Posts Tagged ‘yoga certification courses’

Finding the Best Yoga Teacher Training – Teaching New Students

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Many Hatha Yoga certification courses emphasize the value of teaching students who have flexible bodies or have invested years of asana practice. Yet, how many students will meet these criteria? Most students who come to Yoga classes have very little experience.

In addition to this, many new Yoga students are over 40, have health conditions, and physical limitations. Their doctors recommend Hatha Yoga classes because it has a reputation for being a therapeutic health maintenance system. Yoga was not designed to be a whipping tool for punishing less physically inactive adults.

This is not a criticism of Yoga classes that are physically challenging; but if you decide that you want to teach athletes, you should describe the type of class you will be teaching, completely. A beginner student is only going to feel worse about himself or herself if you are performing a marathon of Sun Salutations over the course of your class.

Beginner, Gentle, Restorative, and Therapeutic classes should also have complete descriptions on your website or brochure. It is estimated that more than 60% of the students, who walk through your door, will have no, or very limited, experience in studying Hatha Yoga.

Most schools, or studios, who have large followings of advanced students, have grown them within. In other words, new students began to practice and stayed over the long term. Since students are different in their minds and bodies, it makes perfect sense to have a variety of classes.

For example – some studios have Vinyasa or Hot Yoga classes for students who are seeking a physical challenge. At the same time, the same studio may have Gentle, Restorative, or Therapeutic styles for students who want classes that are less vigorous.

The main point to make is that when one person goes to a restaurant – he or she does not necessarily order the same dish as someone else. The same principle applies to Yoga classes within studios or health clubs. That being – people will gravitate toward the type of Yoga that suits their needs.

To put everyone in a 105 degree Fahrenheit room is going to bring about a variety of reactions; especially, if they come from a climate where they consider anything over 80 degrees Fahrenheit to be hot. People tend to be comfortable within the normal temperatures of their geographic location.

There are many forms of Yoga that are not focused on the physical body. Meditation may be the primary objective in these classes. If a new Yoga student is seeking an effective method to train the mind, a “trial by fire” may not be needed.

© Copyright 2010 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org

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 Teacher Certification Courses – The Importance of Yoga Anatomy

Monday, May 31st, 2010

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Recently, there was a discussion related to the importance of anatomy in a Yoga teacher training course. Some teachers are taking anatomy courses for the sake of continuing education, but they don’t know why. When considering teaching Hatha Yoga, we should design our classes to be as safe as possible for each student.

This is the main purpose for pursuing knowledge in relation to Hatha Yoga and anatomy. Granted, Hatha Yoga is much more than a physical exercise class; but teachers should be aware of contraindications, faulty alignment, and unsafe practices that have been going on for centuries.

One example would be Tree Pose. How often have you seen a picture of a group of Yoga students, with one foot placed against the inside knee of the balancing leg? All you have to do is visit a few different Yoga web sites, and you will see a similar photograph.

Placing pressure against the side of the knee is unwise and invites injury. If pressure is applied with the foot that is against the inside knee, of the balancing leg, this can push your knee out of alignment while your knee is trying to bear the weight of your entire body.

Add to this fact, that a new student may have a pre-existing knee injury. In such a case, a Yoga teacher would want to help a student avoid making a bad situation worse. Students are supposed to feel better after the class – than they did when walking into the class.

During an anatomy for Yoga class, one learns that the knee is a hinge joint. It is not made to take weight, or pressure, from the side. For that matter, the knee is really not designed to take much pressure from any direction. It is also not designed to rotate in circles.

This is the type of knowledge, which is discussed within Yoga anatomy courses. The purpose is to make our Hatha Yoga classes safe for our students. It should be noted that those, who become proficient in anatomical jargon, share their knowledge, with their students, in an easy-to-understand manner. The reason is that, dedicated students will practice, independently, and should know how to avoid injuries.

Yoga anatomy not only applies to asana, but also applies to pranayama and bandha techniques. It goes without saying that bandha, or pranayama, practiced unsafely can cause harm to a Yoga practitioner.

© Copyright 2010 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org

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 Teacher Training – Why is Pranayama Underrated

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

By Sanjeev Patel, CYT

Some interns and Yoga teacher trainers believe the heart and soul of Yoga is asana practice. This may be so in some fitness oriented Hatha Yoga styles, but it isn’t the case for all of Yoga. Many Yoga styles are designed for the maintenance of your mind on a spiritual, mental, and emotional level.

If you read the Yoga Sutras, you will find many Yogic principles. Among them are the Eight Limbs of Yoga, which are detailed by Patanjali. A very important Yogic principle is pranayama. Many people today do not breathe properly and have lost the ability of using their respiratory muscles and lungs correctly. This results in shallow high-chest breathing. Through faulty breathing the bloodstream is not being properly purified and oxygenated, nor can food be properly burned for energy use.

Therefore breathing deeply has to be learned again, pranayama is the mastery of proper breathing. This means breathing fully and rhythmically using all of, not part of your lungs and therefore increasing the intake of oxygen, and at the same time removing stale air. Yogis feel that we should breathe air of the highest nutritional value, as it is our most essential food. Air is the most important resource that we absorb so therefore we should work towards achieving the maximum amount of inhalation and exhalation of air when we breathe.

Fifteen to twenty minutes a day should be spent on pranyama. This regular session increases vital capacity, energises and exercises the lungs, and respiratory muscles, oxygenates and purifies the bloodstream, removes phlegm, cleanses the sinuses and nerve channels, soothes and tones the nervous system, improves thoracic mobility and broadens the chest, improves digestion, massages the abdominal area.

Breathing correctly is a way of learning how to absorb extra oxygen and oxygenate the blood more efficiently Pranayama can be both calming and energizing depending on the type of breathing exercises performed. Control of the mental state, through calming and focusing the mind is attained through regular pranayama practice.

Until mankind learns that all of the limbs mentioned by Patanjali are important, Yoga certification courses and teacher trainers must get the message out. Thus, it is up to competent Yoga teachers to deflate the myth that asana alone is the only sacred Yogic practice.

© Copyright 2010 – Sanjeev Patel / Aura Publications

Sanjeev Patel is a certified Yoga teacher and an exclusive author for Aura Wellness Center.

http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org

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Basics of Pranayama for Yoga Teacher Training Interns

Friday, March 5th, 2010

By Samantha Grayson, CYT

Many Yoga certification courses outside of India omit the Eight Limbs of Yoga in their training. Some of these graduates may not learn anything about meditation, yama, niyama, pranayama or Patanjali. You may learn 20 to 30 asanas and become a Yoga teacher.

After spending a lot of money with one yoga teacher training facility, I learned just 28 postures and nothing else. To skip by pranayama and meditation is not Yoga. It is a stretch exercise class only.

About Pranayama: When we are born we breathe deeply naturally, but as we grow into adults our breathing becomes shallow and we cannot purify our body through breath. Breathing is one of the ways the body receives prana and cleans the body. Small shallow breaths don’t allow the body to receive and store prana or remove toxins from the body.

The four stages of breathing are Inhalation or puraka, Pause in breathing called kumbhaka, exhalation or rechaka and again a pause in breathing with empty lungs, bahya kumbhaka. All stages should be continuous and evenly controlled. Special attention should be made during rechaka to be sure all the air is expelled form the body during exhalation.

If old air is left in the body the ability to take in new air during puraka is severely hampered. Pranayama is a method for using these four stages in controlling your breathing to a rhythm, instead of working on autopilot. Control is the key to learning to make manual breathing slow, comfortable and receive the maximum benefit. In time, with practice breathing with four parts can calm the nervous system free a person from anxiety, fear and negative emotions. This tranquility can be carried in yoga poses and also into daily life.

According to Dr. Behanan: The chief purpose of yogic breathing is – to increase the consumption of oxygen with the minimum of physical exertion, under conditions probably favorable for the storage of oxygen. James Hewitt, the author of “The Complete Yoga Book,” found this explanation so important that he used italics to emphasize his point. Breathing in Yoga varies from other forms of exercise in that it increases consumption of oxygen and therefore creates energy without large amounts of physical exercise or use of that energy.

Pranayama can also be practiced for healing. Much like a battery that has been depleted, the body running on little, or no, energy cannot renew cells, or fight disease. A body that is a fully charged can renew itself better and disease doesn’t have a chance to take root. Also a fully charged body in an experienced yogi can transfer some of their prana to another in need. This allows the Yoga practitioner to recover more quickly and heal faster.

Samantha Grayson is a certified Yoga teacher.

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Online and Distance Yoga Teacher Certification Courses

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Yoga - Tree PoseBy Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Have you been considering an affordable Yoga teacher training course?  Many people would like to advance themselves in life, but they see a “road block” ahead.  Fortunately, life’s obstacles can also be new doors to many different opportunities.

Sometimes, an obvious solution to continuing education is not well known. Online and correspondence education programs have been in place at many universities worldwide.  There is no need for anyone to turn their life upside down to advance their education.

In fact, there is no need to pay large sums of money for education. Instructional television training programs, for teachers, have been around for decades. In the Chicago area, these programs started in the 1960s. Accredited universities have also offered college courses, with the help of local public television stations.

If you can earn a degree from an accredited college online, you can also earn a Yoga teacher diploma. Online study, to become a yoga instructor, is flexible and allows you to study at your own pace. There is no extended travel, and you do not have to put yourself in debt in order to earn your Yoga teacher’s diploma.

You could study for your certification anywhere a Wi-Fi network is set up and you could do all of your studies within your own home. However, if possible, it is always good to network with local Yoga teachers. By learning from local teachers, while studying to become a Yoga teacher, you will gain much knowledge from the experience.

At the same time, anyone considering a correspondence course in advanced Yoga studies, should also realize the importance of self-motivation. A self-starter has a big advantage – when finishing assignments pertaining to Yoga certification.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Yoga Teacher Certification. 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/

On-Site or Online Yoga Teacher Training Courses

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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Questions about 200 to 240 hour Yoga Teacher Correspondence Courses from Aura Wellness Center

Thursday, February 12th, 2009
The Camp-in-a-Box

The Camp-in-a-Box

 

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

There was a time, when we had one Yoga teacher training course. The original Camp in a Box was located on a five page website for years, but times change and we receive many requests from those who teach Yoga and those who want to teach in the future.

Yoga instructors often desire to reach out to specific groups of people. For this reason, we kept developing courses, which would help teachers who want to specialize. Below is a compound question related to our 200 and 240 hour Yoga certification courses.

Q: The style of Yoga I prefer is Vinyasa, I saw you also had an instructor’s training in this style. Now which do you recommend? You have the Camp in a Box, the Scratch and Dent sale, the Camp in a Box Basic, and the Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training Course. How do they differ?

A: People are guided by their passion for a subject. You stated: “The style of Yoga I prefer is Vinyasa.” With that said, will any other course honestly meet your needs? However, let’s review these four courses and compare them to each other.

The Camp in a Box and the Scratch and Dent sale: These two 240 hour Yoga teacher correspondence courses are the same course. The biggest difference is the Scratch and Dent sale materials have been used by an intern at our facility, or the materials arrived new, but were scuffed, scratched, or dented in transit to us. However, they have been inspected and are guaranteed to work.

The Camp in a Box, and the Scratch and Dent sale courses, are for teachers who want to reach the largest audience students. These courses are Hatha Yoga based. As a result, they focus on every aspect of Hatha Yoga.

The 200-hour Camp in a Box basic is a streamlined and slimmed down version of the original Camp in a Box. The foundational knowledge, which every Hatha Yoga teacher should know, is the bedrock of this course. There are two DVDs about marketing and business included as elective parts of the program.

The 240-hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training Course is a specialist program for teachers who feel that they are going to teach active crowds that crave a lot of movement. If your heart calls you to Vinyasa, you may want to take a closer look to compare it with the other three Yoga courses.

All of these courses have the same foundational written exam and each one evolved as a result of requests from existing Yoga teachers and those who aspire to teach.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Yoga Teacher Certification
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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 Certification – The Gateway to the Job of Your Dreams

Monday, October 27th, 2008

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

When discussing teaching Yoga for a living, you might not think you deserve to be happy, while performing work. This seems to be the main objection to a rewarding career: “It’s not a real job, unless you are suffering miserably.”

This same “undeserving” mentality, which surrounds the workplace, also dominates fitness and medicine. Remember: “Feel the burn,” “No pain, no gain,” and “Medicine has to taste bad to be good.” Some people inherently want to be told that they do not deserve grace, merit, or reward.

In Yoga, we are often familiar with the universal law of karma and the universal law of attraction. To envision unhappiness is a path toward misery. Why not learn to master the power of envisioning our paths in life? No one has to resign himself or herself to failure.

If your job situation looks bleak today, will it be the same tomorrow? Life has many twists and turns, but it only seems to make sense in hind sight. The only way we can control the direction of life is to visualize the future with optimism. By taking the “high road,” you are more likely to react to an opportunity, when one arises.

The difference between someone, who is a successful Yoga teacher, and someone who wants to be, is the ability to recognize an opportunity. The path of teaching starts with the study of a specific subject. This is completely true if the subject you want to teach is Yoga.

You can dream all you want, but you must take action in the form of study and practice. After a period of time, you can take an intensive course. There are many choices for Yoga teacher certification courses. There are correspondence, onsite, and online Yoga teacher training courses, to choose from.

However, a 200-hour Yoga course will prepare you for many things, but it will not prepare you for everything. There are too many aches, pains, ailments, and illnesses for one course to cover. This is why almost every Yoga teacher participates in continuing education.

There is no “magic bullet” Yoga training course. Yoga has been documented for thousands of years. One course may be very comprehensive, but a single course is a gateway to many more doors of knowledge and opportunity.

The job of your dreams is in your mind, and the path you choose is ultimately your decision. It does not have to cost you an “arm and a leg” to get started, but the path toward success and happiness starts with your first step in that direction.

© Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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