2015 - Page 2 of 2 - Yoga Teacher Training Blog

Chair Yoga Promotes Student Safety: Eagle Pose

In our task-driven world, which is often fueled by seemingly endless to-do lists, many of us are unable to unwind and truly relax, even for ten or fifteen minutes a day! This inability to relax is a serious impediment to maintaining a strong immune system and good mental health. A well-rounded practice of Yoga poses, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques helps to improve strength, coordination, balance, flexibility, and improves one’s ability to relax deeply. For those of us who are relatively physically fit, practicing a traditional format of Yoga poses is not a problem.

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002017-04-26T15:29:56-04:00Categories: Chair Yoga|Tags: coordination and strength, full practice of Yoga poses, life-enhancing benefits, maintaining a strong immune system, promotes student safety|2 Comments

Maintaining Healthy Rituals in Busy Modern Life

Whatever your life might hold, it just takes a bit of curious exploration and mindful commitment to find healthful practices that you can regularly maintain. Such rituals can make a world of difference in how you come to approach both consistent and unexpected stressors, as healing and dependable despite any and all of them.

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002019-09-09T18:16:42-04:00Categories: YOGIC LIFESTYLE|Tags: basic pranayama theory, busy modern life, drops in motivation, meaningful mantras, meditative physical practice, mountain posture, movement therapy, spiritual practices|1 Comment

Venturing “Off the Beaten Path” In Yoga

For instructors, we can “take the road less traveled by” through challenging ourselves to grow in the same ways – taking classes, visiting studios, consulting sources that ourselves and others might not yet have discovered are indeed valuable. Our teaching styles can also be beneficially unconventional. If we find ourselves always guiding certain advanced students in our classes (because we might – understandably – want to push them even further to their potentials), we can shift our focus to see what other perhaps more novice students can offer. We can also take (healthy and measured, albeit) risks with alternative approaches to guiding students through postures or imparting yoga philosophy, amongst other elements that we offer in our classes. Whatever the case may be, whomever you might be as a practitioner or instructor, venturing away from the conventional can indeed “make all the difference”.

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002019-09-09T18:28:49-04:00Categories: How to Teach Yoga|Tags: guiding students through postures, physical abilities, sources for yoga practice videos, through challenging ourselves, trying classes, yoga practitioners and instructors|0 Comments

Yoga for Cancer Recovery: Releasing Tension

Although many of us may feel that we are only truly practicing Yoga if we flow through a series of very strenuous Ashtanga Yoga postures and fiery breathing exercises, the practice of Yoga traditionally was focused on creating ease and spaciousness in the body and quietude in the mind, so that a Yogi or Yogini was more easily able to sit in meditation for an extended period of time.

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002017-04-26T15:29:56-04:00Categories: Cancer|Tags: creating a structured practice, Facing a cancer diagnosis, modify your Yoga practice, practice of Yoga for cancer, release tension, restorative flow of postures|3 Comments

Chair Yoga Promotes Student Safety: Eagle Pose

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed Over the last few decades, the popularity of Yoga has grown by leaps and bounds. Experts now estimate that the number of individuals who practice Yoga regularly is in the millions in the United States, not to mention the rest of the world. As Yoga classes continue to become more and [...]

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002017-04-26T15:29:56-04:00Categories: Chair Yoga|0 Comments

Chair Yoga Promotes Student Safety: Standing Forward Fold

To guide your students through the modified Chair Yoga version of Standing Forward Fold, have them stand approximately three feet behind their chairs with their legs hips’ distance apart. With an inhale, instruct your students to raise their arms overhead and place their hands in Prayer Position. With their next exhale, have your students bring their arms down and place their hands on the back of the chair in a straight line with their shoulders and neck. If any your students are uncomfortable raising their arms over their head, simply guide them into the posture without the initial arm movements.

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002019-09-10T07:59:32-04:00Categories: Chair Yoga|Tags: advanced version of this asana, modifications and supportive props, Modified Forward Fold, modified sequence of postures, postures can be easily modified|3 Comments

The Advantages of Mentorship Part II – Strategies for Starting and Maintaining

As I see it, and which I have observed from direct experience, those small efforts can be more than well worth it. As fellow teachers, I would love to hear your suggestions pertaining to, challenges with, and other thoughts related to “supervision”/mentorship in yoga instruction – so please feel free to post your responses below. Thank you for reading and sharing, and let’s keep the invaluable discussion going – for ourselves and for those whom we serve with our instruction! Namaste!

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002019-09-11T10:57:02-04:00Categories: Yoga Teacher Issues|Tags: connect with specific professionals, develop stronger relationships, group of teachers, knowledgeable and experienced, welcoming and collaborative, yoga teaching and practice|3 Comments

The Advantages of Mentorship Part I – Seeking and Offering Guidance and Support

In addition to being an E-RYT, I am also in graduate school for Dance/Movement Therapy. In the field, consistent supervision with a qualified professional is not only advised - it is most often required to practice. Guidance from another wise individual is not a foreign concept in yoga, as I am sure you as a qualified teacher are aware; swamis and gurus handed down the practice to those eager to learn from them, resulting in yoga surviving to be the practice we know it as today.

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002019-09-11T12:37:05-04:00Categories: Yoga Teacher Issues|Tags: accepting something as truth, as a qualified teacher, curiously seeking the guidance, face-to-face guidance, instructors warnings, support system|4 Comments

Improving Yoga Student Safety: Formatting a Class Wisely

Speaking with your students individually will also give you the opportunity to guide your students to other levels of Yoga classes, or other styles of Yoga, if necessary. For example, if you have a few students who are struggling to keep up with the sequence of asanas you have chosen to teach, or you have a few students who seem to far surpass the ability level of the class that your teaching, you may wish to recommended that these students go to other Yoga classes that more closely match their ability level. As you begin to ascertain the overall level of most of your students in the classes that you teach, you will more easily be able to lead them through a sequence of asanas that is both accessible and challenging, while still maintaining the safety of your students throughout the practice.

Paul2017-04-26T15:29:57-04:00Categories: Yoga Student Safety|Tags: as you gain more experience, formatting a class wisely, general ability level, mixed level class, other Yoga classes, therapeutic sequence of postures|2 Comments

Yoga for the Winter Blues: Japa Recitation and Chanting

During the cold winter months, maintaining a steady Yoga practice, with the inclusion of japa recitation and Yogic chanting, will help to keep your heart and your mind light and positive. When the weather permits, spending time out in the sunshine is also an important aspect of mitigating depressive symptoms during the wintertime.

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 5002017-04-26T15:29:57-04:00Categories: Mantras and Japa|Tags: effects on your mind and body, low-grade depression, sacred syllable, seasonal affective disorder, serious form of depression|0 Comments

Yearly Archives: 2015