When teaching Pranayama (Yogic Breathing Techniques), to a student who is new to Yoga, you realize that beginners take their breathing for granted. It is natural to take breath and life for granted.
Breathing happens naturally, or conditionally, without giving it a thought. At the same time, breathing makes life, itself, possible. In the Yoga Sutras, Maharishi Patanjali mentions pranayama as...
The beginning of September is a busy time for Yoga teachers and Yoga studios in North America. This is the time of year when children go back to school and parents make decisions about activities for the next nine months. Whether there are more resolutions, made during September or January, is a subject for debate.
Bearing this in mind, many Yoga studios design advertisements, flyers,...
Does Yoga have solutions for middle-aged spread? Are your knees, back, hips and shoulders begging for mercy? Restorative Yoga is a complete health maintenance system, and a low impact form of cross training, that will not cause premature wear in your joints.
Let's be honest, have you noticed a spare tire around your mid-section? You could justify it by looking at teenagers. After all, it...
If you are going to teach Hatha Yoga classes, there are many subjects to cover, but asana (posture) is often the starting point of most Yoga teacher training courses. It could be debated that we should follow the Eight Limbed Path, as explained by Maharishi Patanjali, by reviewing the first two limbs (Yama and Niyama) before asana.
However, let's put this debate aside and discuss the details...
Within the training, practice, and scriptures of Yoga are many treasures for humankind. How many people completely understand the Yogic path toward a trained mind? How many students of Hatha Yoga call their practice a workout?
It is true that physical mastery will be realized through the practice of Hatha Yoga, but the mental benefits are usually not realized within an exercise class. If a...
When we consider Yoga solutions for our hips, we often think in terms of physical tightness, which occurs over time. Our hips are largely ignored until we feel pain in them from excessive sitting, trauma, arthritis, or gradual joint wear. Yet, the hips are also a storage area for stress, anxiety, and emotional turmoil.
Many different Yoga postures work toward releasing tension from within...
There are so many traditional and contemporary styles of Yoga, that it is hard to keep track of them. Yet, each of them shares, at least, one aspect in common. Each style of Yoga will help the practitioner to find happiness and prosperity by finding oneself, and by truly understanding the depth of Yogic teachings.
It is interesting to note - some teachers feel Yoga has spread too far and too...
Within Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, you learn many things, such as the Yamas and Niyamas. Yet, the moral ethics found within the Yamas and Niyamas are not always easy to apply to your daily life. The following is an example of using one Yama and applying it to your life.
Some of us may work, socialize, or live with people who have very difficult personalities. For example: How do you handle...
Karma Yoga is often overlooked by all of us. In most Hatha Yoga teacher training programs, we tend to highlight it, but move on toward the concepts of physical mastery. Yet, physical mastery alone does not deliver complete happiness. In fact, happiness occurs when our Yoga practice becomes part of our life off the mat.
We know that Karma Yoga is mentioned within the Bhagavad-Gita and the...
Ishvara Pranidhana is sometimes referred to as the last Niyama (restraint or moral observance). Ishvara Pranidhana means to surrender to a "Higher Power." Some Yoga teacher training courses skim over this subject to avoid potential conflicts.
Why should the concept of surrender to a higher power be a potential source of conflict? If you look at the principle closely, this is to put your...
