Yoga Teacher Training Aspects - Reminders to Yoga Students

By Paul Jerard

When we teach a Yoga class, there are many things to remind our students. We want to be sure that everyone, attending our Yoga class, receives the best possible experience. Let's look at a short list of topics that will help your students on their journey of self-discovery.

"Being present for practice," and "living in the moment," seem like worn out slogans, at times, but students need to be reminded; without the mind and body connection, there is no presence in their practice. Therefore, teachers need to remember that Pranayama techniques are a very important ingredient in creating a connection between mind and body, which results in presence.

Non-judgment of oneself, and others, helps students create self-awareness without competition. This is a unique mindset for many people, who come into the Yoga studio from work and commuter traffic. Competition is outside the Yoga class, but it should never be allowed to exist within the walls of your studio.

Yoga students need to be reminded of this, in each class, for their mental health, emotional health, and physical safety. The result is a calm mind and an Asana practice without injury. Every student should leave our classes feeling better than when he, or she, came through the doors.

We have briefly touched on Pranayama, but students need to remember to breathe completely and deeply, throughout the session. As teachers, it is easy to forget what comes naturally. Yet, most people are rarely conscious of their breathing, unless they are reminded of it.

If you teach Asanas in your classes, students need to be aware of their "comfort zone" and their "edge." The comfort zone is self-explanatory, but we know it as a range of motion without pain. The edge is the range, where we are at our physical limit, but we are still not in pain. The saying: "Work smart, not hard," applies to the edge of the movement. Student safety is priority number one, in all Yoga classes.

At the same time, your students should be reminded that the Yogic path is full of discoveries and treasures, which will help them with their inner challenges. They learn from us, but they also learn from within. Self-discovery is a rewarding part of Yoga practice. Therefore, they should be encouraged to develop a safe practice at home, and to take Yoga with them, wherever they go. As any Yoga teacher already knows: Our practice does not end, when we roll up our Yoga mats.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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How Power Yoga Can Help Athletes

By Scott Hughes

Whether you already practice yoga or barely know anything about it, you can greatly improve your athletic abilities by doing power yoga. Like most yoga for exercise, power yoga focuses on the performance of asanas or poses. Power yoga usually uses a vinyasa style of practice, meaning the practitioners synchronize the poses with their breath. Generally, power yoga aims to improve your athletic ability in three main ways.

Firstly, you can use power yoga to improve your physical strength. Power yoga for strength especially makes use of poses that involve holding oneself up in various ways using the limbs. Think about it like this: Simply getting down in push up position and trying to hold that position would give you a tough workout. Power yoga uses many poses like that.

Power yoga also aims to improve your stamina and endurance. Obviously, stamina and endurance play a major role in athletics. In power yoga you especially work your stamina and endurance when you hold poses for extended periods of time. Additionally, by going through the poses quickly without stopping in between, you will keep up the work and thus build your endurance.

Finally, power yoga helps you improve your flexibility. Flexibility will help you avoid injury during any athletic endeavors. Also, being rigid and inflexible will hinder your ability to perform well in sports and other athletic activities.

Doing any type of yoga will also help you recover from fitness training. It will preserve your health and improve blood circulation, which in turn will improve your physical potential. Training a lot for a specific sport can make you physically unbalanced, but doing yoga will help balance you back out.

Many athletes use almost all of their free time practicing for their sport. That dedication is almost always required from top-level athletes in any field. That may leave you little time to take on other exercise routines. Luckily, yoga does not take that much time. A simple 20 minute practice once a day or a few days per week will do you great. And once you start, you will get better and better at it.

If you are an athlete, I recommend you try power yoga. Of course, before starting any new exercise program, you are supposed to consult a medical doctor.

Whatever you do, good luck and have fun!

Scott Hughes manages Online Yoga Club at OnlineYogaClub.com, which has lots of free information and resources about yoga. You can discuss yoga and get help at the Yoga Forums The forums are completely free to use.

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