Paul, Author at Yoga Teacher Training Blog

The Dance of Shiva: Natarajasana

To practice Natarajasana, or Dancer Pose, come to an equal standing position at the front of your Yoga mat. Before proceeding, find a gazing point or drishti two to three feet in front of you on the floor. If you hold this drishti point without wavering during your practice of Dancer Pose, your balance will become steadier and the fluctuations of your mind will begin to calm. With an inhale, shift your weight to your right foot and raise your left foot behind you. Grasp the top of your left foot with your left hand. Remember to keep your left foot in direct alignment with your left hip bone.

Paul2017-04-26T15:29:58-04:00Categories: Asana, Yogic Philosophy|Tags: ancient yogic text, balance will become steadier, begin to calm, creation and dissolution of life, creation of the universe, qualities of life energy|0 Comments

About Yoga Practice For Spring

It has been a long winter in the house. I cannot wait to get outside for a dose of vitamin D and some fresh air. Some studios offer monthly full moon meditation or yoga events once the weather turns warmer, and I will definitely be on board for some warm evenings outside.

Paul2017-04-26T15:29:58-04:00Categories: YOGIC LIFESTYLE|Tags: back into my yoga routine, good way to change mindsets, start my springtime yoga, weather gets frigid cold, yoga practice back on track|1 Comment

How Does Yoga Stimulate Your Brain?

Another group of researchers found a connection between yoga and the neurotransmitter GABA. Neurotransmitters are the chemical substances released to the brain to create communication between the brain and the body. GABA is one of the inhibitory types, which are responsible for calming the brain.

Paul2017-04-28T18:09:17-04:00Categories: YOGA FOR MENTAL HEALTH|Tags: improve your brain function, led to improved mood, new realm of treatment options, participate in 20 minutes of yoga, way to rewire the brain|2 Comments

Yoga Teacher Education as a Spiritual Quest

The most important qualification for a student is proper attitude — specifically a passion for enhancing and deepening the spiritual journey by practicing a healthy lifestyle. This attitude should reflect a deep respect for a tradition that arose centuries ago to refine mind, body, and spirit. Someone who enrolls in a yoga-teaching course should be inspired to aspire for deeper spiritual understanding about the nature of life.

Paul2017-04-28T17:58:42-04:00Categories: Yoga Teacher Issues|Tags: aspire for deeper spiritual understanding, learning yoga at a deep level, reasonable level of fitness, skills like teaching methodology, spiritual development|2 Comments

Useful Yoga Tips Before Spring

When the dormant winter season comes to a close for the year, your body is ready for action, and it wants to draw upon the accumulated energy of winter. To help your body prepare for spring, you can combine meaningful yoga movements with thought and a cleansing diet.

Paul2017-04-26T15:29:58-04:00Categories: YOGIC LIFESTYLE|Tags: eat more dark green vegetables, eliminate negative thoughts, meaningful yoga movements, practice the legs overhead pose, winter season comes to a close|0 Comments

About Yoga Training and Releasing Anger

Another view holds that expressing fury prevents the emotion from festering inside. While anger can be beneficial in certain ways - perhaps alerting us to where we need to speak up, take care of ourselves or protect another who might be harmed -- it still needs proper expression. Exploding and shouting whenever we're angry is hardly ideal, and it could become a habit that serves no one but the angry person.

Paul2017-04-26T15:29:58-04:00Categories: Anger Management|Tags: add to negative feelings, antagonistic personal relationship, help clear the haze of rage, helps a practitioner release anger, yoga practice can be a very helpful tool|0 Comments

Marketing Tips for Corporate Yoga Teachers

The benefits of group yoga sessions could appeal to many corporate executives. For example, a yoga teacher could mention the amount of motivation that it might require for the typical employee to utilize a company’s stationary fitness equipment. While some employees may exhibit a solo commitment toward a fitness routine, other employees may be too exhausted or too stressed to maintain a regular workout schedule.

Paul2017-04-26T15:29:58-04:00Categories: Corporate Yoga|Tags: about corporate yoga instruction, average cost per session, corporate yoga training program, positive attributes of yoga, regular workout schedule|0 Comments

Harness Your Ego with Yoga Teacher Courses

One of the best ways to keep your ego from getting in the way is by being in touch with your feelings. As you learn the basics of yoga instruction, pay close attention to how you feel. Regardless of how you feel at any given moment, try to figure out why you feel that way. Pushing feelings away is a surefire way to have them erupt at the most inconvenient time.

Paul2017-04-28T18:16:40-04:00Categories: Yoga Teacher Course Information|Tags: beyond your sense of self, decide to become yoga instructors, guiding your students through poses, have a captive audience, set the tone for each class|1 Comment

Yogic Meditation with a Partner

Sit back-to-back with your partner, supporting each other equally. Take deep, slow breaths. Relax into a common rhythm. Experiment with one partner exhaling as the other inhales, and vice versa. Paul and Marie Jerard also do a supine head-to-head variation of this, with the lower legs elevated on a folding chair (blankets are on the seats and a blanket may be under the head, depending on the natural tilt of the cervical spine). The knees and hips are set at 90 degrees and your crown chakra is about six inches away from your your partner's crown chakra.

Paul2017-04-28T18:01:59-04:00Categories: Meditation / Nidra|Tags: bring about emotional reactions, encouragement of a partner, hands in prayer position, solo meditation session, without judgment or expectation|0 Comments

Yoga of the Heart: Enhancing the Pulsation of Love

Many students and teachers love the practice of Yoga because of the happiness, love and well-being that it generates. However, there is a process of releasing and unfurling that must happen in order to continue to increase and expand the love within our own hearts. Many of us carry "undigested" experiences of sadness, love and scarcity in the region of the Heart Chakra. In order to truly feel the divine love that pulsates at the core of the heart, these negative emotions and experiences must be compassionately released and the love rekindled on a daily basis.

Paul2017-04-26T15:29:59-04:00Categories: Emotional Health|Tags: arise in your awareness, existing neck injury, increase the feeling of love, increase the intensity of the pose, open and expand the heart, relax your entire body, teachers love the practice of yoga, to practice anahata asana|0 Comments

Paul

About Paul