Posts Tagged ‘yoga breathing’

Kids Yoga Warm-Ups

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

distance learning yoga certificationBy Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Yoga for kids is an excellent way to increase flexibility and get exercise. Another benefit to children is the fact that many of them retain nervous energy, and Yoga can help settle that energy, and help them grow focused and relaxed. This is of added importance, in a time when too much television and unhealthy eating have caused an increase in obesity and attention deficit disorders, such as ADHD in children.

Yoga warm-ups serve at least two purposes. First, warm-up exercises work as a prelude into more focused Yoga sessions. As a result, warm-ups can be more fun and relaxed, catching the attention of children, and serving to transition them into a quieter session of poses. Second, warm-up exercises are especially important for loosening joints and limbering up cold or tight muscles. Getting the blood circulating, and the muscles responsive in young bodies, can help prevent pain or injury in poses.

Nine Tips for Yoga Warm-Ups with Kids

1. Weave a narrative or story into the warm-up session. Doing so catches kids’ attention and captures their imaginations. Story-telling can also help them make connections between what they are doing with their bodies and how that relates to their wider world.

2. Encourage kids to laugh during warm-ups. This should be a time when kids are releasing energy and settling down, so making it fun will go a long way toward helping them achieve this. It will also keep young people from getting bored and causing mischief. Making jokes, or exaggerating exercises and explanatory gestures, keeps the atmosphere relaxed and fun.

3. Use creative stretches and easy poses during warm-ups. Jiggling, standing on tip toes, palm stretches, side twists, rag doll poses, and downward-facing dog poses all serve as easy, limbering exercises that kids can start with.

4. Get everyone involved. Sing songs like “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” or get kids to suggest new lines for songs or stories, to encourage universal participation.

5. Kids Yoga warm-ups should last for five to ten minutes.

6. Remind kids that Yoga breathing is always done through the nose, unless allergies or colds make that impossible.

7. Even though this should be a fun time for the kids, the instructor should stay vigilant about the safety of children. Remember that a child’s joints are looser than an adult’s, so ensuring kids keep a slight bend in their elbows and knees can prevent over-extended joints.

8. Children cannot hold a Yoga pose for as long as adults can, so encourage shorter poses and more repetitions, which will keep them from getting tired or losing balance.

9. Finish the Kids Yoga session with one or two quiet breathing exercises. Telling a story, or having kids use their imaginations, can help them leave feeling relaxed rather than hyper-active. It can be easy to focus on the physical benefits Yoga can have for children, but they should come away feeling more relaxed and at ease than when they arrived.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Yoga Breathing to Silence the Mind

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

become a yoga teacherBy Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

When the first Yogi practiced pranayama (Yoga breathing) to silence the mind, the results must have seemed magical. At times, calming the mind seems to be a miracle.  The mind chatters so much during the course of a day, by creating waves of random and senseless thoughts.  Thank heaven for Yogic breathing techniques, which manage to connect the mind and body in complete harmony, and enable us to silence, focus, and calm the mind, in the process.

In the time spent living our day-to-day lives, we all have stress that we must deal with in a rational way. The way we deal with our stress triggers can have a profound impact on our lives.  Chronic stress has negative effects on the body, such as high blood pressure, so it must be dealt with in a healthy way. Whether we incorporate pranayama into daily activities, or we practice them during a Yoga training session, they can be powerful tools for quieting the mind’s worries and reducing one’s stress levels.

Pranayama Ratio for Rhythm Breathing

One breathing technique many Yoga enthusiasts practice is called, “rhythm breathing.”  This is a way to focus on your inhale and exhale ratio. It is a great method for clearing the mind and energizing the body. To perform this exercise, sit or stand, in any comfortable position you choose. Find the rhythm of your natural breathing ratio.  This may take some time, and it must be realized that your natural ratio may not be found in a book, because it is unique to your body and mind.

The typical ratio Yoga practitioners are taught to target is one part inhalation to two parts exhalation (1:2).  What if you discover you naturally inhale for four seconds and exhale for five seconds (4:5)?  Should you stress out over making your breath match a “cookie cutter” ratio?  The short answer is: “Absolutely not.”  No worries – just enjoy your breath, as if you were a child in a candy store.  If you decide you want to lengthen your inhale, just quietly practice Ujjayi on the exhale.  Suddenly, your exhale increases to seconds, or many seconds, longer.  You can do this form of pranayama any time or during any stressful situation.  Try to do this in the morning, and night, to prepare yourself for the stresses of the day, or relieve them from your mind before sleep.

Yoga Breath Awareness Technique

Another way to practice Yoga breathing to silence the mind is the “breath awareness” technique. It can be practiced anywhere as a de-stressor. To do this, sit or stand up straight. Close your eyes, or if you are in a public place, choose a soft point to focus your eyes on, such as a tree or picture on the wall. Inhale deeply and concentrate on fully expanding your stomach, filling your lungs with oxygen. As you exhale, gently draw your stomach toward your spine, and imagine pushing out all the negative thoughts that you store in your mind. Repeat as many times as you need, until you feel relaxed and in control.

Practicing these Yoga techniques, regularly, creates a healthier body and stronger mind. It is important to get in the habit of practicing deep, relaxing breathing, whenever you are in a tense situation or whenever you feel your heartbeat begin to quicken. You will be much better able to handle stress in the future, silence negative thoughts, and have a secret weapon to get through anything.

© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Pranayama and the Human Machine

Monday, May 16th, 2011

yoga teacher trainingBy Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

The practice of Yogic breathing affects the human body in very predictable ways. The Sanskrit word, “pranayama” literally means the control of our life energy (prana). Prana is a bright and lively form of energy that is more subtle than air. It can literally be defined as the substratum of energy that is the essence of the universe. The practice of pranayama controls and cultivates our vital life energy, called “prana,” through concentrated breathing exercises of various rhythms, ratios, and sequences.

Through a steady practice of pranayama, it is possible to propel our life energy, and new oxygen, throughout the entire body. This practice revitalizes all of our organs, including our hearts and brains. It also helps to stabilize our endocrine system for optimal mental health and energy balance. Pranayama affects the human machine as a calculated method for balancing and revitalizing every cell in our bodies. It also helps to control anxiety and all the attendant health issues these problems bring with them.

One of the primary benefits of a regular pranayama practice, for the human machine, is that it circulates newly oxygenated blood throughout the entire body. As the heart pumps more vigorously, fresh oxygen is propelled throughout your entire circulatory system, into every nook and cranny of your physical body.

Better blood circulation, throughout the brain, helps to support optimal cognitive functioning in the areas of memory and concentration. It also helps to lower cortisol and adrenalin levels, which in turn, helps to alleviate anxiety and depression. As the heart and lungs are exercised more vigorously, these critical organs also become stronger and more able to circulate freshly oxygenated blood throughout the entire body. This gives the Yoga practitioner a deep feeling of calm well-being, as well as a reserve of stable energy.

Pranayama is a system of Yoga training techniques, whereby the practitioner consciously controls the rate, frequency, and ratio of his or her breathing patterns. Yoga breathing practices are said to purify all of the channels of energy in our physical and subtle bodies. The ultimate effects of regular pranayama practice are quite predictable in regard to one’s quality of life. As Yogic breath increases the quality and quantity levels of prana within our bodies, our energy levels rise.

Thus, our endocrine system is balanced, bringing about a sensation of overflowing with blissful well-being. A regular pranayama practice strengthens the heart and lungs, increasing cardiovascular health, and helping to lower blood pressure. If one values only the physical outcome of pranayama, it stands alone as the very best physical exercise in existence. Proper breathing is more important than any other form of exercise, due to the fact that we will only live a few minutes without breathing.

© Copyright 2011 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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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