...Pranayama is a wonderful method to reduce anxiety. Pranayama originates from two Sanskrit words, Prana, which means universal energy, and Yama, which means restraint.

In effect, Pranayama is the cultivation of universal energy through breath. You have the ability, within your being, to make sure the energy you cultivate is positive, with the help of Pranayama and a positive mental attitude.

There are many methods for the cultivation of Prana to choose from, but lets start with a deep natural breath. This is the breath of infants. When you watch a baby in the crib, notice how the stomach rises as he or she inhales. Then notice that the navel draws to the spine on an exhale.

This is natural breath, but this can often feel unnatural to adults, who have unconsciously been practicing a half breath from the diaphragm to the nose or mouth. The half breath does not allow for complete expansion at the bottom of the lungs.

In effect, the half breath method would no...more

Five Reasons for Yoga Instructors to Teach Chair Yoga

... yoga class to the people where they are already congregating. One of the biggest markets for chair yoga is seniors, and seniors are easy to find already in a group together.

Just where to go will vary depending on where you live, but here are a few ideas to get you started thinking about this:

Retirement villages, retirement centers, assisted living centers, nursing homes

Adult day care

Seniors' groups at places of worship

Community centers/Parks and recreation programs

Fraternal organizations

Libraries

YMCA/YWCA

People suffering from particular ailments such as multiple sclerosis or arthritis tend to get together to help each other cope with the disease. All you have to do is find the organizations in your neighborhood that are addressing this need and approach them with the idea of helping the group practice chair yoga. Yoga has been shown to effectively ease the symptoms of many types of ailments, and yet few have anyplace to go where there is a yoga program appropriate for them.

With some brainstorming you can probably come up with a pretty good list appropriate for the circumstances in your community.

The beauty of approaching these groups is that you almost always are proposing to teach yoga to people that never imagined they'd be in a yoga class. That means you aren't competing with all the yoga teachers trying to capture classes out of the existing pool of practicing yogis and yoginis.

Just how you go about approaching these types of organiz...more

Enjoy Your Life And Relax More With Power Yoga That Equips You To Deal With Life's Everyday Stress

...lance and fitness in your physical being. You achieve this by combining yogic postures and asanas with a group of cardio-vascular exercises.

The next level involves performing the various asanas for more extended lengths of time. Finally you need to leave the physical level behind and move to the spiritual level. This final step involves extreme amounts of practice and concentration, and is very difficult.

Although all the asanas play a part in Power Yoga, the most important is generally considered to be the Sun Pose, or Suryasana. This asana works on every part of your body by moving through a series of nine postures in turn. Each step also involves synchronizing the posture wi...more

Teaching Hatha Yoga - The Eight Limbs and Student Advancement

...Yoga teachers infinitely differ in their approaches to student advancement. Some teachers will see a physical achievement as the "end goal." Yet, we know that Yoga has many more aspects for advancement. Among these many aspects are: emotional, mental, and spiritual growth.

Yoga teachers might also consider the value of good character in their students. In your community, each of your students represents your studio or ashram. Many people are not familiar with Yoga, so your students do, in fact, represent Yoga, and your studio, within your community.

Now that you see this clearly, please be sure to make your students aware of it. There is nothi...more

Yoga Exercise Video