practitioners to help lessen or avoid health problems ranging from constipation through cancer. It was said that it helps to reduce stress, pressure, and other mental worries that people today are frequently exposed to.

History of Karma Yoga

Karma yoga also known as Buddhi Yoga or the “discipline of action” is centered on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit scripture of Hinduism. One of the four pillars of yoga, Karma yoga concentrates on the adherence to duty (dharma) while remaining detached from the reward. It states that one can attain Moksha (salvation) or love of God (bhakti) by performing their duties in a selfless manner for the pleasure of the Supreme. Karma Yoga is an inherent part of many derivative types of yoga, such as Natya Yoga.

Concept Of Karma Yoga

The word Karma is mentioned from the Sanskrit Kri, meaning ‘to do’, in its most basic sense karma simply means action, and yoga translates to union. Therefore, Karma yoga literally translates to the path of union through action. It is described as a way of acting, thinking and willing by which one acts in accordance with one’s duty (dharma) with no consideration of personal selfish desires, likes or dislikes, i.e. acting without being emotionally involved to the fruits of one’s deeds.

In the case of Arjuna in the Gita, this translated to his fighting in the oncoming war to uphold the righteous cause in accordance with his duty as a warrior; even if out of compassion, he did not want to battle with his relatives and teachers on the other side.

Krishna then goes on to tell how Arjuna should surrender the fruits of his actions (good or bad) to himself (as the Supreme Person or avatara) :

Krishna describes that allocated work done without expectations, motives, or anticipation of its outcome purifies one’s mind and slowly makes an individual fit to see the value of reason. He states that it is not necessary to remain in external solitude, or actionless, in order to practice a spiritual life, with the state of action or inaction is solely determined in the mind.

In order to attain the perfection of life, Krishna describes it is important to control all mental desires and tendencies to enjoy pleasures of the senses. The practice of Karma Yoga in everyday life makes an individual fit through action, meditation and devotion to sharpen his reasoning, develop intuitive power of acquiring knowledge and to transcend the mind itself.

History Of Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga also known as Classical Yoga or simply Yoga is one of the six orthodox (astika) schools of Hindu philosophy, being described Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. It is also occasionally referred to as A??anga (eight-limbed) yoga because there are eight aspects to the path to which one must attend. Raja yoga is concerned primarily with the cultivation of the mind using meditation (dhyana) to further one’s acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation.

The term Raja Yoga is a retronym, introduced in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika to differentiate the school based on the Yoga Sutras from the new current of Hatha Yoga.

Concept of Raja Yoga

Raja-Yoga is principally concerned with the mind. The mind is traditionally perceived as the ‘king’ of the psycho-physical structure which does its bidding (whether or not one has realized this). Because of the relationship between the mind and the body, the body must be ‘tamed’ first through self-discipline and purified by various means (see Hatha Yoga). A good level of overall health and psychological integration must be achieved before the deeper aspects of yoga can be pursued. Humans have all sorts of addictions and temptations and these preclude the attainment of tranquil abiding (meditation). Through restraint (yama) such as celibacy, abstaining from drugs and alcohol and careful attention to one’s actions of body, speech and mind, the human being becomes well to practise meditation. This yoke that one puts upon oneself is the alternate meaning of the word yoga.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras start with the statement yogas citta-vtti-nirodha (1.2), “yoga limits the oscillations of the mind”. They proceed on to detailing the ways in which mind can create false ideations and advocate meditation on real objects, which process, it is said, will lead to a spontaneous state of quiet mind, the “Nirbija” or “seedless state”, in which there is no mental object of focus. Practices that serve to maintain for the individual the ability to check this state may be considered Raja Yoga practices. Thus Raja Yoga encompasses and differentiates itself from other forms of Yoga by encouraging the mind to avoid the sort of absorption in obsessional practice (including other traditional yogic practices) that can generate false mental objects. In this angle, Raja Yoga is “king of yogas”: all yogic practices are seen as potential tools for obtaining the seedless state, itself considered to be the first point in the quest to cleanse Karma and obtain Moksha or Nirvana. Traditionally, schools of yoga that label themselves “Raja” offer students a mix of yogic practices and (hopefully) this philosophical viewpoint.

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit varicose vein cures to learn more about the history of yoga and other different types of yoga.

Written By Michael J Mckay

The application of meditation largely requires the practitioner to sit still, in one position for a period of time. Obviously the length of time a person can sit like this varies with their experience. Times can range from as little as 5 minutes up to as much as a couple of hours; maybe longer. As such it is essential that the person meditating remains as comfortable as possible during that time. Yoga moves and exercises which incorporate the stretching and relaxation of the muscles, really helps to make these extended periods of sitting possible.

Yoga practise also teaches techniques that promote the calming of the mind and body, which makes it easier to become prepared for meditation. Being in a more relaxed physical and mental state makes meditation a realistic prospect for the majority of twenty-first century people who lead very active and often stressful lives. There minds are simply cluttered. A lot of people combine both their yoga and meditation exercises in their lives to maximize the benefits they gain from both. They also get the additional benefits that combining both principles gives to the user.

Many new and old world religions, especially those in India, use the combined principles of yoga and meditation as the key elements to practising religion. This is the case because they fully understand and appreciate the core principles in yoga and meditation, and how practising these techniques bring about a large reduction of both stress and anxiety in the body. Furthermore, these elements of harmony and balance result in a more stable and tolerant society.

By really helping people to calm down and control their negative emotions, it promotes health and happiness in yoga practitioners. Added to this the ability to meditate effectively further allows people to reach a much higher state of awareness and acceptance of themselves and their peers.

So by combining the positive benefits of both yoga and meditation it is almost certain to make significant, favourable changes in your life. It will also remove any bad habits or negative emotions that, if allowed to manifest, will undoubtedly destroy any opportunity you have to get the most out of your life. For the majority of people meditation is a discipline that they wouldn’t even have considered, had they not experienced the positive effects that yoga will bring about in their lives. Yes, yoga and meditation compliment each other and, when practised together in harmony will change your life positively for good!

Start adding meditation techniques into your yoga exercises today and experience the great, long-term health benefits you will receive.

Take action now by clicking here to discover the most effective way to dramatically improve your physical and mental well-being permanently.

Written By Annie Besant

Now the conception as to the relation of Spirit to Matter is a very peculiar one, and confused ideas about it give rise to many misconceptions. If you grasp it, the Bhagavad-Gita becomes illuminated, and all the phrases about action and actor, and the mistake of saying “I act,” become easy to understand, as implying technical Samkhyan ideas.

The three qualities of Prakriti, when Prakriti is thought of as away from Purusha, are in equilibrium, motionless, poised the one against the other, counter-balancing and neutralizing each other, so that Matter is called jada, unconscious, “dead”.

But in the presence of Purusha all is changed. When Purusha is in propinquity to Matter, then there is a change in Matter—not outside, but in it.

Purusha acts on Prakriti by propinquity, says Vyasa. It comes near Prakriti, and Prakriti begins to live. The “coming near” is a figure of speech, an adaptation to our ideas of time and space, for we cannot posit “nearness” of that which is timeless and spaceless–Spirit.

By the word propinquity is indicated an influence exerted by Purusha on Prakriti, and this, where material objects are concerned, would be brought about by their
propinquity.

If a magnet be brought near to a piece of soft iron or an electrified body be brought near to a neutral one, certain changes are wrought in the soft iron or in the neutral body by that bringing near.

The propinquity of the magnet makes the soft iron a magnet; the qualities of the magnet are produced in it, it manifests poles, it attracts steel, it attracts or repels the end of an electric needle.

In the presence of a positively electrified body the electricity in a neutral body is re-arranged, and thepositive retreats while the negative gathers near the electrified body. An internal change has occurred in both cases from the propinquity of another object. So with Purusha and Prakriti.

Annie Besant

Written By Glen Wood

Low Back Pain in Drivers: Low back pain (LBP) is a common concern among drivers in all classes of vehicles, particularly among those who are involved in a high vibratory environment.

This vibration could be either due to vehicle or road on which it is driven. In India, this problem has an additional dimension of large two wheeler traffic with poor roads. This model is used to identify the effect of vibratory load on lower back.

After 12 years of this back pain he was going to kill himself (in 1997). Then his wife heard about NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association). helping a guy with fibromyalgia.

He went and after the first adjustment most of the pain was gone. Nine days later he had his third adjustment and was pain free. There is more on that story and on the group he created to let people know about NUCCA and other upper cervical groups that are similar to NUCCA.

You’ll probably be very pleased with your choice if you have decided to take up yoga. Your strength and flexibility will be increased by doing yoga on a regular basis and it will help you to focus your mind and teach you how to reach a state of tranquility in this busy and uncertain world. The best thing is that your new exercise program won’t require much equipment and be free of back pain.

A van can sometimes be better than a car as it gives you a greater entry and height to get in and out without bending. Make certain your seat is adjusted properly to give you optimum driving position.

If you have a seat with rake adjustment, adjust so that your hips are slightly above your knees or use a wedge-type cushion to achieve this. Alternatively you could purchase a “back friend” seat which sits upon the drivers seat and gives you correct posture.

Also find a vehicle that has a rest for the foot you don’t use when driving so that you can support yourself with this foot to keep you stable when going around corners etc. An automatic car would be a good choice for this. Also use a device which relieves the tension of the seat belt on the body.

In some societies, they never sit. So what do they do when eating or talking? They squat for hours in comfort. This way their buttocks are never in the dirt or mud. Walking, standing and lying down are better for the back and help you to be free of back pain.

Yoga was originally created to keep people healthy while they sit for hours in meditation. Shaolin temple monks would sit in meditation for hours but also spent hours practicing martial arts. Yoga is very good for the back and neck.

Glen Wood – The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back and Shoulder Pain.

To help you further with your shoulder/back pain you need to sign up for your FREE “Yoga and You” report at http:http://www.YogaTeachingwithGlen.com

Written By Glen Wood

By practicing a ‘Rolling Namaste’ in gridlock and traffic jams, you’ll leave road rage behind and benefit from a more healthy lifestyle free yourself of back pain.

Low back pain exercises can also relieve passengers with back problems during stressful driving times. Deepak Chopra has written that ‘the body is like a river’ and with Drivetime Yoga that river keeps flowing.

Drivetime Yoga books, audio and other media, feature simple series of yoga exercises and adjustments that can be done easily, practicing yoga in your car and everywhere.

Drivetime Yoga helps to tone, energize and relax drivers so that they become more centered and focused on driving safely.

Is your car right for you? The driver should place both hands together, pointing forwards. If the steering wheel is not offset then the driver is pointing straight at the centre of the wheel. The danger of having an offset wheel is that most drivers end to rotate the middle of the spine to compensate for its position, producing long term back strain and back pain.

Two major contributors of neck pain while driving are insufficient headroom and inadequate seat positioning. Compact vehicles are notorious for poorly accommodating tall individuals.

If the ceiling is too low for an erect seated position the driver is forced to crunch down in the seat with a forward head posture. This is sure to elicit neck and upper back pain. Short drivers must be able to slide the seat forward to the extent that they do not have to lean forward and place the head in a forward position.

It is common for drivers to lean forward in the seat in order to comfortably reach the controls while driving. The result is not only strain and fatigue to spinal muscles but this creates a significant gap between the head and headrest.

In the event of a rear-end collision the head and neck are vulnerable to whiplash injury because the gap allows the head to go backward into hyperextension. The research on whiplash indicates that the greater the gap between the head and the headrest the greater the injury.

There are add-on headrest supports that close the gap between the head and headrest. One study found that 97% of the existing car headrests provided inadequate neck support and only 3% were rated as good.

Glen Wood – The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back and Shoulder Pain.

To help you further with your shoulder/back pain you need to sign up for “Yoga and You” at http://www.YogaTeachingwithGlen.com

Written By Marelisa Fabrega

“Mirth is God’s medicine. Everybody aught to bathe in it” — Henry Ward Beecher

Hasya or Laughter Yoga (“Hasya” means laughter in Sanskrit) is an alternative healing technique that consists of exercises designed to get people to laugh for no reason, combined with simple yoga breathing techniques. It uses a blend of playful and tension-releasing laughter exercises to improve health, reduce stress, and increase feelings of wellbeing. Every day new studies are being published on the myriad physiological and psychological benefits of laughter, and Laughter Yoga can help anyone partake of these benefits.

Laughter exercises, even if begun by faking it, almost always lead to real laughter, especially when done in a group. However, research has shown that simulated laughter creates the same physiological response in the body as spontaneous laughter. So even if you’re faking it when you laugh, your body does not know the difference. Therefore, you don’t need to be happy to laugh and you don’t need to have a reason to laugh; even fake laughter can help relieve stress and bolster your mood.

Laughter Yoga encourages unconditional laughter: it’s possible for adults to laugh like children without the use of jokes, humor, or comedy. In a Laughter Yoga session you won’t find people sitting in a circle taking turns telling jokes or using humor to make each other laugh. Instead, a session of Laughter Yoga consists of a series of exercises which include yoga breathing, funny gestures, systematic giggling and guffawing, and improv-like activities.

A Laughter Yoga session will probably begin with rhythmic clapping and chanting of “Ho-Ho-Ha-Ha-Ha” in unison, followed by a mixture of stretching, breathing, and silliness. Some of the exercises typical of a Laughter Yoga session are the following:

- People wandering around with their hands in the air, laughing hysterically.

- People of all ages squawking like chickens.

- Men and women rotating their hips while talking gibberish.

- Improv-style exercises such as playing on an imaginary swing set; flapping your arms and squealing like a seagull; and sitting in an imaginary rocket ship getting ready for take-off.

- At one point you walk around to different people with palms pressed together at the upper chest in the Namaste greeting-place the hands together at the heart chakra, close the eyes and bow the head–or shake hands and laugh, making sure to look into other people’s eyes.

- A popular exercise is “Lion Laughter”: thrust out the tongue, widen the eyes, and stretch the hands out like claws while laughing.

- Another improv-style exercise is Airport Laughter: people pretend they’re at the airport and are late for check-in, running around with their bags.

- There’s also Regal Laughter: each person takes turns walking like a king or queen between two rows of applauding subjects.

- If the group of people has become comfortable with each other, you can come closer and hold each others’ hands or hug and laugh.

All of these seemingly whacky exercises are meant to induce laughter to help participants combat stress and boost their immune system. Laughter Yoga is currently practiced by over 250,000 people in more than 50 countries worldwide. Find a Laughter Club near you and join them.

For more information on Laughter Yoga visit http://www.squidoo.com/laughter-meets-yoga

From Marelisa Fábrega, Founder and CEO of http://www.marelisa-online.com

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Q: What is your opinion on practicing yoga beyond ones personal edge? I was speaking with a yoga teacher who said that it is indeed good to encourage students to move beyond their edge… to stretch themselves further. I questioned this… she said that in moving beyond ones edge you are eventually better able to relax into the pose. I never looked at it this way. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

A: I sense that you want a confirmation of common sense. To be honest, advising students to push beyond their personal edge is a liability suit waiting to happen. This teacher has probably never been injured before, but she will eventually advise someone into injuring their joints.

The problem is joint injuries do not forgive us for foolishness. Our personal edge is surrounded by pain. Therefore, we should never push into it or try to push beyond it.

A competent Yoga teacher should encourage students to respect their personal limits without using force. Everyone should be able to accept their personal limits without engaging in self-criticism. Non-judgment and non-harming are Yogic principles, which should apply to ourselves and others.

Q: My other question… I have taken yoga classes in the past where the teacher simply announces at the end of the practice to come into Savasana and lie quietly for ten minutes. I find it hard simply to come to a place of relaxation without some guidance. This teacher would on occasion leave the room for the entire period of Savasana. I found that very uncomfortable. Again, your thoughts would be appreciated.

A: In the second instance – This is a clear sign, this teacher does not see the needs of the students as a priority. I have heard of this, but have never witnessed a teacher walking out of a “guided” meditation or relaxation.

This is much like turning your back on your students during the physical Yoga practice of asana and pranayama. It tells the students, “I don’t care.” It also sends a message that guided meditation and relaxation are not important to the Yoga teacher, who is running the class.

In each instance, these teachers should know better.

© Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

——————————————–
Yoga Teacher Training
FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter.
Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”
——————————————–
Visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org
Affiliates: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/signup.html
Sister Blog: http://yoga-teacher-training.blogspot.com/
On-Site Training: http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com
——————————————–
FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles) – Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste
——————————————–