Yoga Teacher Guidelines for Assisting, Part 1

What should Yoga teachers know about giving an assist before a potential legal problem arises? Have you ever had an assist that didn't really help much? Have you ever had a physical assist that hurt you physically or in any way? Do physical assists in Yoga postures make you feel uncomfortable? Is it really necessary for Yoga teachers to give a physical assist?

As most of you already know, a physical assist is for the purpose of adjusting a student into proper alignment in a Yoga class. So, why make such a "fuss" over it? One Yoga student may see something as an assist - while another may feel you have crossed the line into sexual harassment.

What should Yoga teachers know about giving an assist before a potential problem arises? As a Yoga teacher, Yoga instructor, or body worker, you should have clear cut policies concerning many things, but let's focus on physical assists for now. Your release forms for Yoga students should explain what a student can, and cannot, expect from an assist; and you should get their permission in writing.

This is one good reason why you should never let a new student into a Yoga class without filling out the necessary applications and having a meeting about their expectations. This gives Yoga students a chance to be informed as to what to realistically expect from Yoga. In the process, he or she can agree to a physical assist or refuse it on the spot.

This policy of clear cut information, and an interview before classes, is good for the Yoga teacher and the student. From the start, you are developing the student / teacher relationship and creating a rapport with new Yoga students.

With this said, now you understand one more logical reason why students, who arrive late to a Yoga class, are refused. It is bad enough to contend with interruptions in the flow of your lesson plan. Now, add to this that a Yoga student should do a warm-up before jumping into class. When a student is injured, in one of your Yoga classes, you will ultimately take responsibility.

The previously mentioned scenario has the potential for a liability suit. In the words of a friend and attorney of mine, "Anyone can be sued, but that does not mean every plaintiff will successfully win a case."

© Copyright 2006 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Thai Yoga Bodywork

Lotus Palm: The Mindfulness of Touch

One of the ancient healing arts of traditional Thai medicine (along with herbal medicine and spiritual meditation), Thai massage is a full-body massage, performed on a floor mat, with both parties in loose, comfortable clothes. It incorporates t'ai chi moves, rhythmic motion, palming and thumbing along sen lines (energy lines), gentle stretching and the conscious use of breath. The practitioner uses her hands, feet, arms and legs to guide the recipient through various yoga postures, while remaining focused on their own body-center. This combination of movements and focused awareness creates a slow, flowing "dance" around the recipient's body.

"Thai massage is a well-respected and proven healing art that's quickly gaining popularity in the West because of its meditative approach and its application of yoga's well-established benefits," said Kam Thye Chow, founder of Lotus Palm, one of the first North American schools of Thai massage, located in Montreal, Canada.

Chow, originally from Malaysia, has taught classes worldwide and written books on the practice of t'ai chi and massage. He views Thai massage as having far-reaching applications, and refers to the technique more accurately as Thai Yoga Bodywork because of its varied influences and appeal. "Yoga practitioners are finding it adds a whole new dimension, complementary to their practice. Nurses, physiotherapists and massage therapists are adding to their training with this technique. Also, the gentle opening and stretching of the body provided by the massage has improved the performance of athletes, martial artists and dancers," said Chow.

Thai massage has been described as assisted Hatha yoga. During a session, the practitioner pays careful attention to the recipient's level of flexibility and breath as they gently move the individual into different poses. Each pose is designed to open up the body and allow energy to flow freely along the sen lines (72,000 of which have been mapped out, although 10 major ones are focused on in Thai massage). This "opening" increases joint mobility and flexibility, improves circulation, tonifies organs, and relieves muscular and emotional tension.

Energy in Motion

Working the energy lines is the basis of Thai massage. Thai medicine is based on the belief there is an intrinsic life force or energy (prana) that circulates within the body. To create health and vitality, it is essential to allow this energy to circulate freely. When prana is blocked or restricted, sickness or disease results which can manifest physically, emotionally or even spiritually. The main purpose of Thai massage is to clear such blockages and allow energy to flow along the sen. Although not based on the Chinese meridian system, the sen line system is very similar.

By working the body physically and energetically, Thai massage produces a highly therapeutic effect that helps relieve common conditions such as low back pain, arthritis, headaches, digestive difficulties, menstrual and menopausal problems and stress-related conditions, as well as provide an overall sense of relaxation which helps people to deal better with emotional issues.

Though very dynamic, Thai massage is deeply relaxing, enabling the body and mind to rebalance naturally. As with any yoga practice, blood and lymph circulation are increased and internal organs are stimulated, all helping to strengthen the immune system, rebalance the endocrine system and clear toxins from the body. In addition, the variety of stretching and joint isolation exercises helps to increase joint mobility and flexibility. Since the technique respects each person's body type and level of flexibility, Thai massage is ideal for many individuals.

Synchronizing Movement and Breath

The stretching and energy line work in Thai massage is important in helping to lengthen muscles and make them more flexible, supple and less prone to injury, while joints benefit from a greater range of motion. Stretching also increases capillary density, thereby helping to address ischemia and promoting the release of lactic acid. This is particularly important in our culture that tends to emphasize more aggressive muscle movements resulting in the production of large quantities of lactic acid in the muscle fibers. In addition, studies have shown that stretching can raise the temperature of a tendon, which can have a protective effect via increased skeletal muscle tensile strength. The stretching in Thai bodywork also releases endorphins, further promoting a relaxation response.

Conscious use of breath has been proven to reduce both physical and emotional tension. In Thai bodywork, practitioners learn how to make clients more aware of how they use their breath and of areas of tension where the breath is impeded. As well, practitioners themselves are trained in how to use their own breath to facilitate transitions between postures, work with different body types, and to calm and synchronize their breath with the client's for deeper concentration and awareness.

Thai bodywork's emphasis on body awareness has also helped practitioners avoid many of the injuries common to bodyworkers today. Since the massage focuses on both the practitioner's and client's body, it allows for a session that places comfort and safety first. The importance of self-care is emphasized and integrated with the notion of creating a smooth, flowing session incorporating natural transitions that avoid straining either the practitioner's or the client's body. These transitions, based on the practice of t'ai chi, are essential to what Chow refers to as the "dance" of Thai massage -- the flowing movement and regular breath, the sense of moving from one's center and using one's weight vs. strength to avoid joint pain or injury. In this way, Thai bodywork respects the body's natural rhythms -- both external and internal.

The Lotus Palm Tradition

To understand where Thai massage is today, we return once again to its origins -- specifically, to the founder of Thai massage, Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha, a personal physician of the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago. Thai massage, in fact, developed within the environment of Buddhist temples, reflecting the spirit of metta (unconditional love and compassion) and vipassana (moment-to-moment awareness). As a practical application of these two forms of meditation, Thai massage emphasizes that, in its deepest essence, the massage is a meditative healing experience for both the recipient and the practitioner. Sessions in Jivaka's time were known to last several hours as part of a regular, spiritual practice.

Chow saw the importance of bringing the practice of Thai massage back to these more spiritual roots, though he also understood the need to develop a form of massage specifically adapted to Western bodies and needs.

"In Asia, people are generally smaller, more flexible and often squat or sit cross-legged on the floor," he explained. "Also, people in Thailand spend a lot of their working time in fields or doing some other form of manual labor. For this reason, Thai massage there focuses 75 percent on the lower body and legs. In the West, people sit more, and their bodies are generally taller and heavier. In addition, they spend more time at desks and computers. Also, because of the nature of our lives in North America, lengthier yoga-massage sessions are no longer practical." Chow decided that Thai massage in the West would need to divide its focus equally: 50 percent on the lower body and 50 percent on the upper body, within a 60- to 90-minute session, vs. the typical two-hour (or longer) sessions in Thailand.

"When I first came to North America, one of my teachers told me that any session less than two hours could not be called Thai massage," Chow said. But, after practicing and teaching in the West for five years, I've realized that it's better to teach an art that people can practice. It's the quality of the massage that matters, not the quantity."

Another factor was that, although Thai massage is readily available in Thailand today for as little as $6 in many massage clinics and there are reputable schools teaching the technique, it is often seen as either a "service" along the lines of hairdressing, or as a thinly-veiled prostitution offering -- neither of which is regulated in any way. The massage clinics operate without specific guidelines, and quality and training varies from clinic to clinic and region to region. The norm in Thailand is to have mass massages in a single clinic with up to 20 recipients being massaged next to one another.

All these factors led Chow to have his school recognized and accredited by a provincial massage federation in Canada, and gave him the impetus to develop the Lotus Palm method, which he teaches throughout North America, to bring Thai massage back to its spiritual origins and basis in traditional healing.

The Lotus Palm training is designed to merge Eastern practices with a Western approach to health and healing, while maintaining high standards of practice. In addition to the basic training, practitioners are encouraged to attend regularly scheduled and supervised workshops to ensure they maintain the massage's proper form and that they are using their own bodies correctly to prevent strain or injury. The Lotus Palm approach also links Thai massage to the ancient Indian healing tradition of Ayurveda, providing a solid philosophical and theoretical basis to the technique itself.

Ayurvedic Roots

Although it is called Thai massage, this bodywork has a therapeutic foundation in the Indian healing tradition of Ayurveda. Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit words: ayur (life) and veda (knowledge). Together, these concepts refer to harmonious living and form a body of knowledge that acts as a guide to proper maintenance of life, explained Chow.

"The Ayurvedic approach to healing is still practiced in India and Sri Lanka and is receiving more recognition in the West for its ability to treat the body as a whole," he said. "Within Thailand, the Ayurvedic link to traditional Thai massage has been all but lost, and is now reduced to pharmaceutical purposes only. The aspect of massage and bodywork is no longer emphasized. One of the aims of the Lotus Palm method is to bridge the practice of Thai Yoga Bodywork to its Ayurvedic roots. This does not mean that we intend to operate as Ayurvedic doctors, but rather to integrate some general principles within our work." Chow likens this to shiatsu massage, where practitioners draw on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), though they themselves are not TCM doctors.

Ayurveda means "science of life," and Chow said his aim is to simplify the concepts of Ayurveda and apply them within Thai bodywork. "It's a beautiful healing and lifestyle tradition," he said. "It's a mirror of yourself, representing who you are and how you are. Ayurveda strives to bring happiness and balance by addressing all aspects of a person: physical, mental and spiritual. This provides an opportunity and a method for positive change."

Lotus Palm practitioners are trained to create a massage that incorporates an ancient tradition of health and well-being with modern medical knowledge. Practitioners can determine each client's specific constitution and body type based on the Ayurvedic concept of the tridoshas -- vatta, pitta and kapha -- categorizations based on lifestyle, diet, emotional outlook, physical and emotional characteristics, etc., enabling the massage to be customized to each person's needs. Specific yoga exercises are also recommended to the client to further address their dosha requirements.

Meditation of Compassion

Lotus Palm training hails back to Thai massage's Buddhist philosophy, teaching that the massage is a healing meditation where the giver learns to feel the recipient's body as if it was her own. This deep awareness, incorporating the concept of metta and vipassana, reminds us that to touch another is to remember our connection to life itself, to a deeper source of being. This mindfulness and compassion is at the core of Lotus Palm.

"Meditation is the practice of being fully alive in the moment and present to whatever it is we are engaged in," said Chow. "It is essential for the Thai Yoga Bodywork practitioner to be in a meditative state while working. This helps them to be more centered and clear-minded."

To massage with clarity and the intention of kindness and compassion is believed to benefit both the giver and the receiver, allowing the life force to flow unobstructed between both. Such a practice cultivates a discipline of both internal and external awareness. You listen to yourself, you listen with your hands, and you hear the body and spirit in each moment.

Chow regularly leads participants in his classes in a chant: "Om Mane Padme Hum" -- a Tibetan mantra reflecting the spirit behind Thai Yoga Bodywork and the Lotus Palm method. Its translation: "May the jewel in the lotus shine forth this light of love and compassion to unite all existences as one. May all beings be happy."

In that mantra, we are taken back to the wat, to Thai massage's temple origins, and to the sacred nature of this practice: that to touch another is to reconnect to our bodies and to ourselves, to our true essence in the moment. In so doing, we are reminded that this awareness and compassion can be extended beyond a massage session and reach into the moments that constitute our daily lives.

With a background in dance, yoga and natural health care, Sonia Osorio is a practitioner of lotuspalm.com Lotus Palm Thai Bodywork. She is also in private practice as a California massage therapist.

Information on Thai Yoga Massage and the Lotus Palm School can be obtained at: Lotus Palm School of Thai Yoga Massage 5337 boul. Saint-Laurent, suite 240 Montreal, Qc. H2T 1S5 tel. (514) 270-5713 lotuspalm.com lotuspalm.com.

Yoga Strategies for Anxiety Relief

Yoga classes offer a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Sometimes Yoga students develop bonds outside the class because they are "like minded" people, with a pro-active view toward life. The people you socialize with each day will "make you or break you."

When I grew up, parents would often mention how you should be careful about cultivating friendships with the "right kids." As children, we would hear the saying, "guilty by association," which meant, if our friends got into trouble, so would we, and there were always consequences.

Why is it that many adults forget this still applies to adult life? If anyone, of any age, exposes himself or herself to negative people, there will be consequences. Years of under achievement usually indicate that we have been in the wrong place or listened to the wrong information for far too long.

It is written in Proverbs 12:26: "The righteous should choose his friends carefully. For the way of the wicked leads them astray." This should be hard wired into our memories, but we often forget.

Make sure that you consult with people you deeply trust and who have a track record of integrity. These are trusted friends and a priceless asset in your life.

If the people you associate with are negative thinkers, and cannot be trusted, you should make some major changes in life. This is hard talk, but you cannot rid yourself of anxiety, or improve your life, to its complete potential, in a negative environment. You can take control of your life by changing your environment.

© Copyright 2007 - 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. riyoga.com riyoga.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: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Modern Stress Relief - Try Ancient Yoga

Nonetheless, there's a way to reduce these kinds of risk factors and also switch all of them around without turning to medicine. All it takes is the development of result-oriented behavior which will work together with your normal diet and exercise program.

Yoga can help you restore the condition you would like your mind and body to be in. It may help you chill out.

Yoga is one of the most popular forms of meditative exercise within the rising movement of mind-body health. Some other forms include qigong, tai chi, and various practices of meditation. Mind-body fitness unfolds from Eastern philosophies and beliefs and may boost both your psychological and physical health.

Mind-body exercise offers benefits, which are showing them to be traditional even under scientific study. Indeed, mind-body exercise can accomplish several things, like cutting your risk of heart disease and improving your mood.

Yoga's comforting motions are simple on your joints while increasing strength, flexibility and muscle tone. In effect, it can make you feel much better than aerobic exercise, weight lifting, or running, which are significantly harder to the body.

Practicing yoga can impact to the whole of your lifestyle. Nowadays, many Westerners focus on the physical asanas, or positions, of yoga. However, many utilize yoga as a process to please and appreciate their lives in the inclusive hold.

Yoga surely is a committed undertaking, but in reality practicing it is incredibly easy and you can do it just about anywhere. In case you utilize yoga to its whole potential, you can incorporate its meditative and dietary practices in addition to its rule of ethics into your life. Generally, however, it's practiced as a combination of asanas, meditation and breathing exercises, also called pranayama.

There is a great deal of information offered regarding how to breathe in the course of yoga. When you breathe deeply, you feel relaxed and energized at the same time, even though energy differs from what you may be used to experiencing. Not necessarily jumpy or distressed, this kind of power is cool and composed.

When you're feeling anxious, try this five-minute "breath break" to stimulate yourself and put out tension. Read through the guidelines several times before you try it out.

1. With your back as straight as you possibly can, sit down in a chair or on the ground. If you choose to sit in a chair, your feet need to be flat on the ground together with your knees in line with the center of your feet. If the feet do not relax comfortably on the ground, put a book or cushion under your feet so that your knees are perpendicular to your hips. Both hands should be on the top of your legs, palms down, open and relaxed.

2. Close your eyes and just rest them.

3. Be familiar with your ribs at the back, front and sides of your body, and think about your lungs behind your ribs.

4. Slowly breathe in, filling up your lungs from the bottom. Picture your ribs widening out and up. Now, slowly breathe out, with your lungs emptying from top to bottom and your ribs gently contracting back down and in. Don't push the breath out.

5. At first, continue doing this exercise for 2 or 3 minutes. As you become more experienced, do it for 5 or 10 minutes. When you start set aside some time everyday for this workout. As you become more acquainted with it and take pleasure in how much better you feel, you'll want to do it several times throughout the day.

Yogafit has a lot of very informative advice in all aspects of yogafit.com yoga poses, training, and everything else. She also has a number of yogafit.com yoga conference meetups several times a year and is known yoga guru and mogul around the world.

Are Yoga Teacher Classes Right For You?

You may think that yoga teacher classes are only for those people who have studied the practice for many years and can do every advanced yoga posture. In reality, people with all levels of experience and backgrounds decide to get their yoga instructor certification every year! Even if you don't plan to become a yoga teacher, a training course will expand your knowledge base and give you additional insight into yoga's history, philosophy and postures, as well as a deeper understanding of anatomy, alignment and breathing techniques.

Yoga Alliance Certification

There are many things to consider before signing up for yoga teacher classes. First, if you are taking courses in the United States, make sure that your training program is recognized by the Yoga Alliance, a nonprofit organization that supports the study and teaching of yoga. They have a strict set of guidelines that outline the requirements for 200 and 500-hour yoga training programs, and most yoga studios require that their instructors be certified by the Yoga Alliance.

Yoga Teacher Training Time and Cost Considerations

Second, understand that yoga teacher classes are a serious time and financial commitment. Many yoga centers provide two options for completing the 200 hours required for certification: an intensive program that meets daily over the course of a month or two, or an extended program that meets weekly or bi-weekly over the course of several months to a year. The intensive program format is perfect for those who are transitioning jobs or visiting from out of town, while the extended format is great for those who work day jobs or have obligations that prevent them from doing the intensive. With either course format, students are required to complete 200 full hours of training before they can receive certification. The cost of yoga teacher training varies by school, but is typically $3,000 or more for the 200-hour certification. Some schools offer financial aid or scholarships to a select number of students who meet specific requirements.

Finding the Right Yoga Instructors

Finally, make sure that you get to know the instructors who will be teaching your courses. You'll be spending a lot of time under the direction of these yoga professionals, and it's important that you will be comfortable and confident during your training program. Remember that what you learn during ishtayoga.com/teacher_training yoga teacher classes will include more than just exercise or memorization. The training process is a journey of the mind, body and spirit!

Mariellen Brown is a New York City-based designer and writer. She is currently taking yoga teacher classes to receive her 200-hour yoga certification from ishtayoga.com ISHTA Yoga in NYC.

4 Simple Anti-Aging Steps

Anti-aging articles are all the rage these days, so I thought I would chip in my two cent's worth. Well, at a penny a tip, four cents.

We cannot do much about the fact that we age, but we can do something about the effects that aging has on us. Here are four simple things you can do to delay and diminish the effects of aging.

Exercise
Eat
Play
Sleep

Think you can handle that assignment?

Exercise

One of the most obvious effects of aging is what happens to the outward appearance of our bodies as well as what happens to our ability to use them. When we age, systems slow down, or even break down, we lose muscle mass, our heart begins to have problems, we lose our balance more often, we are more likely to break bones. If injured, we recover more slowly. Wrinkles form, breasts sag, stomachs poke out, and we gain weight.

Simple fact: Regular moderate exercise tightens muscles, builds lean muscle mass, helps keep us flexible and strong. It keeps systems and organs in peak health and operating at optimum efficiency. There are people in their 80's and 90's who are doing "athletic" things. While some of this is related to our genetic makeup, of course, almost anyone can improve their overall fitness through an exercise program.

Exercise doesn't HAVE to be exercise, by the way. Gardening is exercise. So is walking, bicycling, aerobics in front of the TV (Richard Simmons, ladies), yoga, weight training, and playing with the grandkids.

Divide exercise into three types: Muscle building and toning, aerobic (cardiovascular) activity, and stretching. A simple weight training routine two or three times a week, a walk five times a week, and a few minutes of stretching every day should do it. Regular exercise keeps you looking, and feeling, good.

Eat

When people age, their nutrition often suffers. First of all, we have all kinds of exhortations to eat less, lose weight, etc. At the same time, as we age, our metabolism slows down and our body's ability to process certain nutrients diminishes as well. Many seniors lose interest in food. Our taste buds even betray us.

For seniors, eating should be fun, of course, but it needs to become a bit more logical. The body requires nutrients, but is having a hard time processing nutrients. Metabolism drops, fat starts packing on, but we need to keep our nutrient level up at a time that our sense of taste is deserting us and we are losing interest in food and a lot of other things anyway.

The exercise I was talking about earlier will help keep the appetite up while raising metabolism and increasing our enjoyment of life as well. It will also be necessary to make yourself eat what you are supposed to eat when you are supposed to eat it. If you have any doubt about your ability to get the appropriate nutrition from the foods you do eat, supplement your diet with vitamins and minerals. At the least, you might want to take a daily multivitamin supplement. Look for the ones that say they are for seniors.

Seniors also tend to not get enough protein. You might not need to butcher a whole cow, but try to make sure that you are getting your protein. While not perfect answers, supplements such as Ensure can help you get protein and other nutrients if you are not sure.

If you are exercising regularly and eating properly, you will feel more like having fun!

Play

Having fun can have many benefits to anybody at any age, but can be of particular importance to seniors. As we age (I am 62) many of us begin to feel isolated as we quit going to work, friends die, it gets harder to get around, everybody around us (those young folks) seems to enjoy things that seem meaningless to us. Based on what a friend of mine, a geriatric nurse, told me, this is the slippery slope that leads many perfectly healthy and normal people to a chair on a senior daycare porch. She told me that many of her patients were fine, they had just figured that there was no reason to be interested in life any more.

Social interaction can keep juices flowing that otherwise would dry up, and I am talking actual chemicals, hormones, and enzymes. Spend time with friends and family. If you do not have a daily job to go to, volunteer to keep physically, mentally, and socially active. Find something you always wished you could do, but didn't have the time because you were so busy earning a living. People with partners and pets live longer, healthier lives. There's a clue.

Keep your mind active with puzzles and games. Believe it or not, a little Sudoku, or a few logic puzzles can not only help mental alertness and thinking ability, but can actually contribute to physical health.

Just thought I'd mention, sex is good for you too!

Sleep

Rest is important at all stages of our lives, and it becomes very important as we age. Regular exercise, proper nutrition, and some fun will help you fall asleep at night and sleep well. Most of us should be getting between six and eight hours of sleep a night. Just because you wake up a couple of times to take care of some urgent business doesn't mean that you need to stay up.

If you feel you are not getting enough sleep, or are just not rested enough, by all means have it checked out medically. In the meantime, maybe some meditation during the day can help. Hey! That's M-E-D-I-T-A-T-I-O-N so you don't need M-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N!

Have a happy, healthy life

Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, the environment, happiness, self improvement, and weight loss. yoga.4mg.com Yoga is a great anti-aging discipline. Learn more about this ancient health and fitness regimen at yoga.4mg.com yoga.4mg.com.

The Yogic Approach to Coping With Panic Attacks and Anxiety

Yoga has many styles, but they all lead to a state of inner peace. All forms of Yoga are natural solutions for panic attacks, anxiety, and stress. Over thousands of years, Yoga has been formulated, so that anyone is now able to harness their fears from within. Does this mean that Yoga will make all of your fears go away?

The truth is Yoga can teach you to rid yourself of panic attacks, anxiety, and stress, from within your inner-being, but fear is a part of life. In fact, fear can save your life. Primal fears, such as fear of death, teach us to cross the street at the right time.

People create their own realities. Unstable emotional health, in the form of panic attacks, is very real to the person who has heart palpitations, chest pain, or shortness of breath. Yet, Yoga has many energy cultivation techniques, in the form of Pranayama (Yogic breathing techniques).

Even if you are skeptical about the concept of energy cultivation, western medicine, and modern science, have performed enough studies to prove Yogic breathing techniques (Pranayama) can lower stress and anxiety levels. In turn, panic attacks will be prevented just by practicing Pranayama.

It is only human to find something new to worry about, but Yoga can stop the manifestation of worry "in its tracks." When we think, focus, and concentrate, on our problems, we are practicing the exact opposite of meditation. A Yoga teacher will instruct you in the proper steps of meditation, but you would never be taught to dwell on negative thoughts.

© Copyright 2007 - 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. riyoga.com riyoga.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: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Yoga Is Good for Your Knees

Fortunately for us, the knee is a very mobile joint. It takes us up, down, forward and back throughout each day. Imagine your life if knees didn't bend! Inherent to this mobility, however, is the knee's instability, making it susceptible to injury.

Repetitive movement of aerobic and muscle-training exercise puts stress on joints. (Keep reading, and don't let that last sentence motivate you to cancel your gym membership.) Numerous and substantial health benefits of regular, well-balanced exercise far outweigh any skeletal risks for most healthy adults. The key to keeping fit and injury-free is to perform exercises that strengthen muscles crossing over the knee, thus helping stabilize the joint. Because the knee joint is complex, there are several types of knee injuries. If you have a knee injury, consult your healthcare provider so you can recover effectively and efficiently. In terms of injury prevention and decreased flare-ups, yoga can help.

Yoga is ideal for strengthening muscles without the repetitive impact characteristic of other exercise modalities. Certain yoga poses directly target knee stability. Below are two poses that you can do anytime, anywhere to avoid injury and keep you on track toward your fitness goals.

First, an anatomy tidbit. Four muscles of the quadriceps extend along the front side of the thigh bone. They meet at a tendon that crosses over the knee and attach to the lower leg. The kneecap resides within this tendon, so the quadriceps muscle is responsible for correct alignment and tracking of the kneecap. Three hamstring muscles extend from the pelvis and cross the back side the knee, also attaching at the lower leg. Strong quadriceps and hamstrings support the knee joint. Other muscles are involved, and knee stability is linked to hip stability, but for now we'll keep our focus on these two muscle groups.

Tree pose (Vrksasana, a one-leg standing balance) simultaneously generates force in the quadriceps and hamstrings. Quadriceps shorten, pulling upward on the kneecap. Hamstrings lengthen, keeping the hip and knee joints in alignment. Chair pose (Utkatasana, essentially a squat held at the lowest position) requires force generation in all lower body muscles, including quadriceps and hamstrings. In this pose, quadriceps lengthen, and hamstrings shorten.

A complete yoga practice (one or two classes a week) can perfectly balance your other fitness endeavors. If this doesn't suit you, a few minutes anytime during your day will suffice. Tree pose and chair pose are two great examples, but most standing poses that engage the leg muscles serve the same purpose.

How to do tree pose: Begin standing. Shift your weight onto your left foot. Place the right foot sole against the left inner calf with, or use your hands to bring the right foot up to the left inner thigh. Right toes are pointing downward. Avoid pressing the right foot into the left knee; go above or below. Simultaneously open your right knee to the right and left hip to the left. Root your supporting foot strongly into the floor, and lift the crown of your head to the ceiling. Engage your abdominals by pulling your navel to your spine, and it is helpful to gaze at a focal point. Hold for 3-5 breaths. Come out of the posture repeat on the other side.

How to do chair pose: Begin standing with feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees, lowering your hips into a squat position. Tuck your tailbone slightly and squeeze the back of your thighs and inner thighs into the thighbones. Pull your navel to your spine. Feel strong and lengthened from the crown of your head drawing upward, and your tailbone drawing downward. Hold for 3-5 breaths and repeat one or two more times.

All That Is Wellness ( allthatiswellness.com allthatiswellness.com ) is your healthy lifestyle e-zine. It's where you come for reliable, relevant information about safe, effective fitness, mind-body wellness, wholesome nutrition, and great recipes.

Anita Parker, B.Sc., B.Ed., is the editor of All That Is Wellness. You can contact her at

Yoga's Health and Fitness Benefits

Yoga has been around a long time-longer than interval training, Zumba classes, and free weights. But can a consistent and challenging yoga practice really lead to overall body fitness? Many experts say yes. But the good news doesn't stop there. Not only can you increase and maintain your level of fitness through a yoga practice, you can also become a healthier person. Let's take a look at some of the specific benefits that yoga practitioners experience.

- Yoga strengthens your muscles-depending on the type of yoga practiced, various poses might be held for several seconds to several minutes-but it also increases your body's flexibility. Ironically, many gym devotees strengthen their muscles by lifting heavy weights, creating strong short muscles that are more susceptible to injury. Yoga, however, strengthens and stretches; a key component to the creation of injury-resistant muscles.

- The power of yoga lies in the breath. Yoga instructors coach students in their breathing-as they move into, sustain, and move out of each yoga pose. Various types of breathing are taught and practiced. More than anything though, yoga lovers are simply made aware of breath and how important proper breathing is to overall yoga technique and everyday living. They come to understand the power of breath, how to integrate breath to get the most out of each pose and how proper inhalation and exhalation can relieve stress, lower the heart rate and increase lung capacity.

- By practicing this type of breathing, you can also up the amount of oxygen in your system. More oxygen means increased energy levels. The more yoga you do, the more energized you feel.

- Daily yoga practice has a variety of positive health benefits. Researchers have found that yoga, when consistently practiced, can relieve the symptoms of arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome and asthma. Yoga can also bring down high blood pressure and help people manage their weight.

- When you practice yoga regularly and over a sustained period of time, you will experience an increase in your body awareness, diminished stress levels and a fine-tuning of your ability to concentrate.

- Finally, yoga can improve your mood, help you relax and even help you perform better on tests! Yoga often involves unilateral movements (like breathing out of only one nostril at a time) and movements that require students to cross the median line of the body (like touching the left big toe with the right hand). These kinds of movements increase brain activity. More brain activity is a part of better cognitive performance.

As you can see, yoga isn't just about stretching. It is physically demanding, it can increase your overall fitness and help you mentally. Integrate one or two yoga classes into your weekly calendar, and you will see a tremendous difference in all aspects of your physical being.

Dennis Blair offers fortcollinsfitnesscoach.com Personal Training in Fort Collins. He is the owner of Core Fitness and Nutrition in Fort Collins, Colorado. You can learn more about his programs and what they can do for you to help with weight loss, muscle building and improving your energy by going to youtube.com/watch?v=9uX_fXCk31U Fort Collins Personal Training.

Walking Boldly on the Teacher's Path

I used to think that in order to teach yoga I had to know everything there is to know about yoga. How limiting is that? That assumption overwhelmed me so much that I almost gave up on the whole idea of teaching in the first place. The big huge world of yoga knowledge was just too vast, and sometimes confusing that I wondered how many teacher trainings I would have to take before I "felt" ready. Yet this is not something that can be taught in teacher training. You decide when you are ready, you decide when you are a teacher. The door was wide open and I was too timid to walk through even though I was fully equipped.

Then one day I wasn't afraid. I don't remember what changed, but I "felt" ready. I knew I would never know it all and that the knowledge I have come across so far was plenty to at least start teaching. So I stepped boldly on the teacher's path and never looked back.

I do the best that I can studying on my own and with constant contact with my yoga teacher who lives on the other side of the states. My own yoga practice, students and class teach me daily what I need to learn.

To not know it all is o.k., to pretend like I know it all is NOT o.k. Some of my favorite yoga classes have been from teachers who are honest, open and love yoga. Should it be anymore than that?

Diane M. Cruz is an inner-preneur, Yoga Teacher and Life Coach in San Diego, California. She believes in cultivating a strong body and mind to keep you moving on your life path. Her classes and coaching sessions will empower you by providing life-enhancing tools to apply immediately to your life. Visit her website [thebijacenter.com].

The Direction of Yoga As a Form of Therapy

How can we expect Yoga to be recognized as a viable therapy, along side traditional western medicine? Much like many of the other holistic approaches to health, Yoga is not backed by any "deep pockets" of financial power, in comparison to Fortune 500 companies and the International corporate giants.

In contrast to Yoga, the pharmaceutical lobby is composed of the paid representatives of huge biomedicine corporations, who definitely influence government policies. Yoga has no influence over governments outside of India.

Most Yoga teachers, studios, and ashrams cannot afford to pay for one impartial study to be performed. Yoga does not qualify as an irritation to the eyes of the pharmaceutical lobby. Biomedicine corporations annually pay millions of dollars in research and development of their products.

One might say: "Yoga has no chance of recognition as a genuine therapy, because it has no major financial backing." Add to this, the lack of medical studies on a 5,000 year old health maintenance system has not added to the credibility of Yoga as a viable therapy.

Yet, all is not lost. Students of Yoga tend to tell their friends, family, co-workers, and anyone who will listen about the benefits of steady practice. Their reason is based on results, which they personally see and feel from the continued systematic training in a science of life we know as: "Yoga."

This has led to a "grass roots" level promotion of Yoga. Occasionally, a university might receive a grant to run a study about the effectiveness of Yoga on people who have a particular ailment. The end results are usually the same: Yoga is helpful in many areas of health because it approaches the whole being.

For example: If you have a knee problem, Yoga approaches the knee and the rest of your body, as well. Many of us have learned this first hand, because our ailments practically drove us to our first Yoga class. The results are: We keep coming back to class because Yoga helped us.

How can Yoga or any alternative therapy become recognized for its true worth? As already stated, funding for independent trials, research, and studies usually requires a large financial investment. This indicates that Yoga will go through many more years of research before gaining formal medical or scientific recognition.

There may be a few companies that manage to profit by selling healthy lifestyle services and products, but their sales pale in comparison to the prescription drug business. The key to proliferating Yoga therapy is public education about the benefits of proactive health maintenance.

Schools are making the effort to educate the public about the benefits of practicing Yoga. At a time when many families do not have adequate health insurance, Yoga offers cost effective solutions.

© 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.

aurawellnesscenter.com 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: yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html