Posts Tagged ‘yoga allows’

Yoga for Children – What to Expect

Monday, August 1st, 2011

yoga certificationBy Faye Martins

The benefits of yoga for children are endless.  Every child should know how to “be.” We figure this is an innate quality of children everywhere and for the large part it is; if you want to become grounded in the present moment just spend some time with a child. Everything for them is in this present moment and that is part of their essential sweetness and perception. However, modern children are becoming distracted and this distraction is leading to a disconnect between today’s youth and the present moment.

Children have a lot on their plates these days between obligations at school, after school activities and homework. Adding to this is the fact that children are becoming connected through technology at an earlier and earlier age. Dinnertime is interrupted multiple times by texting between friends and this is viewed as completely normal. The present moment is constantly lost.

Children are also facing an increasingly inactive lifestyle. Children who are not involved with after school sports are frequently in the same boat as their parents with little time left in the day for physical activity after other obligations are met. Childhood obesity is at an all time high and that lack of physical fitness will only carry over into adulthood, leading to an entire life lacking fitness and health.

The answer to this problem can be found in daily yoga practice. Scheduling a time everyday for children to perform yoga leads to weight loss, improved posture and flexibility, and increased focus and energy. Greater emotional stability is also another benefit from daily yoga practice. While meditation would likely be beneficial for children, yoga is easily approachable since it’s fun and active. If a child is ready for a conscious awakening, through yoga it will come. However, yoga won’t force anything. In areas of mental growth, the individual should take the lead and yoga allows children to do so in their own time and at their own pace.

Children are able to do the majority of poses with no more caution or care than the average adult and beginning these exercises young gives kids a head start with flexibility and endurance. Gymnastics, sports and dance also come more naturally after yoga practice.

Children should be given the opportunity to explore creative physical movement on a daily basis and kids of all ages enjoy yoga practice. Yoga teaches kids how to let their mind be still for a while and through that knowledge comes happiness, peace and contentment. What could be better than that?

© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Teaching Yoga – Giving the Gift of Inner Peace

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Natarajasana - Lord of the Dance PoseBy Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

As many of you know, Yoga practice is a good adjunct therapy for most forms of suffering. There are many reasons for the suffering that plagues humanity. Some can be measured scientifically, while others cannot be measured through medical or scientific technology.

A virus or bacteria can be observed through a microscope. We can identify the exact micro-organism, which cannot be seen with a naked eye. The power of an unidentified virus, bacteria, or fungus could lead to the destruction of a society or life, as we know it. Centuries ago, people blamed witches for ailments related to micro-organisms.

Does this mean we should abandon positive thinking, intuition, and spiritual health, because we have difficulty measuring them with scientific instruments? The power of prayer and meditation cannot be measured at this time, but we know they help during the recovery from surgeries and ailments.

Medical doctors and scientists admit that positive thought and prayer help a patient recover. At this time, it seems that statistics are the only measurement that can confirm positive thinking, and prayer improves the odds of a complete recovery.

Yoga teachers and serious practitioners often talk about states of inner peace. This state of internal peace, or tranquility, can be experienced through the practice of every form of Yoga, whether it is physical, mental, or spiritual in nature. Yet, inner peace cannot be measured.

We can observe behavior as a form of measurement. This is what the science of psychology does. When we observe behavior, we begin to realize that “normal” means many things to many people. In a multi-tasking society, one who has found complete tranquility, or inner peace, may not be normal.

When you observe angry commuters, traveling to high stress jobs, with anxiety written all over their faces, this has become normal behavior in societies where technology is dominant. In technologically-dominant societies, the objective of all humans is to do more than you did yesterday.

If your performance is less than optimum, you may be creatively terminated from your job for any reason. This creates anger, fear, anxiety, and stress. Stressful states of mind create many ailments and can cause death. What is the solution? How are people to find any form of tranquility?

If you teach or practice Yoga, you already know the answer. Yoga allows everyone to “unplug” and find internal peace. The mind needs time to relax on a daily basis. If we deny the mind of rest and relaxation, we endanger our mental, physical, and emotional health. The best time to find inner peace is right now or at some point today.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

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, Paul

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Yoga off the Mat – About Perceived Limitations

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

YogaBy Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

It is amazing what a Yoga session can do for personal growth. I am not referring to the physical body, as much as the mindset of the average Yoga practitioner. It is agreed that Hatha Yoga is a great form of physical maintenance, but let’s look at the changes that take place within the mind.

Have you ever met someone who is quick to accept impending doom as the eventual outcome in all matters of life? There is always someone in the crowd who will tell you how your idea will never work. The same person will tell you how the sky is falling and the world will end tomorrow.

This negatively charged mindset knows that the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxies will collide in a few billion years. Then they theorize about how the Earth will be torn apart by a black hole during the collision of our galaxy and its closest neighbor. This is referred to as “galactic cannibalism,” when two galaxies merge and a larger galaxy consumes a smaller one.

My questions are: Why worry about possibilities that are billions of years away? What will be the limits of humankind within a few billion years? Will inter-galactic travel be possible? What advancements will our descendants make in science, engineering, or medicine?

There is no limit to the possibilities that could advance, or end, the existence of humanity. The Earth is still safe, for the time being, and we can look for solutions to the problems of the present. For any of us to be consumed, with looking at our limits, is a form of self-created imprisonment.

Luckily, Yoga allows one to free the mind from dwelling on limitations. This principle of living in the present, and focusing on solutions, can be taught to a room full of students or practiced daily. Limitation is only a perception, which we create. Athletes set new records all the time. In professional sports, records only serve as measurements to be surpassed.

There are two Yogic principles to be considered when finding solutions to anything. These are timeless remedies for realizing the endless possibilities to find logical solutions that surround each of us.

1. Collective thought has more value than being a “lone wolf.” Strong philosophies and societies pool the efforts of all members and progress forward as a result of collective efforts. It is also helpful if people are living within a “free society” that allows one to be creative.

2. What lies within each of us has the power to alter what lies ahead of us. Each of us has ability. The largest difference between two people is how we put our abilities to use.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Yoga Teacher Training. FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.” http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/

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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, Paul

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Yoga for Self-Discovery – Finding Your Inner Child

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Mother and Child YogaBy Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

In Yoga, self-discovery is the quest for truth, which begins within each of us. If we manage to avoid the pitfalls of self-pity, we often seek solutions outside of our being. A good example of this is when we try to change others, and when others try to change us.

How will Yoga help you find your inner child? The two words “inner” and “child,” when combined, take on an identity of their own. Someone may think of a situation comedy, while another person may think of counseling sessions. In contemporary psychology, the words, “inner child,” usually refer to the childlike components of a person’s psyche.

In Yoga, we may call this the true self or the original self. The inner child is often suppressed and not allowed to do any creative thinking. In some societies, we are taught to suppress the inner child, which hinders the chance of self-realization, enhanced awareness, or a self-awakening. Heaven forbid that we allow our childhood aspirations and creative thoughts to come to the surface of our being.

Why in the world do you want to find your inner child? Adults often spend time creating and thinking, but it is disconnected from the inner child, our true feelings, or our aspirations. Adults often live for duty. How else is the rent or mortgage going to be paid?

Yoga allows us to reach our inner child, who has aspirations, innovation, and takes positive action toward a successful outcome. Most children are inherently happy. Children are not afraid to take action, fail, learn new skills, or adapt to new environments.

The inner child is starting to look like a natural shot of adrenaline. To find the true self can create a state of new found positive energy. Adults have built their lives upon past success and failures, but that does not mean we processed the information correctly.

How many adults do you know who have given up on life because of past failures? Qualities such as: creativity, taking action, and self-confidence can disappear, if we believe that we are our failures. The important part of failure is to learn from it and alter our plans with a new solution.

Yoga teaches us many forms of self-reflection. To see the true self, look into the past without judgment. Do not indulge yourself in self-criticism. Finding the inner child is not dragging up the mistakes of the past. The real purpose of the exercise is to borrow the positive qualities of the child within, and move forward with solutions in mind.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Practice Yoga for Managing Stress – Two Easy Yogic Techniques

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Yoga for StressBy Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Yoga clearly contains the oldest existing stress management techniques. Yoga teachers have absorbed the archives of “tried and true” stress reducing techniques, which date back thousands of years. Let’s take a closer look at successful Yogic methods for stress management in today’s busy world.

1. Recognize your thoughts, at this moment, for what they are. Most people go through life on auto-pilot. There is much thinking going on, but most of it is background mind chatter, with no definitive purpose, or direction. This is why you meet so many people that regret the past and have no idea what they want to do in the future.

If life is an aimless path, what do you do when you encounter a problem? Sadly, the common response is to worry about the past, future, and present. Yoga teaches us to manage the present moment. Why? You cannot change the past; and unless you take action right now, you will have no influence over the present.

The future also depends on your actions in the present. The time any of us spends worrying is a complete waste. Therefore, design logical solutions for the present. If you have difficulty finding solutions – get help, and advice, from the successful people you know. This will open your mind to solving, instead of worrying.

About thought recognition: Observe your thoughts and learn to sort them by priority and reality. Learn also to identify negative influences, which cause you to become stressed out, filled with anxiety, and cause internal states of panic. This identification process is important, because it will change your life for the best and it leads toward your second stress reduction technique.

2. Be realistic about your limitations. Some people believe they have no control over anything. They believe fate has control of our lives. Everything is carved in stone ahead of time, so there is no use in trying to improve anything. If all of us believed that, we would still be living in trees and caves. Since humans run slowly, tigers and crocodiles would not have to work hard for their meals.

We cannot move the earth, moon, and stars, yet. We cannot control weather, tidal waves, earthquakes, and floods, yet. Notice, I use the word “yet.” Humankind has limitations, at the moment, but we really have no idea what our limitations are.

We do have control over many things. We especially have control over who we associate with. Our friends, colleagues, associates, and co-workers can be a positive or a negative influence. We also have control over whether to attend a Yoga class or watch bad news on television. We can censor negative influences.

We must seek out healthy relationships, in order to be healthy. Remember that stress is contagious. If you spend your free time with someone, who is experiencing chronic anxiety and panic, advise that person to seek professional counseling. If you spend too much time with that person, you may also have to seek professional counseling.

Yoga lessons, of all kinds, reduce stress levels. Activities, such as Yoga, are preventative mental and emotional health maintenance. We are only limited by our thinking. Yoga allows you to train your mind and find inner peace.

© Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Yogic Stress Management
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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, Paul
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