If we wish to teach our students life’s greatest lesson-that it is only love that really matters-we must start by learning to love the work of teaching. Perhaps the greatest service we can do for our students is to remind them in both obvious and subtle ways to find their true calling in life, and to provide them with tools to help them on their quest. As our students physically open their hearts while doing back bends and become more aware of their feelings from doing inversions, they cultivate the sensitivity to separate what is essential from what is merely urgent. It is only when we take care of what is essential that we can die without regret.

As yoga teachers, perhaps our central practice is to watch everything we teach-every method, every word, every action-and ask if the approach is merely a means to achieving a greater pose or a deeper breath, or is it essentially helping my student to love their life more? Are you merely teaching poses or are you teaching students to love more abundantly and die contented?”

As teachers, we must first love ourselves and our work. We can do no better than to follow this timeless advice of doing what you love, love what you are doing, and deliver more than you promise. The true passion for teaching lives only within teachers who love both their subject and the teaching. This is because they know they are living their dharma. When I feel my dharma, I have no choice but to be in love with my subject and my teaching. Then teaching is no longer a job, but a fulfilling way of self-expression that allows me to manifest the love I feel for who I am. It is a way of spreading the joy and peace of yoga and creating an inner balance that leads to bliss. When I feel this, I am living my dharma. I am fulfilled.

Mother Theresa said, “We can do no great things-only small things with great love.” The most important thing we can do for our students is to feel a great love for our teaching and our practice. If you have lost your love of teaching, it is time to learn something new. Just as married couples need to take time out for themselves and go on “dates” to restore feelings of love and joy, we need to take time to renew and refresh the love of our craft. Just as our bodies need regular asana practice to be restored, so our teaching needs regular care in order to remain healthy and vibrant. Find a teacher, take a workshop, go on a retreat. Find a mentor who truly loves yoga so that you can absorb some of that love and inspiration. Going to workshops or retreats and studying with master teachers is not indulgent, but essential.

Another way to renew our love of teaching is to remind ourselves that we are participating in the cosmic drama. As we help others embody their dharma, we are assisting the spirits that guide their lives. As we love our students and enter into the mystery of their unfolding, our teaching is filled with unexpected magic.

The greatest service we can give our students is to love our own practice–our teaching, our students, and, above all, our own self. Then, as we breathe our last, we will smile knowing that we have lived, loved, and died without regret.

If we wish to teach our students life’s greatest lesson-that it is only love that really matters-we must start by learning to love the work of teaching.

2008 Aadil Palkhivala

By: Aadil Palkhivala

About the Author:

Yoga Poses are the body and mind places you are trying to achieve through Yoga that are also called Asanas. The benefits of practicing Yoga is mainly to exercise, strengthen and tone your body’s muscles and exercise your mind. It takes a great deal of willpower and tenacity to accomplish each Yoga Pose and you have to have the discipline to practice your routine of poses or asanas daily.

You may or may not know that the effort required for yoga is certainly not easy (what program ids that actually works though!), but the total body benefit is worth all the hard work. The art of practicing Yoga exercises or Asanas can and will improve your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. To be able to accomplish the Yoga Poses requires you to study each pose and perform it deliberately as you control your body and mind simultaneously. Learn the following different Yoga Exercises, Postures, and Poses in the following sections and then incorporate them into your routine.

Warm-Up Poses

In general, warming up depends on the particular style of yoga that you practice and your studio, class, DVD, or online training will show you the best warm up for the type of yoga you are doing.

Standing Poses – You should learn the following Standing Poses

o Virabhadrasana or Warrior Pose

o Utkatasana or Squat Pose

o Uttanasana or Standing Forward Bend

o Tadasana or Mountain Pose

o Uthita Trikonasana or Extended Triangle

o Garudasana or Eagle Pose

o Natarajasana or Dancer

o Bakasana or Crow Pose

o Chaturangsana or Plank Pose

o Purvottanasana or Back Bend

o Vasisthasana or Inclined Plank

Seated Poses – These poses can be done while sitting.

Sitting Neutral

o Vajrasana or Hero Pose

o Dandasana or Staff Pose

o Baddhakonasana or Bound Angle Pose

o Gomukhasana or Cow Face Pose

Sitting Forward

o Pascimottanasana or Sitting Forward Bend

o Paripurna navasana or Boat Pose

Sitting Back Bends

o Bidalasana or Cat Stretch

o Ustrasana or Camel Pose

o Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose

o Dhanurasana or Bow Pose

Sittting Twist

o Ardha matsyendrasana or Half Twist

Inverted Postures and Balance Poses – These poses help to increase circulation, stimulate the brain, enhance glandular system functioning, and relieve pressure on the abdominal organs helping with digestion and blood flow.

o Sarvangasana or Shoulder Stand

o Halasana or Plow Pose

o Adho Mukha Svanasana or Downward Facing Dog

o Setu Bandha or Half Bridge

o Urdhva Dhanurasana or Full Bridge

o Karnapidasana or Spider Pose

It’s recommended that people try and practice different yoga poses at home or even in the office or workplace but if you are feeling like you’re not able to complete a posture, please don’t push yourself. Yoga is not a competition so just relax, rest for a minute and try the pose again. Also remember not to try yoga poses that are beyond your capabilities. If you attempt asanas that are beyond your level you can injure yourself which is not what we are trying to achieve with yoga! You might find it helpful to get some expert guidance through popular online training websites where a professional teacher can instruct and coach you through each Yoga Pose ensuring you are doing the exercise correctly.

By: Vino Rayen

About the Author:

We don’t generally consider children as having stressful lives, but when you think about how busy they are and we are as well, always rushing around to school, sports, lessons and so on, we can begin to appreciate that they are under significant pressure. This can definitely have a negative effect on their lives in many areas.

Yoga can help children deal with these pressures and learn techniques to help them to face life’s challenges more easily. Yoga is a noncompetitive activity that can foster self-esteem and awareness of one’s body for youngsters. Kids can learn methods for relaxation, inner peace and self-health. This can help them develop compassion and cooperation as opposed to opposition.

Physically, the benefits of practicing yoga for children range from improving flexibility to enhancing strength and coordination. Their sense of calmness, relaxation and concentration also improve.

Many yoga poses derive their inspiration from animals and plants. When children are given the opportunity to imitate the movements and sounds of nature, it is not only very enjoyable, but it also gives them the chance to experience, for example, the power of the lion, the grace of a swan, or the grounding of a tree. This introduces kids to the true essence of yoga: union, expression and honor for oneself and others.

In teaching yoga to children, instructors have found that an interactive, multi-disciplinary approach works very well. The yoga asanas can be expanded upon to playing and imitating various plants and animals. This can be further explored with storytelling, games, picture drawing and playing musical instruments. The children can appreciate the use of their bodies and minds and how they can interact in play. Their natural tendency towards creativity and curiosity makes these classes fun and effective.

Yoga classes for children that take this multi-disciplinary approach are indeed an excellent learning experience. Kids are provided with the opportunity to explore their innate abilities across many planes: linguistic, logical, visual, musical, kinesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal.

The great challenge in teaching kids is to be able to hold their attention. Fortunately, kids love to be in motion and they love to talk. They can do both of these in a yoga class and they will love playing like various animals, trees, flowers, cobras and warriors. The instructor should allow them to let go and roar in the lion pose, bark in the dog pose, meow in a cat stretch and hiss in a cobra.

Standard lessons can be integrated into a kids’ yoga class as well. Reciting their ABC’s or practicing counting their 123’s can be a lot of fun while holding a pose. Children love the release of making sounds and their yoga classes will allow them to connect an auditory experience to a physical sensation. Providing a responsive, creative and loving environment in a yoga class will help children to discover the world on their own and is an optimal method for instruction. Their minds can be engaged as they perform animal and nature asanas to deepen their awareness. When they’re snakes (Bhujangasana), invite them to really imagine that they’re just a long spine with no arms and legs. Could you still run or climb a tree? In Tree Pose (Vrksasana), ask them to imagine being a giant oak, with roots growing out of the bottoms of their feet. Could you stay in the same position for 100 years?

The many benefits of yoga: stillness, balance, flexibility, focus, peace, grace, connection, health and well-being can be imparted to children in an interactive and pleasurable way that create the foundation for a life-long practice. Children will be given the opportunity to express themselves and learn important principles such as reverence for life and the interdependence of all beings.

By: Michael Russell

About the Author:

There is a lot of information floating around about Yoga but still there are a lot of things about the practice of Yoga that most people don’t know. Here are 5 facts about Yoga that you probably didn’t know before:

1. Yoga is primarily practiced as a physical activity in the West but it started in the East as a much more meditative discipline. Hatha Yoga, the form of yoga that focuses more on physical movements, is the most popular and most practiced type of Yoga in the West.

2. You don’t need to do a lot of Yoga in order to get benefits from it – Even if you just practice Yoga for a half an hour a few days a week you will still get some of the benefits that Yoga offers. So don’t put off learning Yoga just because you think you don’t have enough time. Even just a little Yoga can really improve your health.

3. Yoga is equally beneficial for women and men. The press coverage of Yoga tends to show more women than men performing Yoga and the literature makes is sound like more women than men are practicing Yoga but the truth is that Yoga is just as good for men, and for kids too, as it is for women. A regular Yoga practice can benefit everyone.

4. Yoga is one of the safest exercises for pregnant women, as long as the Yoga that is practiced is adapted for women that are pregnancy. Many women find that doing Yoga while pregnant helps them prepare mentally as well as physically for the birth of their baby.

5. Yoga is one of the oldest forms of mental and physical exercise. The origins of Yoga go back more than 5000 years. Humans throughout the ages have practiced Yoga to achieve a balanced body and mind.

By: Jay Franco

About the Author:

Diwakar Vashist asked:




Vajra is ‘thunderbolt’ or ‘lightening’. It is also the weapon of Lord Indra means ‘mighty one’. Vajra in this context refers to the vajra nadi which governs the urogenital system. It is the second innermost layer of sushmna nadi. Vajra nadi is the energy flow within the spine which governs the sexual systems of the body. In mundane life it is responsible for the sexual behaviour and this aspect has been termed ‘libido’ by Dr. Freud and as ‘organe’ by Dr. Reich. In tantric sadhana this energy is not suppressed but it is awakened and redirected. Oli mudras (vajroli, sahajoli, amaroli) are those which specifically sublimate sexual energy into ojas (vitality) and kundalini shakti.

According to Hatha Yoga Pradipika, if vajroli is well practised, even in an otherwise free lifestyle, that yogi’s attainments in life will be greater, and a greater source of vital and mental power will become available to him. A few great yogis and masters had these experiences and have, therefore, instructed their disciples in the oli mudras and other Hatha yoga techniques.

Vajroli mudra is an important practice today in the kali yuga when man’s ability and need to express himself in the material and sensual world is predominating. We have to act in the external world and simultaneously develop inner awareness. The purpose of life should be to attain a deeper and more fulfilling experience beyond the empirical sensory experience alone.

By the practice of vajroli one can learn to control the physical mechanism, but side by side with his mental control must also be developed. When the mind wanders in useless fantasy, energy is dissipated. When the mind is totally concentrated on a specific object, symbol or point, pranic movements are channelized and the bindu is maintained. In Hatha yoga the mind has to be kept on the aim of the practices in order to induce total one-pointedness.