There is no shortage of options for yoga teacher training programs these days. However, just because a program is led by an experienced, certified instructor does not automatically mean it’s right for you. Picking a program is a personal decision that should be based on you and your needs.
One way you can accomplish your YTT is by doing it online. While this may intimidate some learners, there are numerous benefits to choosing this type of training specifically. Here are a few of the top perks of online yoga training.
1. There’s Less of a Time Commitment
If you’re currently working full time and already have a full schedule, the last thing you need is yet another item on your to-do list. While YTT is a time commitment no matter what, you’ll certainly save time when you choose to enroll in an online program. You won’t have to worry about transportation time and there’s no need to panic about getting caught in traffic.
In addition, you can often do the training when it works best for you. Rather than having to be at a certain place at a certain time, you can operate on your own schedule, whether that’s early morning, late night, or the middle of the day.
2. It Gives You More Freedom
If you’re someone who has to travel frequently for work or you simply like traveling, an online program will be perfect for you. No matter where you go, you can continue taking your class as long as you have an internet connection. You can’t say the same thing of an ordinary in-person class.
3. It’s More Affordable
Because you aren’t paying for overhead and studio time, you can usually count on online yoga teacher training courses to be more affordable than traditional in-person courses. If you’re trying to change careers on a budget, this is great! You’ll have to make a minimal investment in your continued education. You also won’t have to pay for transportation!
4. It’s Safer
Right now, you’re probably being a lot more cautious of shared spaces because of coronavirus.
Gyms are notoriously dirty places with different people constantly going in and out and touching everything. When you choose an online program, you can participate in the program from the comfort of your own home. As long as you choose a reputable program, you can expect all the quality training without any of the health risks. You’ll have increased peace of mind, and you won’t even have to wear a mask!
5. You Can Get the Best of the Best
Depending on where you are, you may not have a lot of options for experienced, certified YTT programs around you. You shouldn’t have to compromise on the quality of your training based on where you’re located. When you turn to online yoga training, you won’t have to compromise on the quality of a program. You’ll have a wider variety of options including programs that focus on your favorite style of yoga and the aspects of yoga you’re most excited about learning about.
6. You’ll Have More Access to Course Materials
Often when you opt for an online program, you will be able to keep the digital course materials indefinitely. You can continue to go back to the documents as often as you’d like to go over what doesn’t make sense and ensure you are truly absorbing all of the information. Even after you become a yoga instructor, you can continue to look at those materials to be the best teacher you can be.
7. Classmates from All Over the World
If you enroll in a local YTT course, you will usually only be in the program with students who live nearby. But when you choose to take your classes online, you will expand your yoga community big time! You will have the chance to meet other yoga teachers in training from all around the country and all over the world! This brings fresh perspective to the class, and you may end up with some fantastic friendships that span the globe.
Discover What YogaRenew Can Do for You
If you’re looking for the online yoga training program that’s perfect for you, browse our course options on YogaRenew. We have course programs ranging from 200 to 500 hours that go in-depth on yoga philosophy, yoga business marketing, human anatomy, and so much more! You’ll become the confident, qualified teacher you’ve always dreamed of being.
It can be easy to become uncentered due to things that occur in our daily lives. When we feel uncentered, we feel as though we’re being spread too thin in many different directions. Our minds can become crowded with thoughts and we can feel anxious or stressed in our bodies.
When left unchecked, prolonged stress can lead to diseases, lowered immunity, tiredness, fatigue, and burnout. Long term stress can also lead to depression, anxiety, and social or communication issues. Another important point to keep in mind is that how we react to stress determines how stressed we actually feel, as well as our outlook on life. For example, two people could be in the exact same stressful situation, but if one has learned to reframe that situation in a positive light—or learned how to react less to it—that person will have a completely different experience than the other.
Regular yoga, pranayama, and meditation practice can help us to combat stress and help us with how we respond to stressful situations. By quieting the mind and allowing ourselves to be more deeply aware of the present moment, we can start to become more mindful of our emotions, our thoughts, and how we react to stressful situations. It’s important to take time each day to sit in stillness for a few moments to rediscover the place of centeredness in ourselves. As we practice sitting with this place of centering, we often find that we can access our centeredness more easily in times of chaos or stress. By strengthening our connection to it, we can allow this space of being centered to guide us in every moment. Some other ways we can return to our centers are taking walks daily, being in nature, eating healthy, journaling, yoga, breathwork, or meditation
By practicing calming the mind and building awareness of ourselves and the world around us, we gain dominion over our thoughts and our emotions.
Here are a few simple practices you can do today to help you feel more grounded in times of stress.
5 Simple Centering Practices
1. Centering Breath Practice
The simplest way to center in any moment of our lives is through our breath. The best part of this practice is that is easy and we can do it anytime we begin to feel stressed. To practice this centering breath practice, find a pace of breathing that feels good to you. Then, as you inhale, say the words I’m breathing in either out loud or internally. As you exhale, say the words I’m breathing out either out loud or internally. Repeat this up to a minute or longer. If you find that your mind wanders away, just gently bring your awareness back to this centering breath practice.
2. Sitting Grounding Practice
Grounding and feeling rooted helps us get in touch with feelings of stability and support. To practice, begin in a comfortable seated pose, with eyes either closed or open. Begin to center your mind with your breath; breathing deeply. Bring awareness to your sit bones and your connection with the earth beneath you. Observe how firm and supportive it is as you connect to it. Take several breaths in and out as you feel this connection deepening and begin to feel support and stability.
3. Counting Breath Practice
Focusing on our breath and breath practices can be a powerful way in which we can turn away from fear and move towards peace. To do this practice, begin in a comfortable seated position. Start off easily with a slow three-count inhale in and a slow three-count exhale out. Then, take a deep breath in for a count of three and hold for a second. After the hold, exhale slowly for a count of three. You can do this for up to a minute, and even extend the count for up to five seconds (five seconds inhaling and five seconds exhaling out, slowly).
4. Standing Grounding Meditation
In times of stress, this simple grounding meditation can allow us to come back to the present moment. To practice, begin standing tall in Mountain (Tadasana) with your legs hip distance apart. Bring awareness to your feet rooting down into the Earth and feel supportive energy rising up from the Earth into your bodies. Engage your core and your leg muscles and feel this energy rising up all the way to the crown of your head. Bring your hands to prayer position at your chest, take several deep breaths, and take a quiet moment to express gratitude and respect to our home, Earth.
5. Calming Peace Prayer Practice
Compassion has a powerful effect on our minds and how we feel. Practicing compassion can take us from feelings of fear to feelings of love and understanding. To practice, begin in Easy pose or a comfortable seated position with your spine upright. Bring your hands to Namaste or Anjali mudra at your heart center. Allow your heart center to open and fill with love and light. Repeat the following peace prayer mantra, either out loud or internally. Imagine that you are directing this mantra to the entire world:
Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu
This ancient Sanskrit mantra translates to, “may all beings everywhere be happy and free.” Repeat this up to ten times and feel your heart radiating with love and peace for all beings in the world.
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection” – Buddha
With the celebration of Valentine’s Day this week, we often correlate Valentine’s Day with love for others. While our relationships with others is an important aspect of love – the most essential type of love is often overlooked — self love. I’ve created this guide to help you get in touch with and cultivate the most important relationship you will ever have – with yourself.
Yoga practice is an excellent way to reconnect with ourselves and boost our self worth. Yoga allows us the time to just be ourselves and be fully present in our bodies with no judgments. It gives us the time to be still and care for ourselves deeply – in mind, body, and soul.
Self love is about taking the time to celebrate and love yourself fully. It’s about removing negative self talk and reminding yourself just how truly awesome you are. Self love is about taking time to care for yourself and recharging when you need it. It’s also about reminding yourself that when you do love you more fully – you not only fill yourself up with more love — but that love begins to spill over and radiate out into the world.
Here are 5 simple ways that you can start cultivating self love today.
1. Take Time To Celebrate Yourself
Cultivating self love allows us to let go of our negative self talk. It gives us the opportunity to reframe and see ourselves in a more positive light. We tend to focus on the things we do wrong or our regrets instead of focusing on our accomplishments and successes.
Practice acknowledging all the amazing things you do or wonderful things that you love about yourself. You could do this by writing down a list of things you love about you in a journal. These things could be physical things, accomplishments, or traits you love about yourself. Look at your list often and take time to meditate on it frequently.
Here’s a great ‘celebrating you’ meditation you can do easily anywhere:
Celebrate Yourself Meditation: Begin lying down or sitting in a comfortable position. Bring your attention to your natural breathing cycle for about a minute; just simply observing it – not trying to change it in any way. Next, bring to mind 15-20 things you love about yourself. As you bring these things to mind, imagine feeling that love and appreciation in your heart for yourself radiating outwards into the world. Stay in this meditation for as long as you’d like.
2. Give Yourself ‘Me Time’
Many of us live busy lives in which we have numerous responsibilities to others; this includes our relationships to our loved ones, children, or our jobs. We sometimes focus so much on giving to others that we forget to give to ourselves – making us feel drained. Remind yourself the more you fill up your own cup with self love, the more love you’ll have to give to others.
Here are some ideas for your next ‘me time’:
• Meditate daily
• Practice pranayama or deep breathing exercises
• Cook and eat a lovely meal for yourself
• Take yourself out on a date
• Go for a relaxing walk
• Listen to soothing music
• Exercise
• Buy yourself flowers
• Book a massage or spa appointment
• Enjoy a nice warm cup of tea or coffee
• Read a book
• Write in a journal
• Take a long relaxing bath
• Enjoy a glass of nice wine
3. Practice Self Love Affirmations
Practice saying positive things about yourself through daily affirmations. Affirmations are a powerful practice that can change your belief systems on a deep subconscious level. Write down a few of your favorite affirmations on a sticky note and put them in places where you’ll be reminded daily. You can even make a reminder on your phone and affirm these to yourself several times a day. You could also set aside 5-15 minutes to sit in stillness and repeat the affirmations in meditation.
Here are some affirmations you can use to boost your self love:
• “I am more than enough”
• “I love myself fully and completely”
• “I accept myself as I am”
• “I love myself unconditionally”
• “I love my body and all that it does for me”
• “I am worthy of all the love, joy, and abundance in the world”
• “The only approval I need for myself is my own”
• “I release any negative judgments I have about myself”
• “I love the woman or man that I am”
• “I am strong, powerful, and full of radiant energy”
4. Set Healthy Boundaries For Yourself
Self love means setting healthy boundaries for your and knowing what your core values are. Remind yourself that you don’t need anyone else’s approval but your own to live your best true life.
Setting boundaries sometimes means letting go of negative situations or people in our lives. Meditation helps us to be more aware of our emotions and things in our lives. Take time to sit in stillness and allow your inner wisdom to guide you. If something is draining you or taking away your joy, have the courage to remove it from your life.
5. Yoga Sequence For Self Love
Practicing self love is a very soothing practice that requires surrender and peace. It’s also an empowering act that gives us strength and courage. To sequence yoga poses for self love, consider calming yoga poses combined with power poses.
Here we’ve created a mini self love sequence you can do at home easily:
Child
Delve into self acceptance and self love through the surrender of Child pose. As you hold this pose for up to a minute or longer, repeat the following mantra to yourself; “I am enough.”
To do this pose, begin on your hands and knees. Sink your hips back towards your heels and reach your arms forward. Relax your belly onto your thighs and rest your head towards the mat. Keep length in your spine and relax your neck. Hold and breathe, feeling yourself sink deeper towards the earth with every exhale.
Goddess
Get in touch with your inner Goddess or God with Goddess Pose. This power pose helps to elicits a feeling of strength and confidence. As you hold this pose using your breath, repeat the following mantra’ “I am strong and worthy”.
To come into Goddess, from Mountain pose, step your feet wide a few feet apart, turning the toes out slightly towards the outer edges of the mat to about 45 degrees. Bend your knees and come into a wide squat, working to get the your thighs parallel to the mat. Keep your knees pointed in the same direction as your toes. Hold for several breaths.
Warrior 2
Discover strength and inner peace with Warrior 2. As you hold this pose, repeat the following mantra to yourself; “I am worthy of all the love and joy in the world”.
To come into Warrior 2 from Mountain pose, step your feet apart 3 and a half to 5 feet apart. Point your front toes 90-degrees toward the front short edge of your mat and your back foot slightly in about 45-degrees. Lift your arms up bringing them parallel to your mat and bend your front knee stacking it over your ankle or slightly behind it. Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
Pigeon
Pigeon pose is a deep hip opener that creates a deep sense of surrender in the body. It also helps calm the mind and soothe the soul. As you hold this pose for up to a minute or longer on each side, say to yourself with every exhale, “I accept myself fully as I am”.
To do Pigeon pose, from a tabletop position, bring your right foot in and place it down on your mat behind your right wrist.Adjust your shin so that it’s comfortable for you. Extend your left leg back on the mat. Come up onto your fingertips and walk your torso slightly up with the chest lifting and broadening. Stay here or to deepen the pose, begin to fold towards the mat keeping your spine lengthened. You can choose to come onto your forearms or rest your head on top of a block. To further deepen, you can bring your forehead down towards the mat and extend your arms out in front of you – with your palms facing down.
Savasana
Savasana is the ultimate relaxation pose in yoga. Use this time to cultivate self care and love for yourself; staying here for up to 20 minutes or longer. You could enhance your Savasana practice by dimming the lights, lighting candles, and playing soft ambient music. You can even use aromatherapy to further induce inner peace; Rose, Jasmine, Bergamot, and Sandalwood are great essential oils to use for self love care.
To do Savasana, come down onto your back and relax your arms and legs out comfortably. Allow your palms to gently open up towards the sky. Close your eyes and relax the muscles in your face. Let your breath be soft and natural as you just allow yourself to release and enjoy the moment. Remind yourself that by giving yourself this time to reset, you’ll be able to give more of yourself to others. Stay here for as long as you’d like.
The holidays are meant to be time of slowing down and for spending time with loved ones. But sometimes the holidays can be a time of great stress for us. We find ourselves constantly rushing from task to task, multi-tasking, and checking off our endless shopping lists. What we fail to realize is that life is short and if we keep going in a stressed fashion – this season of connecting with ourselves and others will pass us by. We may find ourselves regretting not taking the time to just slow down and enjoy the moment. To help you get into the spirit of the holidays with no stress, we’ve created a restorative holiday sequence that you can do easily at home anytime.
By intentionally releasing the burden of stress and tension, it allows us to come to our natural state of being; of relaxation and joy. It also helps us to connect more deeply with the present moment and others around us. By taking this time for inner peace and stillness, we can find ourselves becoming more patient, calm, as well as loving towards ourselves and our loved ones.
To Begin
Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Be sure to clear your space so its clutter free to relax your mind. Set some quiet music and maybe even some candles to further set the mood for peace.
To start your restorative holiday flow, come into a simple seated Easy Pose on your mat. Begin with a counting breath pranayama practice. To do this, take a big inhale in slowly for a count of 3, hold the breath briefly for a second or two, and then exhale out slowly for a count of 3. You can slowly work up to inhaling and exhaling for a count of 4 seconds or even 5 seconds depending on your preference. Elongating your inhalations and exhalations in this way helps to induce relaxation and slow down your central nervous system.
Restorative Holiday Mini Yoga Flow
1. Child Pose
Allow yourself to let go and release tension in your body in Child pose. As you sink towards the mat and rest here, breath here for several minutes. With every exhale, feel any stress leaving your body. With every inhale, feel yourself filling up with peace.
To do this pose, begin on your hands and knees. Sink your hips back towards your heels as you reach your arms forward. Relax your belly onto your thighs and rest your head towards the mat. Take several long deep breaths here and stay here for up to a minute if needed.
2. Downward Facing Dog
Downward Facing Dog, is an inversion pose, where we allow blood to flow to our head elevating our mood. Inversions also energetically brings ourselves into a different perspective; as we are looking at the world from an upside down perspective. This analogy can relate to stressful situations in our lives. By taking time to see a situation from a new perspective, we can start to focus on the more positive things about that situation. For example, during the holidays, we can re-frame our perspective to a more positive one, by focusing on spending time with loved ones, giving to others, beautiful family traditions, and peace.
To do this pose, begin on your hands and knees. Spread your fingers wide and press your palms into the mat as you begin to lift and reach your tailbone up towards the sky. Broaden through your collarbones and look down towards your ankles or the mat in between your palms. You can keep your knees bent here or work on extending them straight to stretch your calves, hamstrings, and ankles. Stay here for several breaths, for up to a minute.
3. Bound Angle
The hips are an area where we tend to store alot of tension in our bodies. Allow yourself to melt into this pose by releasing into this stretch and holding for up to a minute.
To do this pose, begin in an Easy pose. Bring the soles of your feet together as you allow your knees to gently fall open onto the mat. Keep length in your spine as you hinge forward at the hips and lean in towards your feet. Keep your neck soft here and breath into your hips. You can use a blanket or blocks under your knees to elevate them for support if your hips are tight. You can also sit on blanket or bolster to relieve tension from your knees and hips.
4. Supine Twist
Relax your body and mind with this deep twist and hip opener. As you release into Supine Twist pose, close your eyes and stay here for up to a minute on each side. Allow your mind to be quiet and revel in this moment of peace you have created for yourself.
To do this pose, begin by lying down on your back and draw your knees into your chest. Allow your knees to softly fall over to your left side and extend your arms out to a ‘T’. Option to bring your head to gaze in the opposite direction of your knees. Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
5. Savasana
One of the most important poses in yoga, Savasana is a great way to just let go and release. Use props such as a blanket, eye pillow, or aromatherapy, to enhance your Savasana experience. Stay here for as long as you need – you could do Savasana for just 5 minutes or even up to 30 minutes if you feel you really need the release and quiet. It’s your practice so always feel free to tweak however you prefer.
To do Savasana, come down onto your back and relax your arms and legs out comfortably. Allow the palms to gently open up towards the sky. Close your eyes and relax the muscles in your face. Let your breath be soft and natural as you just allow yourself to release and enjoy the moment.
Ending Your Restorative Holiday Practice
End your practice in Easy Pose with your hands over your heart. Ground down through your sitbones and elongate the spine up towards the sky. Relax the muscles in your body and face. As in you inhale, breath in ‘Peace’ and as you exhale imagine breathing out the word ‘Love’. Feel that peace and love radiating out into the world. Repeat for several minutes.
Thanksgiving is a time of appreciating things in our lives and for cultivating more gratitude. To help you get into the spirit of gratitude and giving this season, we’ve created a gratitude mini yoga flow that you can do at home.
It can be easy to forget all the blessings we have in our lives when we face challenges or obstacles. Gratitude is a simple and easy practice that anyone can start today to begin leading a more positive life. The simplest way to cultivate more gratitude is to take a few minutes each day or sit in meditation while you think of things you are grateful for each day. Cultivating the daily practice of gratitude in our lives can improve our relationships, make us more compassionate, and ultimately more happy. It creates a space for our lives where we can allow positive and transformative growth to occur. Gratitude can also improve our health by boosting our immunity, improve our sleep, and lower blood pressure.
To sequence a home gratitude yoga flow, focus on calming and grounding poses that help you get in touch with the energy of gratitude. Some poses you could consider are poses where your arms are stretched outwards – to symbolize the outreaching of giving to someone else. Poses you could include are Mountain with arms reaching upwards, Chair, Warrior 1, Balancing Table, or Warrior 3. Some grounding poses you could include in your mini sequence are Child, Plow, Standing Forward Fold, Happy Baby, and Supine Twist.
To Begin
Start your gratitude flow by coming into a simple seated Easy Pose. Begin to take in deep slow breaths in and out; focusing on elongating your exhalations and your inhalations. Next bring your hands to your heart center and bring your awareness to the movement of breath around your heart center or heart chakra area. Continue to breath deeply here. Bring to mind 5 – 10 things or people you are grateful for. Allow that energy of love and appreciation to fill your body, heart, and soul. Stay here for several moments and allow yourself to bask in this beautiful feeling of gratitude in your heart.
Gratitude Mini Sequence
1. Child Pose
Allow yourself to release and let go in Child pose. As you ground down and surrender towards the mat, imagine as though your hands are outreaching out to receive more things to be grateful for in your life.
To do this pose, begin on your hands and knees. Sink your hips back towards your heels as you reach your arms forward. Relax your belly onto your thighs and rest your head towards the mat. Take several long deep breaths here.
2. Seated Forward Fold
Seated Forward Fold helps us to relax our mind and bodies. As you do this pose, focus on surrendering into gratitude for the things in your life that you appreciate. Feel the grounding of the earth beneath your sitbones as you root them into the ground and feel appreciation for the earth supporting you.
To do Seated Forward Fold, begin in Staff pose. Root down evenly through your sitbones. Begin to slowly hinge forward at the your hips, working to keep your spine lengthened. Reach your hands towards your ankles, shins, feet, or toes. Allow your neck to be relaxed here and feel yourself melt into this stretch.
3. Warrior 1
As you come into Warrior 1 pose, allow your arms to reach up towards the sky as if you are receiving more things to be grateful for in your life. You can also imagine as if your arms are outreaching to give to someone else
To do this pose, begin in Mountain pose. Step your feet apart several feet and pivot your back foot in about 45 degrees and bend your front knee to 90 degrees with your toes pointing forward. Keep your front knee stacked over your front ankle. Lengthen up through your ribs and point your tailbone down towards the mat as your lengthen your arms up towards the sky. Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
4. Warrior 3
Warrior 3 is a grounding and energizing pose. When in this pose, again imagine the outreaching of your arms forward are reaching to give to another person. Allow the feeling of giving to fill your heart. Feel the earth beneath your grounded foot supporting you.
To do this pose, begin in Mountain pose. Root down into one foot and leg as you reach the opposite leg behind you. Engage your core and reach your arms out in front of you. Imagine as if you are creating a straight line with your extended leg, torso, and arms. Relax your head as you gaze down or towards your fingers. Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
5. Tree Pose
Ground down through your standing foot and reach your arms upwards. Imagine the opening of your arms as if they are tree branches opening up to the sky and earth around you, ready to receive all the good and blessings in your life.
To do this pose, ground down through one foot and engage your standing leg. Lift the opposite foot and allow it to rest on your ankle, shin, or upper thigh. Engage your core and keep your gaze soft and focused in front of you. Option to bring your hands to heart center in prayer here or come into a full Tree expression with your arms reaching up towards the sky.
6. Supine Twist
Stretch and detoxify your body and mind with this deep twist. As you melt into Supine Twist pose, allow yourself to linger here for a few breaths longer than usual. Allow your mind to relax and your heart area to fully open as you express your gratitude for your life.
To do this pose, begin by lying down on your back and draw your knees into your chest. Allow your knees to softly fall over to your left side and extend your arms out to a ‘T’. Option to bring your head to gaze in the opposite direction of your knees. Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
Ending Your Gratitude Flow Practice
End your practice in Easy Pose with your hands over your heart. Ground down through your sitbones and elongate the spine up towards the sky. Relax the muscles in your body and face. As in you inhale, breath in ‘Thank You’ and as you exhale imagine breathing out the word ‘Joy’. Feel that joy radiating out into the world. Repeat for several minutes.
Finding joy and having a more positive outlook on life is something we all strive towards in our lives. Unfortunately due to life stresses, an ever increasing to do list, and a fast moving society this is difficult to achieve for many. Joy and happiness are traits that are essentially a choice we can make each day. By making the personal choice to choose joy each day, we can take back our own power and ultimately choose the direction of our lives. If we want to have more joy in our lives, we have to be intentional to create this. True lasting joy will never come from outside circumstances or factors but from within.
Here are 7 small steps that you can do to cultivate joy in your daily life starting today.
1. Cultivate Gratitude
Having an attitude of gratitude is the number one thing you can do each day to live a more positive lifestyle. Each day, when you wake up or before you go to bed, make a list of things that you are grateful for and think of why you are grateful for those things. Think about those things as you go about your day. Gratitude allows us to put our life into perspective and create a richer life experience for ourselves.
2. Stop Comparing Yourself To Others
In a world where social media is a big part of our daily lives, it can be easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. By doing so, we take away our personal power and find ourselves wishing we had something that another person has. What we need to keep in mind is that what other people portray to the world, doesn’t include any of the suffering or challenges that person may be facing. Challenges and suffering is universal and a normal part of our human experience – none of us can escape it. Let go of any notions you have of what you think you need to be. Strive to only be the kind of person that you would be proud of, regardless of anyone else’s opinion. By doing so, you will find complete and utter freedom in your life.
3. Surround Yourself With Positive People
The old saying goes that you become the 5 people you surround yourself with most each day. Be mindful of your friends and people you interact with daily. Positive people will uplift you and encourage you to be the best you can be. They will also support you and inspire you. Negative people on the other hand, may encourage you to stray away from your personal joy and create negative energy in your life. Take stock of any negative people like this in our life, and make the choice to surround yourself with positive people instead.
4. Do One Thing You Love Each Day
Everyday we may have a list of things that we need to do to accomplish our goals. Sometimes, when making that list, we can omit doing things that truly give us joy. Make a list of things you love to do – this could be something like practicing yoga, writing in a journal, going for a walk, or spending time with a pet. Each day, include one thing from your list of things that you love to do in your daily to do list.
5. Give Back To Others
Giving back from the heart is the greatest gift we can give to others and to ourselves. When we give, it uplifts us and heals our souls. In turn, it helps the other person receiving whatever we give. Find ways to give back to others, whether its through volunteering or just helping a friend in need. Even if you don’t have money to give, just giving your time to others is enough to make a difference in someone else’s life.
6. Meditate Daily
Meditation is a vital part of living a more joyful and positive life. It allows us to get in touch with our inner selves and remove any noise from our minds. It keeps our heads clear and enables us to gain clarity in our lives. It gives us focus to achieve our goals. Meditation also helps us to be more mindful over our thoughts. By meditating, we can be more aware of negative thoughts that we might have and make the choice to turn those negative thoughts into positive ones. Set aside time each day for yourself to sit in stillness anywhere from 5-15 minutes a day
7. Reframe Challenges & Obstacles
We will never be free of challenges or stress because this is a part of our experience as humans. Challenges and stress help us to grow so that we can become a higher version of ourselves. As the old saying goes: “a ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships were built for.” Our difficulties help us grow, teach us to strive for more, and help to eliminate the trap of complacency. Learn to reframe your challenges as an opportunity and instead of seeing how awful and hard it is – take time to reflect on how this situation is making you stronger and how you are growing from it.
Public speaking can be one of the most terrifying aspects of teaching yoga, but don’t fret! We’re here to provide you with some help getting in front of people and rocking a class! Speaking in public is a skill that can be learned, just like any other skill. Even if you are have an introverted personality, public speaking is a learnable skill. Read on to discover our 5 tips to mastering public speaking in your classes.
1. Preparation
Proper preparation prevents a poor performance as the old saying goes! Practice and preparation will help you overcome anxieties leading up to your class by helping you to build confidence in yourself. This is a great way to familiarize yourself so that you have a routine you can stick with. Many yoga teachers find structure and preparation integral to a successful class!
2. Pace your breath – pranayama
Teaching a class can be a marathon! But as a yogi, we all have a special appreciation for the power of breathing. And just like the runners that run marathons, pacing your breath is an important component of public speaking – it’s a great opportunity to use the power of pranayama to your benefit in a real life scenario.
3. Start strong
Another common public speaking tip that can be employed in a yoga class is to start strong. The opening of a class isn’t just important because it helps to set the tone and mood of the class experience, but also because it can hep you as a teacher build momentum into the rest of the class. Starting out on the wrong foot can sometimes flatten out your confidence. Put alot of thought on your class introduction and it will benefit you greatly for the rest of the class flow.
3. Work With-In Your Comfort Zone
Its good to push yourself and try to step out of your comfort zone as much as possible, but perhaps the class room isn’t the best place to try out new things. Practice, learn, and then bring your experience to the class room. Afterall, that’s what you’re sharing – experience and wisdom as a yoga teacher. If your experience is limited, the lesson may be as well.
4. Repeat Yourself When Appropriate
Depending on how much speaking you do in your class, you may be surprised by how much of your words the class may actually miss. If you have some powerful statements sprinkled into your dialogue, it can be helpful to repeat some of them to emphasize their value.
5. Give The Class A Takeaway
You should always try to give the audience something new that they learned. Try your best to be the one that can bring something new to them, otherwise your value starts to diminish little by little. Whether it’s a unique little phrase or saying, a new asana, sequence, or even a little piece of relevant history they can take away – bringing an educational component to the class helps to build value in your presentation.
The power of language can help to elevate us mentally, or emotionally and propel us between the gap of where we are and where we’re looking to go spiritually. There are many powerful quotes that can help build this bridge. Here, we’ve compiled a list of quotes for you to pull from – not just as a source of personal inspiration but also as a potential tool for you to utilize in the classroom as a yoga teacher.
A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves. -Terri Guillemets
Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame. -B.K.S. Iyengar
Meditation is a way for nourishing and blossoming the divinity within you. -Amit Ray
That’s why it’s called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value. -Allan Lokos
Silence is not silent. Silence speaks. It speaks most eloquently. Silence is not still. Silence leads. It leads most perfectly. -Sri Chinmoy
Yoga does not always cure stress. It neutralizes it through increasing awareness and by changing self-perception. -Debasish Mridha
It isn’t arrogant or egotistical to feel good inside. You had nothing to do with it. It’s simply the honest response to clearly perceived reality. -Erich Schiffman
The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body. -Jason Crandell
Yoga begins right where I am – not where I was yesterday or where I long to be. -Linda Sparrow
Yoga is not a work-out, its a work-in – and this is the point of spiritual practice, to make us teachable; to open up our hearts and focus our awareness so that we can know what we already know and be who we already are. -Rolf Gates
What yoga philosophy and all the great Buddhist teachings tells us is that solidity is a creation of the ordinary mind and that there never was anything permanent to begin with that we could hold on to. Life would be much easier and substantially less painful if we lived with the knowledge of impermanence as the only constant. -Donna Farhi
The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness. -Sakyong Mipham
The mind is everything. What you think, you become. -Buddha
There will always be people who can do it better than you, but thats a good thing! Start to see competition as inspiration – without envy. -Kathryn Budig
Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self. -The Bhagavad Gita
Go from a human being doing yoga to a human being yoga. -Baron Baptiste
Yoga is not about touching your toes, its about what you learn on the way down. -Jigar Gor
True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life. Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; yoga cares about the person you are becoming. Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose, and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied. -Aadil Palkhivala
Yoga begins with listening. When we listen, we are giving space to what is. -Richard Freeman
Remember, it doesn’t matter how deep into a posture you go – what does matter is who you are when you get there. -Max Strom
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. -Patanjali (Yoga Sutras)
Body is not stiff, mind is stiff. -Sri K. Jois
We have never arrived. We are in a constant state of becoming. -Bob Dylan
The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren’t enough. -Amy Weintraub
In truth, yoga doesn’t take time – it gives time. -Ganga White
You’re only as young as your spine is flexible. -Bob Harper
Have only love in your heart for others. The more you see the good in them, the more you will establish good in yourself. -T.K.V. Desikachar
Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements – Amit Ray
By our stumbling the world is perfected. -Sri Aurobindo
Yoga is about remembering that we are already one with the divinity and we’ve never left it. -Sri K. Jois
If you have time to breathe, you have time to meditate. You breathe when you walk. You breathe when you stand. You breathe when you lie down. -Ajahn Amaro
Yoga is the bringing together of that which was never separate. -Richard Miller
When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath. -Hatha Yoga Pradipik
If its weren’t for my mind, my meditate would be excellent -Ani Pema Chodron
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny. -Upanishads
Before you’ve practiced, the theory is useless. After you’ve practiced, the theory is obvious. -David Williams
Peace comes from with-in, do not seek it without. -Anonymous
Remember that sometimes, not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. -Dalai Lama
The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind. -Rodney Yee
What I’m looking for is not out there; it is in me. -Helen Keller
You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state. -Sharon Gannon
What we want out of yoga is ourselves, not something better than ourselves. -Douglas Brooks
The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind. -Rodney Yee
Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured. -B.K.S. Iyengar
What yoga philosophy and all the great Buddhist teachings tells us is that solidity is a creation of the ordinary mind and that there never was anything permanent to begin with that we could hold on to. Life would be much easier and substantially less painful if we lived with the knowledge of impermanence as the only constant. -Donna Farhi
You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside –Wayne Dyer
When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world -B.K.S. Iyengar
If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished? –Rumi
Yoga is the art work of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul. –Amit Ray
Beyond meditation there is the experience of now. -Ryan Parenti
As yoga’s popularity rises, the health benefits of yoga have become widely understood and accepted throughout medical communities on a global scale. Doctors and scientists have found that yoga is a great cure all for everything from heart health to mind health and even sinus relief.
The more you understand about how yoga can help your students in different ways, the better you can create value for yourself as a yoga instructor. Understanding the health benefits of yoga is an important part of providing a fulfilling and rewarding service to your students. Below we help to break down 9 different health benefits of yoga.
1. Heart
The American Heart Association actually has a fairly thorough recommendation surrounding yoga and its health benefits on the heart. On their site, here they say that “yoga can help lower blood pressure, increase lung capacity, improve respiratory function & heart rate, and boost circulation and muscle tone.” Yoga is a unique exercise because it combines deep breathing, physical exercise, and meditation. All of the these combined, help to reduce our stress levels ultimately helping our heart health to improve. The physical aspect of yoga helps also helps to strengthen our hearts.
2. Sleep
There’s a few different ways that yoga can have a positive impact on sleep. Physical exertion from a healthy yoga practice can help your body seek out rest. When we practice yoga and meditation, it lowers cortisol levels from stress in the body. This in turn, helps our sleep improve. Yoga and meditation helps to quiet the mind’s chatter, also helping us to sleep better. Another way yoga can help you get to sleep better is through breath practice. Breath is an important part of yoga, and as many experts have noted; slow breathing patterns can help to relax the body and help you get to sleep faster.
3. Relieve Back Pain
The “Annals of Internal Medicine” published results from a 3 year study that found a weekly yoga class helped to increase mobility more than traditional treatment for chronic or recurring back pain. There are many other studies with similar results published online – its fair to say that yoga can certainly be an effective method of relief for people suffering from back pain. Yoga helps to strengthen key muscle groups in the back and also stretch them at the same time. It also helps us to maintain proper posture to protect and strengthen our spines.
4. Muscle Tone
As you are putting yourself into different yoga poses, you are using your muscles to support the weight of your body. This is essentially doing body weight training to help tone and tighten our muscles. Power yoga or cardio type yoga classes that focus on high energy yoga poses really help to strengthen and target key muscle groups for toning up.
5. Flexibility
As your body becomes more flexible through yoga practice, that flexibility is actually leads to a list of other health benefits. More flexible muscles can help to prevent injuries and leads to better back health. As our muscles stretch, also help to provide better blood flow and more effective delivery of different nutrients to our tissues.
6. Respiratory
Before famous middle distance runner, Roger Bannister ran a mile in under 4 minutes, it was thought humanly impossible to accomplish it. After Roger Bannister did it, several other people shortly after were able to accomplish this incredible feat. How did Roger pave the way? With his breathing. Breath is an important part of exercise, and even more important part of yoga practice. Yoga promotes a heavy focus on breathing as a way to control the body and body. By enhancing our respiratory system, we begin to improve the the overall health of our bodies, including the brain, heart, and digestive systems.
7. Mind
More than ever we are learning how mental health and physical health are inseparably linked to one another. There is a compelling article here on newsweek that discusses how yoga can help several different mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, and psychiatric disorders. Ultimately, yoga provides a multi prong approach to quieting the mind through meditation and breathing.
8. Sinus Relief
There’s a great breakdown in the Huffington Post that addresses how yoga can cure sinus pain. In the article, the author breaks down the many different contributing factors to their sinus pain relief such as how inverted poses can help to clear sinus blockage, deep breathing contributes to an increased flow of oxygen. It also explains how our sweat can help to reduce different toxins within the body and how the endorphins from exercise can help to alleviate pressure in our sinuses.
9. Immune System
One of the best health benefits of yoga is an over all boost to your immune system. As we discussed earlier, yoga can help to strengthen your respiratory system. Our white blood cells are critical in helping to fight off colds and other infections. When we work to improve our respiratory function, our blood flow also improves. The improved blood flow becomes a delivery mechanism for this important internal defense. Also, yoga can reduce mental stress which is widely known to reduce the effectiveness of our immune systems.
Ananda is a Sanskrit word that means ‘joy’ or ‘pure bliss’. Joy and bliss are two emotions that are our natural states of being. As children, we are born into this state; light, free, and blissfully joyful.
This yoga class theme helps us all to remember that natural state of being – of pure joy. When we align with this powerful feelings, we find more joyful things in our lives to celebrate. As we ignite ourselves with pure bliss, we are also naturally inclined to want to share that joy with others – by spreading our light and joy into the world through our interactions and choices.
As humans, we naturally experience a wide spectrum of emotions, including some that are the complete opposite of joy, like sadness. But in life, in order to truly appreciate pure joy; experiencing those contrasting emotions actually help us to appreciate the joy in our lives.
The joy that we create in our lives on a daily basis works as a guide to help bring us back to this way of being during times of darkness. And we choose to let it, that light of joy can overpower any sadness we may be feeling.
Through meditation and yoga practice, we can also choose to make joy a choice in our lives. As we experience different emotions, we can learn to become observers of our emotions and learn to be aware of them.
As our emotional awareness increases, we can find that we have the power within us to always choose our emotions, no matter the situation. All it takes is just a little bit of awareness of our choice and a shift in perception.
Class Theme Intro – Mantra MeditationBegin the class by introducing the theme with a quote, related reading passage, or simply speaking a few sentences on the topic. Ask students to sit in Easy Pose and close their eyes. Instruct them to take a big inhale in, and imagine they are breathing in the word ‘Joy’. As they inhale, also ask them to bring a gentle smile to their faces. As they take a long exhale out, ask them to imagine that they are breathing out the word ‘Bliss’. Repeat for 1-2 minutes.
You could also choose to end the class with this mantra meditation practice or choose a related reading, or quote, to help seal your student’s practice in joy. You could also ask students to bring to mind 5-10 things that they feel joyful for in their lives. This could be experiences, loved ones, goals, past accomplishments, etc.
How To Sequence Poses For This Theme
When sequencing a class for this theme think of poses that inspire joy, bliss, and lightness. Playful poses, and power poses are great to sequence for this weekly theme. Poses such as the Warrior poses, Bow, or Dolphin are good examples of poses that help students to reignite their inner joy and playfulness.
Heart opening poses such as Camel, Cobra, or Upward Facing Dog are also good to include in this sequence. Heart opening poses help us to activate our heart centers so that we can reconnect with our joy.
Namaste.
Nadia Goudy is a yoga teacher, yogi, and owner of Recharg Corporate Yoga – a company dedicated to bringing yoga and mindfulness to the workplace and also the founder of YogaRenew Teacher Training. Nadia received her training in yoga teaching in the U.S. over 12 years ago, and has since dedicated years of teaching yoga to individuals who have not been regularly exposed to it; including non-profits, workplaces, senior centers, and healthcare organizations. She currently resides in Washington D.C. with her husband Nick. Her focus and mission has always been to inspire others through her yoga teachings, especially in situations and areas where individuals might not be regularly exposed to or have access to it. She created YogaRenew Teacher Training as a way to spread the knowledge and wisdom of yoga teaching around the world.
