Hatha Yoga for Personal Growth and Empowerment

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

In Yoga, many students consult their teacher, Guru, or Swami for general advice. These consultations are not always related to Yoga. For the student, the problem is finding reliable advice. He or she listens to the teacher for knowledge and helpful advice. Where can you find concrete advice?

Advice, in and of itself, is a form of connecting personal opinions, personal belief systems, and personal values into a recommendation. Therefore, if you obtain the advice of another, it is his or her personal opinion.

In some ways, each of us would like to resign decision- making to some one else. We want someone, who has all the answers to the riddles of the universe, but we want to have control over our lives. This creates an internal conflict, as most of us want to establish our independence.

Why do we seek the advice of a Yoga teacher, Guru, or Swami? A Guru is a person who is regarded as having great wisdom or knowledge, and uses it to guide others. A Swami is one who knows and is master of herself/himself. In general, these are usually, but not always, Hindu titles of deep respect.

If we think in terms of personal growth, and empowerment, how does one become the knower of herself/himself? To become the master of oneself requires daily regimentation. What you eat, what you read, your daily physical exercise, the time you spend meditating, and much more, are strictly controlled by you. This type of lifestyle requires absolute self-discipline.

Yet, let’s be honest – how many people will ever be able to control themselves at all times? The answer is: Very few. All is not lost if we change, what we can, gradually. To sustain a lifestyle change, requires some planning and to learn to forgive oneself for making mistakes.

Therefore, if you plan to make a big change, start with a few smaller changes, which lead to your eventual goal. For many students of Yoga, they do not see a big change unless they look back in time. The reason is: They started practicing Yoga, adopted healthy habits, and eventually realized the rewards of small steps forward.

To suddenly change everything, all at once, is a shock to your entire being. This is like eating meat and refined “junk food” all your life; then suddenly eating raw vegetables, whole grains, and fresh fruit. The usual result of sudden changes is that we change back to what we were before. To make permanent changes, we must take a moderate and gradual approach.

© Copyright 2009 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles) - Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul

Yoga Therapy For Chronic Back Pain - The First Step Toward Relief

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

When considering Yoga therapy for chronic back pain, you should have the endorsement of your physician or medical specialist. Reducing the back pain in your life can be a team effort. It is important to realize that many forms of therapy work well in harmony with medicine and each other.

In the case of Yoga therapy for back pain, one should feel a reduction in pain, but this does not mean you should discard your prescriptions, or the advice of your doctors. Most people, who constantly suffer from back pain, try medical or chiropractic solutions, prescriptions, and a variety of physical or alternative therapies.

After trying a variety of solutions, most people tend to continue with anything that helps them manage, or eliminate, pain. With that said, Yoga therapy sessions, or Yoga classes, are often part of a larger solution for pain management; and in some cases, the complete elimination of back pain.

Does this mean that every Yoga teacher has solutions for backaches and serious back pain? No, because there are a variety of Yoga styles, and many of them address mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Mental, emotional, and spiritual health are important in any healing process, but you want to be sure treatment of the physical body is included in your Yoga therapy.

A smaller, but very popular, group of Yoga styles are off shoots of Hatha Yoga (union by physical mastery). Does this mean that Hatha Yoga is purely physical in nature? No, because depending on the teacher and the sub-style, Hatha also covers mental, emotional, and spiritual health, in various degrees. The variation among Hatha Yoga's sub-styles covers a wide spectrum of knowledge and approaches toward health.

From the Hatha style, modern Yoga therapy has sprung. Among the therapeutic Yoga systems are: Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and other forms of Yoga therapy. This short list is where a person in chronic pain should begin to seek pain management solutions.

This will also require an extensive search for the right teacher, school, or Yoga therapist. The right teacher, or therapist, is knowledgeable, competent, gentle, understanding, and has time for you. You can easily make an assessment in one consultation, private session, or over the phone.
Generally speaking, Yoga schools do not have group therapy sessions for the same ailment.

There may be a specialized workshop for back pain, but these are rare. Therefore, it would be wise to schedule a private Yoga session with the most qualified teacher or therapist you can find.

© 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 Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit:

http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html

Yoga Therapy for Chronic Back Pain – The First Step Toward Relief

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

When considering Yoga therapy for chronic back pain, you should have the endorsement of your physician or medical specialist. Reducing the back pain in your life can be a team effort. It is important to realize that many forms of therapy work well in harmony with medicine and each other.

In the case of Yoga therapy for back pain, one should feel a reduction in pain, but this does not mean you should discard your prescriptions, or the advice of your doctors. Most people, who constantly suffer from back pain, try medical or chiropractic solutions, prescriptions, and a variety of physical or alternative therapies.

After trying a variety of solutions, most people tend to continue with anything that helps them manage, or eliminate, pain. With that said, Yoga therapy sessions, or Yoga classes, are often part of a larger solution for pain management; and in some cases, the complete elimination of back pain.

Does this mean that every Yoga teacher has solutions for backaches and serious back pain? No, because there are a variety of Yoga styles, and many of them address mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Mental, emotional, and spiritual health are important in any healing process, but you want to be sure treatment of the physical body is included in your Yoga therapy.

A smaller, but very popular, group of Yoga styles are off shoots of Hatha Yoga (union by physical mastery). Does this mean that Hatha Yoga is purely physical in nature? No, because depending on the teacher and the sub-style, Hatha also covers mental, emotional, and spiritual health, in various degrees. The variation among Hatha Yoga’s sub-styles covers a wide spectrum of knowledge and approaches toward health.

From the Hatha style, modern Yoga therapy has sprung. Among the therapeutic Yoga systems are: Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and other forms of Yoga therapy. This short list is where a person in chronic pain should begin to seek pain management solutions.

This will also require an extensive search for the right teacher, school, or Yoga therapist. The right teacher, or therapist, is knowledgeable, competent, gentle, understanding, and has time for you. You can easily make an assessment in one consultation, private session, or over the phone.
Generally speaking, Yoga schools do not have group therapy sessions for the same ailment.

There may be a specialized workshop for back pain, but these are rare. Therefore, it would be wise to schedule a private Yoga session with the most qualified teacher or therapist you can find.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Introduction to Yoga Therapy

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FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles) - Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul

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Office Yoga - Practice Yoga in Your Office

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Office Yoga can improve health and productivity. Constant sitting is not healthy for your circulation or for the skeletal structure. Most of us know that excessive sitting can cause poor circulation in the legs and blood clotting.

Yet, many people do not realize excessive sitting can cause piriformis muscle syndrome (a leading cause of sciatica). Some common long-term problems from sitting too much are neck pain, shoulder pain, and chronic joint pain.

Most office workers feel spinal pain in the back, or neck, as a result of prolonged work at computer stations. This can result in absenteeism, as office help takes time to do anything else, but sitting.

If you look around the average office, it is not hard to find signs of over-stretched and weak back muscles from leaning forward. This also results in posture problems we refer to as dowager's hump, the upper thoracic hump, hunch back (kyphosis), and forward head (hyperkyphotic) posture.

Only a few decades ago, these spinal problems were not so commonly seen among younger office workers, because children had more active physical lives. These days, it is not uncommon for a child to come home and do his or her homework on a laptop or PC.

With nearly two decades of an inactive lifestyle, and poor posture, young adults enter the work force to continue unhealthy diet and posture, which will go unnoticed until they experience chronic pain. The solution is to develop office Yoga programs during the course of a day.

The quickest, and least expensive way, to make this change is to bring in qualified Yoga instructors, who can assess daily posture problems and make recommendations for viable solutions. The primary concern here is proper posture and physical activity.

The choices are simple: Compare the cost of higher health insurance, absenteeism, workers' compensation, and temporary disability, to the cost of an independent contractor. Whether a company is large, or small, the advice a competent Yoga teacher will deliver is cost effective solutions for long-term health.

Alternative solutions are the difference between a company's economic survival and going out of business. With rising energy costs, companies are forced to think "outside the box." How many commercial building owners knew or cared about solar shingles, just a few years ago?

The rising cost of labor is much more than an hourly wage. If companies truly see their employees as an asset, office Yoga can raise the level of morale and create a healthier work force. It is up to employers to find less expensive solutions to existing problems or suffer the consequences.

© 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 Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html

Teaching Hatha Yoga - Bhastrika, Kapalbhati, and the Fainting Game

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Recently, a conversation arose about the dangers of prolonged and forceful Pranayama (Yogic breathing techniques). A friend, and colleague, was discussing pushing the limits of Bhastrika and Kapalbhati to the point of neuron damage, within the brain.

It is true that some Yoga teachers and students are unaware of the dangers of prolonged Bhastrika and Kapalbhati. These two Pranayama techniques are classified as hyper-ventilation. If this means nothing, the short example below will open your awareness to the potential hazards.

When I was a child growing up in the United States, my family moved around the country quite a bit. It was not uncommon for children to play fainting or “passing out” games by practicing hyper-ventilation for prolonged periods of time, until they fainted, which is proven to result in neuron damage within the brain.

Children do foolish things. Luckily, we tired of those games and moved on to less dangerous games. Bhastrika and Kapalbhati are therapeutic when performed in moderation; however, there is a “dark side” of forcing these intense methods beyond the maximum limits.

The dark side is to get brain damage from overdoing something that appears harmless. So, what are the limits of Bhastrika and Kapalbhati? In the case of Bhastrika and Kapalbhati, there is a 10 minute maximum time limit, per day, and per technique, for advanced practitioners, of these two forms of Pranayama.

For healthy beginners, it is better to break up their Bhastrika and Kapalbhati practice into one or two minute segments - with the understanding that 10 minutes total is the absolute limit.
However, some Yoga teachers will tell healthy beginners to stop at five minutes; just to be sure they are not tempted to push their natural limits. If a student begins to feel light headed, he, or she, should take a rest. This is not a contest. For most beginners, we start at one minute, and no more.

Later, we gradually build up the time to 3 or 4 minute segments. It is safer to add one minute segments, with a rest in between the segments. For seniors, in good health, we start at 30 seconds and no more. Later, we gradually build up to one minute, only.

Apparently, the ancient Yogis made a few mistakes along the way, and lost a few practitioners, as a result of overdoing it. I personally love Bhastrika and Kapalbhati, but much like the ocean, these two forms of Pranayama deserve respect.

To make it crystal clear: The path of moderation, which is also known as the “Middle Way,” is the safest of all the paths. In Yoga, and in life, there should never be extremes, even when our egos are tempted to push the maximum limits.

© Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Yoga Instructor Certification

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos.Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

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FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles) - Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul

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Yoga Instructor Certification - How To Become A Certified Yoga Instructor At Home

Written By Karina Sinclair

In recent times yoga instructor certification has become more important than ever. In the past registration was usually enough because the practice and teaching of yoga was not as mainstream as it is today. However nowadays not being certified puts a yoga teacher at serious risk of costly lawsuits and unable to obtain liability insurance at all.

The Major Reason For Certification

The major reason for becoming certified is for a teacher's legal protection. There has unfortunately been an increase in lawsuits against teachers as a result of student injuries that usually could have been avoided with proper training and instruction.

While one's first impression of yoga is that it is a relaxing, spiritual exercise it can actually be quite vigorous, especially for people who are just starting out or seniors.

Why Injuries Usually Occur

Unfortunately if students have not stretched adequately enough before the lesson or have done a move incorrectly inadvertent injury may occur.

How being certified will help you is that it will be a lot easier for you to obtain liability insurance. Liability insurance is not something that should ever be overlooked, no matter how experienced you think you may be or how safe and gentle you believe your class is.

Get To Know Every Student

A student questionnaire is highly recommended because it is essential as their teacher that you understand every student's overall health, medical conditions, fitness level and general history.
Teachers who have been teaching for an extended period of time may not have had any kind of certification available to them. That's why it's essential even the most seasoned trainers ensure that their are covered.

On a positive note, if you are a professional teacher you may be able to receive some sort of credit or recognition for your past experience and your training already undertaken.

The Minimum Certification Requirement

There is a minimum requirement and that's 200 hours of study. What must be included in any course you undertake is virtually every facet of running a yoga business including anatomy, physiology, safety, modifications and contraindications.

Additional Benefits

You will find it easier to obtain work if you are certified. In fact, some studios for their own protection consider it a hiring requirement.

Yoga instructor certification is now easier than ever with the range of certification home study courses. To save you time I have spent hours researching the range of instructor certification courses available and have announced my number one choice at my yoga training website.

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Kapalbhati, The 10 Minute Yoga

Written By Shalini Singh

Kapalbhati is one of the best yoga techniques that have been given to us by sages of India. It is a gift to humanity. The idea is simple, breathe in normally and exhale forcibly allowing the stomach to collapse. Do it for 10 minutes and feel the difference within days.

Kapalbhati is one of my favorite pranayamas. Kapalbhati is a subcategory of Pranayama that comes in the 3rd chapter of "Pantajali Yogdarshan". Amongst the several Pranayamic exercises and techniques; Kapalbhati is noteworthy as Kapalbhati is an exercise the practice of which imparts glow to the skull; a cleansing process which brightens the forehead. Kapalbhati is a pranayama technique which invigorates the entire brain and awakens the dormant centers that are responsible for subtle perception.

Although performing kapalbhati is basically quite straight forward, it is important that it is performed correctly in order to obtain the best results. It includes breathing slowly as usual and then forcing the breath outside. A major effect of kapalbhati is to increase air pressure in short bursts in the nasal pharynx and sinuses, which stimulates the forward part of the brain.

However, if both nostrils are blocked, Kapalbhati cannot be done. The technique uses short and strong forceful exhalations while inhalation happens automatically.

Kapalbhati is theretofore a highly energizing abdominal breathing exercise as it causes the stomach to collapse as the exhalations are forced. Kapalbhati is a highly energizing abdominal breathing exercise. Kapalbhati could be done as fast as two strokes in a second. Kapalbhati is the one major yogic breathing technique capable of expelling toxins from the lungs. Though kapalbhati is usually done sitting down, it can be practiced standing up.

This pranayama technique actually invigorates the brain and cleanses the mind. I think Kapalbhati is the one that helps me most. Baba Ramdev is a great proponent of the Kapalbhati and suggests at least 10-15 minutes a day to get rewards.

S. Singh is great fan of Baba Ramdev and has been following his yoga for several years specially Kapalbhati.