Posts Tagged ‘teaching yoga’

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Teaching Yoga in Schools: Violence Prevention

Saturday, January 5th, 2013

yoga instructor certificationBy: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed

There are many new niches where Yoga instructors are welcome to offer classes. For example, Yoga classes are now offered in many hospitals, prisons, corporate settings and schools. Offering instruction in these environments enables people who would not usually be exposed to Yoga to benefit from this ancient form of exercise, breathing techniques and meditation on a regular basis.

Teaching Yoga in schools is a great way to motivate students to be physically active and more health conscious. The different elements of a balanced practice include physical postures, pranayama exercises, contemplation, meditation and resting in stillness or Shavasana. All of these elements offer students the time and space to become intimately familiar with their own bodies and minds, including their thought patterns. An overly negative stream of internal dialogue can cause depression, anxiety and anger in a student.

These negative “thought loops” will diminish a student’s ability to reach his or her full potential and will also predispose a student to violent outbursts. Through a balanced practice of Yoga, a student is offered the opportunity to become aware of negative or self-destructive thoughts that perpetuate a state of internal violence. Often these self-destructive and negative thoughts are the genesis point for external violent behavior. By diligently practicing the various Yogic arts, angry and self-destructive thoughts can be uprooted at the core and painful experiences integrated into a more balanced perspective, thwarting violent outbursts.

In addition, school-based Yoga classes provide an opportunity for students to get to know each other outside of formal academic classes and social cliques. In this way, a deeper understanding and empathy of each others’ experiences will begin to develop. As the students begin to develop empathy for each other, they have an opportunity to see potentially explosive situations in a new light and take responsibility for their own part in negative interactions that could incite a violent incident.

If you choose to teach Yoga classes in a school setting, you will help students to physically feel better about themselves, and you will be offering them the opportunity to get to know other students with whom they would not ordinarily choose to spend time. Additionally, the internal process of witnessing and releasing their own negative thinking patterns while practicing Yoga will help teach students to see situations in a more balanced perspective and to choose a peaceful way to address unresolved issues, instead of resorting to violence.

© Copyright 2012 – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Teaching Yoga for Running Performance

Saturday, December 29th, 2012

yoga certification onlineBy Sangeetha Saran

When a practitioner decides to become a yoga instructor, he or she won’t be prepared for every teaching niche. This is the case with teaching those who participate in running events. Runners often turn to asana practice as an effective cross-training activity. Hatha and Ashtanga Yoga give an effective and complementary option for dedicated runners and those who are training for 5ks through full marathons.

One reason why yoga is so effective for runners is that it combats some side effects of running training. Running can sometimes over train muscles, at the expense of strengthening the joints and tendons of the body. Any type of stretching can help runners regain flexibility and movement in the joints, and yoga’s focus on body awareness helps runners monitor where they feel stiff and work on those areas. As runners gain experience, they learn that a stiff and inflexible body can limit the amount of power and efficiency that can hinder the quest to improve personal best times.

Another reason why yoga is a popular cross-training activity is that standing poses allow runners to further develop leg muscles. Warrior II allows the calves and inner thighs to strengthen without adding bulk to the body. Balancing poses such as Tree or Warrior III develop not only the knees and ankles but the abdominal muscles. As runners advance, they learn that abdominal muscles are as important to their strength as the muscles in the leg, and poses such as boat or side planks can help develop the muscles of the core.

Just like in yoga training, many runners will initially turn to the sport for purely physical reasons. They want to lose pounds or improve muscle tone. The more runners run, they are pleased to discover that there is a more spiritual side of running. As a solitary action, training allows a runner to stay inside his or her body, and can lead to a meditative practice. Runners who eventually turn to running as their “walking meditation” are often reluctant to spend time on an activity that does not relax them or give them a more spiritual payoff. Yoga is perfect for giving a runner another activity that will deepen their spiritual growth as well as sculpt their body.

Yoga teachers who work with runners who are new to asana practice should concentrate on helping students who are often physically inflexible. Keep in mind that some runners have a “Type A personality,” and can be impatient with slowly improving their flexibility. Practicing yogic techniques as an alternative form of exercise can help these athletes let go of the need to constantly improve and judge while giving them a calmer mind and improved flexibility.

© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Yoga in Everyday Life

Wednesday, December 26th, 2012

yoga instructor certificationBy Faye Martins

One of the interesting aspects of teaching Yoga is finding out how many students actually take their practice home with them. Most students give honest feedback through a show of hands or a survey. My point is that some students won’t practice meditation, pranayama and asana on their own, while others will practice almost daily. The reasons for this can vary depending on the results experienced, the student’s desire to practice, how much spare time a student has to practice, and many other factors.

Yoga training offers students a wonderful escape from the stresses of modern life, but at some point, students need to discover ways to apply what they learn on the mat to other aspects of their lives. A teacher maybe programmed to practice before or during a Yoga certification course, but students might not lean on meditation, pranayama and relaxation techniques right away. Long-term practitioners are likely to use every aspect of Yogic methodology and philosophy in daily life, but beginners will tend to lean on the physical senses, which make asana practice beneficial.

Asana in Life

The flexibility that dedicated and regular practice of asanas offer help students go about their daily lives with less injury. Forward bends help strengthen the back so that when a person bends over there is less chance of suffering a back injury. Regularly practicing sitting and standing twists gives students a larger range of motion, which can make backing the family car out of the garage much easier.

Yoga offers students a chance to discover where they may be holding tension and stress within their bodies. Many students are shocked to learn that they are holding tension in their hips, so poses such as Downward Facing Dog help release the stress while strengthening the entire body.

As Time Goes By

As students face more and more stress at the workplace, it’s important that they learn effective ways to deal with the stress. Yoga teaches us to unleash stress through deep breathing, and medical science supports the idea that deep cleansing breathing helps to lower blood pressure and cortisol levels in the body.

Yama and Niyama in Practice

In addition to the physical, Yoga offers students a spiritual path, even for those who claim no religious affiliation whatsoever. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras offer a code of living with others that can be followed no matter what one’s religious affiliation. Practicing non-violence or harm to one’s self (including surrendering to low self esteem or depression) encourages a student to practice a form of compassion for every person they meet. And holding ones-self to a code of honesty towards others and within one’s yoga practice helps students avoid false relationships or veer toward a path of lying or stealing from others. Samadhi encourages a student to practice unity not only within the confines of his or her meditation but oneness with the Universe itself.

The lessons students learn on the Yoga mat are easily transferred to their everyday lives. Yoga training can help make movement and stress relief easier for students as they progress through their practices. In addition, yogic principals can form a basis of a spiritual practice that students can follow in their asanas, meditation periods and in any aspect of their everyday lives.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Teaching Yoga Students About Anxiety Relief

Thursday, December 20th, 2012

yoga instructor certificationBy Faye Martins

In a sense, yoga is the perfect medicine for anxiety sufferers. The tightness of body, shallow breathing, and focus on anything other than the present that anxiety promotes is the antithesis of a dedicated yoga training session. Sometimes, a student who suffers from anxiety from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder will find that a class guided by a yoga instructor can be as or more effective as pharmaceuticals when managing their anxiety.

One of the most effective ways that yoga can combat anxiety is by teaching a student how to breathe properly. Anxiety causes rapid, shallow breathing that causes a person’s nervous system to stay on constant alert for imagined dangers. By learning to take deep breaths, a student can also learn how to minimize anxiety attacks by managing a key symptom of anxiety. Learning that an exhale removes emotional impurities helps students to feel as if they are letting go of the racing thoughts that they fear will never leave them. For students who suffer anxiety related to a specific situation, practicing equanimity will help them to keep their fears or other emotions in check regardless of the situation that they are in.

Balancing asanas, such as Warrior III are helpful in dealing with the anxious mind. Anxiety causes a person to worry about past performance and obsess over future disasters. Forcing both body and mind to focus on keeping balance holds the mind’s attention long enough to realize that there really isn’t any time left over to concentrate on anything but holding the pose. Standing poses such as Warrior II promote a sense of self confidence, which can help combat the feelings of inferiority that many anxiety sufferers feel. In that sense, a yoga mat can be a safe place for the student to feel empowered.

Savasana, or Corpse Pose is one of the most effective poses for helping students deal with their anxiety. Corpse pose helps to regulate breathing, which can instantly calm nerves. Yoga teacher, Sarah Ivanhoe, once advised students that when in Corpse Pose, they should be “busy relaxing.” This speaks volumes about the anxious mind’s need to constantly have a project or focus to concentrate on. Asking it to focus on relaxation gives the anxious mind an excuse to settle down and enjoy rest for the time that the student is in the pose.

The physical aspects of yoga provide methods for anxiety sufferers to manage their symptoms. Students can use yoga to combine an effective form of exercise and an emotionally safe place to quiet their racing minds.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our selection of Online Yoga teacher training courses, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/

Free report, newsletter, videos, podcasts, and e-Book: “Yoga in Practice.”

If you are a Yoga Teacher, studio owner, 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!

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Teaching Yoga for Student Skeletal Health

Saturday, December 1st, 2012

become a yoga teacherBy Jenny Park

One part of the anatomy section in a yoga teacher training program to watch closely is why the skeletal system is so important during asana practice. In short, our bodies are uniquely different and our skeletons are almost as unique as our finger prints. As we age, our bones naturally become stiff and brittle. This makes getting around more difficult and much more painful. It is a little known fact that yogic exercise benefits the skeletal system. Yoga practice, which includes many standing, balancing, and inverted poses, has been proven to increase the density of our bones.

This is by resistance against gravity, which causes the bones to retain calcium better. As a result of mild stress during an asana practice, the bones then become a little more dense, which makes your skeleton much stronger. This is the main reason why it is beneficial to at least add asana practice in to your weekly workout routine. Therefore, even the most spiritual yoga teachers should devote time in asana practice.

Why Choose Asana Practice Over Other Physical Exercises?

Any form of exercise is beneficial, however the range of poses used in yoga allow for a full body workout that strengthens the entire skeletal system with low impact on the joints. This is unlike workouts such as running or bike riding that mainly work the legs. The gentle, yet deliberate, asanas and movements encourage increased range of motion especially in the spine. The spine’s shock absorption system is the discs between the vertebrae. Yoga is a method for decompressing these discs. A healthy spine increases vitality and encourages comfortable living, as many aging individuals tend to have back problems. Not only that, but asana encourages joint stability in other parts of our body that take a beating over time. You will have stronger knees, shoulders, hips and ankles through physical yogic practice.

Arthritis is another issue and is becoming more prevalent even in young adults. There is a fluid between most of the joints called Synovial Fluid. It provides a natural cushion for the joints during exercise and helps you move more effectively. During yoga training, the fluid is increased and this helps prevent pain of arthritis and osteoporosis. A gentle yoga training session is easy on the body, featuring fluid movements and gentle breathing (pranayama). Gentle yogic exercise is the best way for one to build up this essential fluid and stay healthy into their later years.

What a Yoga Instructor Should Know About Posture

If you teach yoga classes, you should know that the skeletal system has everything to do with our posture, bad posture decreases skeletal health. Poor skeletal posture will become a life of pain. When we have correct posture, the body is opened up and free to work how it was meant to. All of the body’s systems work together to keep us healthy. Muscles become toned and stronger, and support our bones relieving unnecessary pressure upon them. A yogic lifestyle also encourages weight loss, which is beneficial in itself. The less weight we carry around, the less stress we will have on our joints.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our selection of Yoga teacher training and continuing education courses for specialized Yoga certification, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/

Free report, newsletter, videos, podcasts, and e-Book: “Yoga in Practice.”

If you are a Yoga Teacher, studio owner, 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!

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Teaching Yoga: Suggested Pranayama for Beginners

Friday, November 30th, 2012

yoga trainingBy Kimaya Singh

Now, that you are teaching classes, you might wonder which of the many pranayama techniques you learned in yoga teacher training to spring on your students first. Pranayama is a yogic practice that beginner students don’t often encounter right away.

Typically, yoga instructors begin with teaching postures (asanas) to beginners. Pranayama is often the second step toward deepening the practice of yoga. To understand the purpose of pranayama, it’s helpful to be clear on the primary goals of yoga. Patanjali, a great sage in the yoga tradition and author of the Yoga Sutras, defines yoga training as controlling or calming the fluctuations of the mind.

When a practitioner learns to control the mind, she becomes free of distracting thoughts and develops an ability to concentrate on her true nature. In this context, pranayama is a collection of exercises in which the practitioner influences the energy of the mind and body (Prana) through control of the breath. Pranayama practices range from the simple to the complex. The following are a few simple pranayama practices for beginners.

• Breath awareness: While not technically a pranayama practice, the straightforward act of focusing attention on the breath is a good place to begin. Simply sit in a comfortable position and observe the breath. Is the breath slow or fast? It is shallow or deep? Does the breath come easily or difficultly? Is it easy to maintain focus on the breath, or does the mind begin to wander?

• Ujjayi: Using the throat to create a constricted passage for the breath is called Ujjayi breathing. The breath becomes smooth and relaxed. To practice, sit comfortably and imagine sipping through a straw with the mouth closed. Feel the breath at the base of the throat. When done correctly, Ujjai creates a pleasing, oceanic sound.

• Nadi Shodhana: Commonly referred to as “alternate nostril breathing,” Nadi Shodhana is a purifying and balancing breath. The practitioner employs the thumb and ring finger on her right hand to close one nostril and breathe through the other. Again, sit in a comfortable position. Starting with the right hand in a relaxed fist, extend the thumb and place it on the right nostril. Release the ring and little fingers, and rest the ring finger on the left nostril. Carefully press the thumb to close the right nostril. Inhale through the left nostril. Then, use the ring finger to close the left nostril, release the thumb and exhale through the right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril. Use the thumb to close the right nostril, release the ring finger and exhale through the left nostril. That makes one full round of Nadi Shodhana.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our selection of Yoga teacher training and continuing education courses for specialized Yoga certification, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/

Free report, newsletter, videos, podcasts, and e-Book: “Yoga in Practice.”

If you are a Yoga Teacher, studio owner, 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!

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Teaching Yoga for Teen Classes

Monday, November 26th, 2012

yoga teacherBy Bhavan Kumar

Teaching yoga to teens is a challenge for yoga teachers. A studio affords students a safe place to learn a gentler method to deal with the stresses of becoming an adult. Yogic exercise is also a safe alternative for addressing the current trend of teens looking to have a toned physique through regular exercise.

One of the most frustrating things that teens experience is the constant swirl of moods, sometimes moment to moment. Yogic methodology is effective for giving a student a baseline of calmness and non-judgmental awareness of those ever changing emotions. By studying them in a more attached way, they can begin to make sense of them.

Teens are often overwhelmed by the stresses of daily life, and their inexperience means that what adults would shrug off can be extremely distressing to a younger person. The calming mental aspects of yogic practices are effective for releasing anxiety within a teen who feels unprepared for life’s stresses.

Growth spurts during puberty leave adolescents feeling awkward and clumsy. Yoga helps to combat this feeling by keeping students tuned into the grace and movement that their bodies are capable of producing during the teen years.

When working with teens, yoga instructors should keep in mind that a younger student looks up to a teacher as a role model. Having a philosophy of non-judgment, healthy living and tolerance teaches things to teens that both student and teacher are unaware of.

In recent years, the emphasis on a toned body as the ideal for both men and women has led to even young teens to try and “bulk up” to meet the ideal. While the explosion in weight training has caused alarm, asana is a good alternative for students who want to safely improve their physique. The body weight training aspect of yogic exercise gives students a safe way to add some muscle or tone up without producing dangerous amount of pressure on the muscles, bones or joints.

It’s important to keep in mind that many teens are terrified of being embarrassed in front of others, so be prepared for occasional reluctance to try new poses or chanting. This is also a good time for teachers to use their position as positive role models. Like trying vegetables, sometimes some gentle coaxing is required.

Teaching yoga to teens offers a challenge to yoga instructors. Yoga training can be a quiet respite from the over stimulation found in most teen’s lives, which makes practicing yoga a good tool that they can keep through adulthood.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our complete selection of Yoga teacher training courses, please feel free to visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/Teacher-Courses/

Free report, newsletter, videos, podcasts, and e-Book: “Yoga in Practice.”

If you are a Yoga Teacher, studio owner, 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!

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Teaching Yoga and Explaining Benefits

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

become a yoga instructorBy Faye Martins

How can a yoga teacher explain wellness and its relationship to yogic methodology? When new students ask how yoga can help improve their lives, many teachers shrug and say, “It helps with everything.” While this may sound like a flip answer, the truth is that asana, meditation and pranayama can help students with virtually every aspect of their physical and mental well being.

Many students come to yoga studios looking for a place to quiet the emotional turmoil in their minds. Stress often pulls students into worrying about either the past or the future, and with a yoga instructor’s insistence that they keep their minds on the present, this trains students to reduce the amount of time spent racing towards the the future or worrying about the past. Students who suffer from depression or anxiety find that a regular yoga training session helps relieve their symptoms.

As a student begins focusing on what their minds feels at any moment, they also begin to develop the knowledge of how their body feels or moves at any particular moment. This body awareness helps in improving posture and builds self confidence for many students.

Sometimes in our more spiritual interpretations of our training, we neglect to look at the benefits yogic methodology has on a person’s physical health. Gentle stretching of the body gives a student more flexibility and a fuller range of motion in the joints. For students with chronically tight backs or hips, yoga may give them relief that no other form of therapy can compare to. Since numerous poses rely on body weight training, yoga is a gentle introduction to weight training when students find lifting weights or using gym machines distasteful.

Despite the fact that women lack the hormonal basis for “bulking up,” many fear that more vigorous weight training forms will give them too heavy of a physique. Asana gives students improved muscle strength as well as improved muscle tone. Many poses, such as Warrior III, will give students not only well developed legs and ankles, but better balance that comes in handy for improving or continuing good posture.

Pranayama is built upon control of energy flow through the breath, and by improving a student’s breathing, they can reap both physical and mental health benefits. The average person has no idea how inefficiently they breathe. Most people breathe in shallow gasps, with their rib cage and most of their body held tightly. By expanding the capacity of the lungs, and relaxing the muscles that surround the area through yoga, a student can experience much deeper, cleansing and restful breaths.

Yoga is effective for seamlessly blending a student’s physical and mental health, making it a time effective and holistic form of exercise. These benefits help create a whole being as they offer benefits for all aspects of a student’s life.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our complete selection of Yoga teacher training courses, please feel free to visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/Teacher-Courses/

Free report, newsletter, videos, podcasts, and e-Book: “Yoga in Practice.”

If you are a Yoga Teacher, studio owner, 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!

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Teaching Yoga for Detoxification

Friday, November 23rd, 2012

yoga teacherBy Kimaya Singh

When I was attending Yoga teacher training, one student wanted to understand where toxins come from. In the physical sense, we are surrounded by toxins. If you go for a healthy walk, you are sure to inhale a variety of toxins from the exhaust fumes of cars that drive by. You can grow the best organic food, but the rain that fed the plants may have toxins that should be filtered before you consume it. Additionally, it has been stated that rain water is less polluted than well water.

Detoxing the body can involve purging everything from drugs and alcohol to sugars and fats. When you detoxify the body, you’re giving yourself a fresh start with a body that is clear of unhealthy items that contribute to problems within the body. Detoxification can also involve cleansing the mind of unhealthy thoughts or beliefs that cause a body to be stressed or a person to make poor choices. Yoga training is an effective tool to use during detoxification because it promotes calm in the mind and adds a new focus on your body.

Yoga Poses for Detoxification

Part of the detoxification process involves pushing toxins out of the body through the circulatory, digestive and lymphatic systems. Yoga poses encourage all of these systems to work to the best of their abilities. Asanas that lengthen the spine give organs plenty of space within the body to do their jobs. Postures that involve twisting will crunch and squeeze toxins out of the body, and resting poses encourage relaxation and inner peace. Specific asanas that are helpful to detoxify the body include forward bends, downward dog, bow pose, the warrior series, seated twists, child’s pose, lunge with a twist and supine twists.

Pranayama Techniques

Pranayama (Yogic breathing) is an important factor in keeping the circulatory system flowing with fresh blood to all of the body’s organs. As new blood continues to flow, toxins within the body are flushed out. When breathing is shallow and quick, it’s not doing the body justice. By fully inflating the lungs, it allows your diaphragm to fill up with fresh oxygen, which gets delivered to the rest of the body. Deep breathing has wonderful affects on the entire body and plays an important role in detoxification. Slowly pull your breath in through the nose, filling up the abdomen and chest until they expand. Slowly let the breath out through your nose by emptying the chest first, then the belly.

Meditation Techniques

If you are a Yoga instructor, you may not want to skip meditation in your classes because of the reduction of mental and emotional toxins that are released during the course of a meditation session. Most people think of purifying the body when they think of detoxification, but the energy flow within the mind plays a very important part also. Meditation plays in important role in detoxification because it allows you to purify your mind. Your state of mind contributes to negative energy within the body. To put it simply: Negativity can kill you with anxiety, cancer or a heart attack. Meditation involves sitting quietly with yourself and possibly letting only one thought take over the mind. When you meditate, breathe deeply and to let your mind be free from stress, anxiety, fear or worry.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our selection of Yoga teacher training and continuing education courses for specialized Yoga certification, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/

Free report, newsletter, videos, podcasts, and e-Book: “Yoga in Practice.”

If you are a Yoga Teacher, studio owner, 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!

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Teaching Yoga Exercise for Healthy Joints

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

yoga certificationBy Faye Martins

During most Yoga teacher training courses, the health of the skeletal body and it’s relationship with asana is covered. The weak links within the skeletal body are our joints. Our joints are the areas of the body in which bones are joined together, and this allows bones to glide freely and painlessly. When diseases like arthritis damage the cartilage that facilitates this movement, symptoms like stiffness and pain occur. While exercise is critical for healthy joints, overuse can be harmful. Yoga’s gentle, restorative postures help to strengthen these areas and keep them flexible, but every routine should be suited to the needs of the individual practitioner.

Stress and the Joints

While too much stress can damage joints, too little stress can lead to degeneration. Yoga students vary in their strengths and abilities, and Yoga instructors need a good knowledge of anatomy in order to respond to each person’s needs. Certain poses are designed to place stress on the joints, but they must be done safely to avoid injuries and be beneficial. Too much or too little stress is detrimental.

How Yoga Helps

According to studies at Duke University Medical Center, Yoga training relieves chronic pain caused by disorders like osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and carpal tunnel syndrome, but poses must be performed correctly. When done properly, Yoga strengthens the muscles around the joints, increasing mobility and reducing tension in swollen, damaged areas. Props may be used to safely adapt the postures.

Five Easy Poses for the Joints

• Standing Mudra Pose is a stretch that helps to relieve shoulder pain by using a strap held across the back to open the heart and shoulder blades.

• Cobra Pose lengthens the spine and stretches the abdomen. Staying low in this pose can strengthen the core and improve posture without aggravating already-existing back problems.

• Supported Warrior II Pose is done against a wall with the arms at shoulder height and the outside toes of one foot, and the other heel, pressing against the wall. When practiced at moderate height this posture helps with knee pain.

• Bound Angle or Butterfly Pose is a seated posture that stretches the hamstrings, relieves tension in the thigh muscles and increases flexibility in the hips.

• The Wall Plank Pose is the same as Plank Pose but is done in a standing position against a wall to relieve pressure on the shoulders. It strengthens muscles in the shoulders and elbow and increases flexibility.

Although these poses help with pain in the shoulders, back, knees and hips, an experienced Yoga teacher should make sure they are being done correctly in order to avoid further injuries and maximize benefits.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our selection of Yoga instructor training and continuing education courses for specialized Yoga certification, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/

Free report, newsletter, videos, podcasts, and e-Book: “Yoga in Practice.”

If you are a Yoga Teacher, studio owner, 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!

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