Posts Tagged ‘Yoga’
February 9th, 2010 | 
Author: What you are about to read applies to teaching, in general. In fact, we are all teachers, to some degree. You teach your friends, co-workers, strangers and family members on a daily basis.
The example you set teaches someone in some way. Whether you are a positive role model, or not, people, and the world, react to you. Sorry to say, you have more responsibility than you thought possible.
Do you realize that when you hurt one person, it will set a chain of events into motion? Even worse is that, most violent acts were stimulated by smaller, seemingly unimportant events.
When you talk to your students, always show mutual respect. Don’t take advantage of your position as a Yoga teacher to temporarily feed your ego.
The first thing a Yoga teacher should instill, in his or her students, is self-motivation. The serious Yoga student must be a self starter. This is a person who practices Yoga at home, as well as in class. They don’t depend on their friends to come to class, and they show up like “clockwork.”
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Pranayama, also known as yogic breathing is the method of silencing the breath. Prana has been defined as the air which flows through the body. Pranayama is made up of three parts: controlled inhalations, controlled exhalations and holding of the breath. When you do all three parts, it is called sahita, while doing only the holding breath without the other two is called kevala. You should start with sahita till kevala comes into being. This is a technique that controls all that is associated with prana.
Our breathing is made of two acts of inhalations and exhalations. These acts are followed in cycles where inhalations and exhalations succeed each other, where you take in air into the lungs and then release some of it back from the lungs. In between the inhalation and exhalation, there is a short gap which usually escapes our attention. This act is called respiration and is usually completed in four seconds in the resting phase. We usually respire nearly fifteen times a minute. You can take in about 400 cubic centimeters or 0.4 liters in a minute. When you do deep inhalations, you take in additional 1.6 liters of air and 2 liters in all. At the time of deep exhalations, you throw out all these 2 liters of air but still your lungs contain another 1.5 to 2 liters of air.
Thus, the total lung capacity of the human body for a normal individual is about 5 liters. The amount of air that you can exhale through deep exhalation after a deep inhalation is called as Vital Capacity.
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Cultivating Positive Energy
Most of us who study Yoga have been taught that an abundance of Prana (vital air or vital energy), can be found at the ocean, lakes, large open fields, and in the mountains.
Although the air is different, this same energy can be found where people assemble for a positive reason. For example: when people assemble to meditate or pray.
You can feel it in your home, at a church, mosque, temple, shrine, ashram, seminar, martial arts hall, etc. This is when people bond in a mass for the common good. The energy can be used to help humanity and our little planet for the best.
You can project this energy outward by acts of kindness every moment of your life. This is not to say, you allow yourself to be abused. You can be kind to everyone who comes into your life, without becoming a “doormat.”
You have influence over a limited number of people who you see in a day. Why not make every contact a harmonious and positive experience?
Some examples would be:
Stop making foul gestures, becoming angry, and swearing when another driver on the road has irritated you.
Don’t take advantage of respect with anyone.
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Here are some guidelines and realistic expectations for parents, who are considering Yoga for their children. For your child, Yoga is much more than a kid’s fitness class. Just like adults — kids need time to learn to deal with life’s daily pressures, too.
Make sure your child starts with easy postures, and be patient with your child’s progress. Some beginner children can often be more flexible than advanced adult Yoga practitioners, but they don’t know their own limitations.
Discover your child’s real passions. When your child wants to go to Yoga class, it is much better than what you want for your child. This is not to say that you should avoid guidance. However, it is not advisable to push a child into a Yoga class, if your child doesn’t enjoy it — no matter how popular Yoga may be. All children are different, and what is good for one of your children, may not agree with another.
Encourage your child to see the deeper benefits of Yoga: Learning to live within the moment, and appreciating the present situation, instead of focusing on desires, these are built-in mental assets of Yoga practice. Enhanced concentration skills are another benefit that will result in improved academic performance.
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