Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, YACEP, Author at Aura Wellness Center - Page 57 of 58

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, YACEP

The Benefits of Yoga Props For People Over 50

When I began teaching yoga in the early 1970’s, the term, “yoga props,” was practically unheard of. When we sat on the floor to practice seated forward bends, people who could not touch their toes simply held onto their lower legs. Then someone had the bright idea to wrap a sock, towel, belt or an old neck tie around the foot to hang onto while stretching forward. While not as versatile as the modern prop known as a yoga strap, these early around-the-house props actually worked quite well!

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Yoga for Families At Risk

As a capstone to the program, participants were invited to two yoga workshops each, in which they explored practices for stress reduction, back health, emotional regulation, and relaxation. Activities were taught in a way that encouraged participants to take ownership of the practices they deemed most helpful and continue practicing them at home. At the end of the second session, each family was awarded a yoga mat, strap, and photo-guide to take home. As one participant commented after her first session, “Yoga is really good because we feel a lot of stress. Yoga helps us alleviate the pain we feel, and we feel better mentally too.”

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How to Do the Yoga Pose Downward Facing Dog

There are some contraindications to doing Downward Dog. If you have a wrist, shoulder elbow or neck injury it is better to modify it or skip the pose if you don’t know how to modify. During a head cold, sinus or ear infection, eye problem or after recent dental work it’s advisable to avoid the full pose because it puts your head upside down and increases swelling and inflammation and may decrease healing time.

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Your Yoga Routine

Practicing something as simple as ‘easy seated pose’ (comfortable seated cross legged pose) can cause an imbalance. Consider if in your easy pose you always keep the same leg crossed in front. One hip will be more open than the other. Conversely, if one hip is more open than the other, it is easier to sit that way. If you can work the other leg gradually into the front position you can balance out the hips. You really need to focus on working on specific areas like these gradually, over time.

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Chair Yoga – Can it Help You?

Practicing chair yoga can bring the same benefits as a full yoga practice. The idea is that the breathing and awareness practice is the same; we are simply adjusting the poses so that we are more comfortable in them. You can’t really pay attention to your body and connect with your muscles stretching if you are unsteady and afraid to fall over or if you have chronic pain and that is all you can think about

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Yoga For Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain sufferers deal with pain most of the time with no relief. With awareness, the gentle movements of Yoga can relieve some of that pain. Studies have shown that a Yoga practice can reduce the amount of pain in people who suffer from fibromyalgia, arthritis, chronic back pain and many other painful ailments.

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Many Paths of Teaching Yoga

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.

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Discover the Secrets of Karma Yoga

Within the Bhagavad-Gita, Karma Yoga is mentioned as a spiritual discipline, which is based upon giving and service without the desire for rewards. We might also say that Karma Yoga points us toward supreme consciousness through selfless service and actions of giving.

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