Yoga Instructor Training Blog
How to Spot Injury Prone Yoga Students
As more and more beginners are delving into yoga, it may be time to adjust the routine. Many teachers begin the class with a vigorous sun salutation/downward dog routine. A new idea could be to start the class with gentle beginner stretches to give yourself the opportunity and the extra time to evaluate your class. Go slow and look for the following red flags.
Yoga and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
One of the keys to preventing and dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome is maintaining good posture and keeping the body in alignment, and Yoga does both. Yoga relaxes muscles and lengthens the spine; it also increases circulation and rids the body of toxins. A well-trained Yoga teacher knows how to choose poses that release entrapped nerves and blood vessels without going too far and causing muscles to spasm.
Yoga and Meditation for Stress Reduction
Many people picture yoga as a posturing practice, but it’s necessary to remember that meditation and pranayama are monumental parts of a complete practice. Meditation has been demonstrated to not only decrease stress levels, but also induce changes in brain physiology. Eileen Luders, a researcher in the UCLA School of Medicine, conducted a study in 2009 that compared the MRIs of 22 meditators, with 5-46 years of experience, with 22 non-meditators, and found that meditators had increased gray matter in the areas of the brain associated with attention, regulating emotions, and decision-making. In effect, meditators were more focused and better equipped to deal with negative or stressful situations and make logical, mindful decisions. Similarly, in 2009, Philippe Goldin, a project director in Stanford University, monitored individuals taking an 8-week course on meditation and yoga.
Yoga Creates a Positive Mindset for Happiness
Yoga will definitely stimulate and provide relaxation. There are certain branches of yoga that play around with laughter. Some practitioners may not be able to handle a class devoted to laughing, but it promotes happiness rather than sadness and grief.
Meditation for States of Inner Harmony
Meditation and Yoga silence the ego and allow the practitioner to experience periods of harmony, or non-dualistic consciousness. The ego...
The Best Yoga Pose for Meditation
Classically, Yoga poses or asanas were practiced to prepare a Yogi or Yogini for meditation. Yoga poses open up and elongate the entire...
Chair Yoga for Heart Disease
There is evidence to suggest that Yoga, one of the oldest healing traditions in the world, can be used to prevent and manage heart...
Yoga and Meditation for Restful Sleep and Natural Lifestyle
Incorporating yoga into your schedule on a daily basis can work wonders on the amount and quality of sleep, but care must be taken not...
Yoga Teacher Training: Stress Therapy
During Yoga teacher training, you may have done a paper on managing stress. If so, it’s time to recycle that paper and turn it into a...
Optimum Sequence for Yoga Poses
To start with, each yoga school of thought, including Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Bikram and Viniyoga, has its own ideas about the proper pose sequencing. Bikram, for example, practices 26 poses, twice, in the same order every time.