Teaching Yoga

This book is the first ever comprehensive yoga textbook that meets the American Yoga Alliance standard for yoga teachers. The book follows the Yoga Alliance syllabus and includes the required major components.

Teaching Yoga is an essential resource for new and experienced teachers as well as a guide for all yoga students interested in refining their skills and knowledge. Addressing 100% of the teacher training curriculum standards set by Yoga Alliance, the world's leading registry and accreditation source for yoga teachers and schools, Teaching Yoga is also ideal for use as a core textbook in yoga teacher training programs. Drawing on a wide spectrum of perspectives, and featuring more than 150 photographs and illustrations, the book covers fundamental topics of yoga philosophy and history, including a historical presentation of classical yoga literature: the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras of Pataljali, and the main historical sources on tantra and early hatha yoga. Each of the eleven major styles of contemporary yoga is described, with a brief history of its development and the distinguishing elements of its teachings. Exploring traditional and modern aspects of anatomy and physiology, the book provides extensive support and tools for teaching 108 yoga poses (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation. Teaching Yoga offers practical advice for classroom setup, planning and sequencing classes, as well as the process involved in becoming a teacher and sustaining oneself in the profession. The book has over 200 bibliographic sources, a comprehensive index, and a useful appendix that lists associations, institutes, organizations, and professional resources for yoga teachers. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Through Teaching Yoga for Life: Preparing Children and Teens for Healthy, Balanced Living, you can - help kids become more confident and self-directed, - use a holistic approach to enrich students' lives, and - guide kids to manage stress more effectively. Yoga is gaining popularity in schools and community programs for good reason: It provides an antidote to our fast-paced, technology-based society in which we never stop to relax, dig deeper, and learn more about ourselves and the world around us. Through Teaching Yoga for Life: Preparing Children and Teens for Healthy, Balanced Living, you can employ a simple, safe, and pragmatic method for yoga instruction even if you've never taught it before. The clear, step-by-step directions and ample illustrations make it easy for you to present each of the activities, lessons, and 52 poses included in the book. These lessons are based on a holistic approach that focuses on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of yoga. The book introduces basic yoga philosophy in simplified take-home messages that help students live better lives. It also explains how yoga can enrich students' health and why it should be a vital part of their lives. Yoga students commonly - improve their self-awareness and emotional intelligence; - enhance their abilities to focus and concentrate; - develop greater cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility; and - learn how to handle stress (particularly helpful for kids with learning, behavioral, or social and economic challenges). This visual and user-friendly book is based on applied research and evidence from piloted programs, and it applies the pedagogical standards of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. The book supplies lessons and unit plans, and you'll learn all about the basic physical poses, breathing techniques, play, visualizations, and relaxation methods. You'll also discover how to teach yoga effectively and learn the science and movement principles behind yoga. Teaching yoga can help you create a safe and relaxed atmosphere for students. You can use a multiple-intelligence approach to engage all of your students, particularly those who don't enjoy traditional sport-based activities. Yoga requires little or no equipment and can be adapted to anyone's needs. It helps people slow down and discover, or rediscover, who they are. Best of all, anyone can do it. With the expert guidance and practical approach of this text, yoga can revitalize your classroom and your students.

Thousands of yoga lovers take teacher training courses each year, hoping to share what they learn with others. Many want to make yoga teaching their full-time career, but most training programs fall short in covering business acumen, and they may not equip graduates with the entrepreneurial skills and savvy they need to make a go of it. This indispensable and inspiring book guides both new and established professionals toward maximizing their impact as teachers and achieving their career goals. You’ll learn to: • build a loyal student base • plan dynamic classes • optimize your own practice • become more financially stable • maintain a marketing plan • use social media effectively • create a unique brand identity • inspire even more students to embrace yoga

Create class themes with yoga philosophy, inspirational quotes, and simple concepts to inspire and motivate students Experienced yoga instructors Sage Rountree and Alexandra DeSiato give yoga teachers the tools to find their voice and tap into innate wisdom. The authors offer ready-made, detailed themes to use in classes and provide flexible templates for building a toolkit of themes for future use. Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses offers guidance for both new and experienced teachers starting with a section on voice, authenticity, emulation, phrasing, practice, repetition, and finding inspiration. It continues with a second section that contains fifty-four complete themes that instructors can easily use in their own classes. The final section includes blank templates for instructors to create their own class themes and notes. With a unique angle and practical feel, this workbook will appeal to yoga teachers, teacher trainers, and at-home practitioners who want to move to the next level.

This trusted companion offers help and guidance on the day-to-day practicalities of teaching and running a yoga business. Including insights from renowned yoga professionals, including Liz Lark, Lizzie Lasater, Andrew McGonigle, Katy Appleton and Tarik Dervish and more, this book offers practical ways to hone teaching skills. It features topics such as working with common injuries and conditions, breath, sequencing, incorporating philosophy and myth into class, and the links between yoga and Qigong and Ayurveda. It also provides key information on how to get the most out of a yoga business, with advice on setting up and running a studio, and planning and leading retreats.

The definitive guide to effective and appropriate communication through words and touch between yoga teachers and their students. Clear, effective verbal communication and judicious touch are two skills that Judith Hanson Lasater feels are essential for every yoga teacher. In Teaching Yoga with Intention, she gives pointed advice on how to interact verbally with students in class and how to appropriately use touch to make corrections. Drawing from her fifty years of yoga experience and her training in Nonviolent Communication, Lasater trains yoga teachers to effectively communicate not only technique, but also the more subtle lessons of respect, empathy, and compassion. She also shines an unflinching light on the use of touch in yoga. Teachers often use touch to create understanding and awareness in the poses. But this is a subtle art, and Lasater gives clear guidance on how, where, and when the use of touch can be used appropriately to further a student's development. In this book, Lasater also empowers students by encouraging them to take ownership of and responsibility for their practice. She covers myriad topics that can be difficult for students at any level to navigate, such as how and when to say "no" to an adjustment; keeping boundaries; when to leave a class; helping your teacher understand your needs; how to communicate your appreciation to your yoga teacher; and if and when to report a teacher's behavior. The skills that Lasater offers help create a safe environment for students to "own" their learning process, and to progress technically at their own speed.

What you will learn in this book : 1- Become a kid again and teach yoga to children in fun, creative & magical ways! 2-How to design fun, diverse and unique yoga sessions for kids in different age groups. 3-All you need to know about how to be a unique and most Effective yoga kids instructor. 4-How to behave when facing challenges with the way kids might behave in the class in the most constructive and compassionate way. 5-How to introduce yoga postures and breathing exercises to kids and conduct fun,diverse and impactful games. 6- Inspiring stories and practical tools to take children into the world of meditation and relaxation 7-Lots of bright ideas on how to invite children to silence 9- You’ll learn how to begin and end a session in the most effective ways. 8-Also you’ll learn about : Storytelling,poems,role playing,Fun games, chakra healing, colors and their effects, partner yoga, lots of groups and cooperative games,Anatomy & so much more. By choosing to take this journey you’ll : Play, Laugh,Relax,Learn & Teach yoga to kids!

Teaching Contemporary Yoga provides a novel look at how modern yoga is understood, practiced, and taught globally. Utilising perspectives from several academic disciplines, the authors offer an analysis of the current state of modern yoga and the possibilities for future experimentation and innovation. The authors draw on anthropological, performance, and embodiment theories to understand yoga practice as a potentially powerful ritual of transformation as well as a cultural product steeped in the process of meaning making. They craft a unique analysis that contrasts asana with the largely unexamined philosophy underlying the practice of vinyasa, while imagining a vibrant future for the evolution of yoga through excellence in teaching. Unlike other writings about yoga, the authors offer a critique of the current practice of yoga as both diminished and utilitarian, while providing a path to reinvigorating the discipline based on current scientific knowledge and methods for teaching and practice. Along with these theoretical perspectives and the analysis of contemporary yoga in the West, the authors offer practical applications to address the challenges of teaching yoga in a society where individualism and materialism are core values. Open-ended exercises in reflection and experimentation offer opportunities for readers to apply what they have learned to their teaching and personal practice. This is a vital guide for any yoga-oriented scholar, teacher, or practitioner and is an essential companion for contemporary teacher training.

Inspired by his time spent with wise sages in Asia in the 1930s, Paul Brunton (1898-1981) wrote The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga (and its companion volume The Wisdom of the Overself) at the request of these remarkable teachers, who recognized that he had a significant role to play in the transmission of Hindu Vedanta and Buddhism to the West. Brunton's books are a profound re-creation of the teachings of those two philosophical schools of thought, informed by the insights of deep meditation. Clearly written without the specialized vocabulary found in those traditions, the books speak directly to the contemporary spiritual seeker. The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga is a step-by-step guide to actually experiencing the spiritual truth that reality is formed within our consciousness rather than outside us in the world of material things. Brunton's expert analysis of perception, grounded in science, is designed to awaken us to our sacred foundation and to transform our personality into a mirror of that reality. Brunton prepares us for this journey by describing the attitudes, mental disciplines, and character traits that are beneficial for success in this quest. This new edition has been updated to incorporate the author's final revisions and includes an introduction by the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation. Contents Foreword by The Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation 1.Beyond Yoga 2.The Ultimate Path 3.The Religious and Mystic Grades 4.The Hidden Philosophy of India 5.The Philosophical Discipline 6.The Worship of Words 7.The Search After Truth 8.The Revelation of Relativity 9.From Thing to Thought 10. The Secret of Space and Time 11. The Magic of the Mind 12. The Downfall of Materialism Epilogue: The Philosophic Life Appendix 1: Some Misconceptions Cleared Up Appendix 2: Additional Resources from The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, Compiled by the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation Editors

A practical, hands-on, experienced-based guide from a military veteran turned yoga teacher Brendon Abram combines his first-hand experience with PTSD in the field and years of teaching to offer this practical guide to bringing trauma-sensitive yoga to both clinical and studio settings. Drawing on his work with military veterans, first responders, and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, he emphasizes the importance of respecting the uniqueness of every individual and demonstrates how to use the foundational principles of yoga to create a safe experience. Abram explains that basic principles of yoga bring power to the practice and that breath, mindful movement, focused awareness, and acceptance of present-moment experience form the foundation of any yoga offering.

Show your athletes how yoga can propel their performance to the next level. Teaching Power Yoga for Sports prepares you to develop and teach yoga programs that are directly relatable to specific sports and player positions, resulting in more resilient athletes who consistently compete at the top of their game. Author Gwen Lawrence shares her approach, developed through years of work with sports’ top professional teams; NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, and MLB coaches; and elite athletes. She takes into account the athlete’s training cycle, the position they play, and common movements and injuries in the sport. In this book, she offers detailed, easy-to-implement instruction on the following: • Safe and effective poses that complement common movements in sport • Yoga routines, organized by sport and season • Ways to spot and fix posture and alignment imbalances before injury occurs • Nine restorative sequences to facilitate recovery and long-term stability • Six facets of Power Yoga for Sports: balance, strength, flexibility, focus, breathing, and mental toughness • Mindfulness tools for developing focus, clarity, and determination Exclusive to this book are invaluable sport-specific sequences for athletes participating in a range of sports: football, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, wrestling, golf, tennis and racket sports, skiing, swimming, running, cycling, and mixed martial arts. For each sport, you’ll find the top five poses that most closely mimic that sport’s movements, along with accompanying images that compare each pose to an athlete in action. Gain valuable teaching and coaching skills you can immediately put into practice with your athletes. Learn to train the whole body and mind with powerful yoga poses, breathing techniques, and mental focus activities. With Teaching Power Yoga for Sports you will develop balance, strength, flexibility, and performance in your athletes and help them thrive in a long and successful sporting career. CE exam available! For certified professionals, a companion continuing education exam can be completed after reading this book. The Teaching Power Yoga for Sports CE Exam may be purchased separately or as part of the Teaching Power Yoga for Sports With CE Exam package, which includes both the book and the exam.

A guide to creating inspirational classes for yoga instructors! This book is a must-read for planning unique, inspirational and heart-centered yoga classes and a handy resource for all who seek guidance and enthusiasm on the path of yoga. Whether you are a yoga practitioner or a yoga teacher, this book will touch your heart and will inspire you to deepen your practice. The author has presented information about yoga in a comprehensive and easy-to-read manner, honoring India's ancient philosophy of yoga. Her selection of beautiful quotes and passages on different yogic themes and the poems and prayers from around the world will strike a chord with everyone. In this book, she has harmonized the inherent wisdom of the East with the way yoga is practiced in the West in a simple yet powerful way.

Truth is not something we have to seek out. It is not something that is absent and far away, requiring great effort to find. Truth is present within you as the Life that is you. In Yoga of Heart, Los Angeles-based yoga instructor Mark Whitwell takes us back to the time when yoga was first developed--to the shamanic past of the Upanishads, when yoga was practiced as a means of acknowledging, enjoying, and participating in the very source of Life. Whitwell explores the deeper tantric dimensions of hatha yoga--how yoga's purpose is to link the mind to the wonder of our own condition. He shows how hatha yoga is participation in life's polarities already in union--through the male surrender to the female principle. Yoga of Heart shows how we can forge that union of polarities within our body: above and below, front and back, left and right, male and female. Yoga of Heart focuses especially on clearing the energy centers and meridians, fostering dynamic health and allowing practitioners to create a deeper intimacy with both their partners and the energetic life forces in the universe.

This master-class-in-a-book is designed to guide teachers of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) in continuing to develop more competence while raising global standards of practice and pedagogy. Starting with the central yet elusive concept of stewardship, it then expands upon the core components of MBI pedagogy. A series of reflective essays by MBI teachers from around the world foregrounds differences and challenges in meeting participants “where they are.” Such reflections are both inspiring and thought-provoking for teachers —wherever they are. The book also provides practical guidance and tools for adjusting teaching style and content for special populations, from chronic pain patients to trauma survivors, from health care professionals to clergy, and including many others. Detailed scripts and practices, ready to adopt and adapt, offer opportunities to explore new directions in the classroom, and to continue the life-long development of the teacher. Included in the coverage: Deepening teachers’ skills of guidance of meditation practices Insights into the essential practice of inquiry and dialogue with participants New practices that allow participants to explore mindfulness together in a spoken encounter How to keep up with, review, and make clear to participants the range of scientific evidence supporting the MBIs The breadth of practical insights and hands-on strategies makes Resources for Teaching Mindfulness a unique developmental asset for a wide range of practitioners around the world. Among those who will benefit are physicians and other medical practitioners, health and clinical psychologists, marriage and family therapists, nurses, clinical social workers, physical and occupational therapists, health educators, and organizational development specialists.

This book focuses on yoga’s transcultural dissemination in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In the course of this process, the term “yoga” has been associated with various distinctive blends of mental and physical exercises performed in order to achieve some sort of improvement, whether understood in terms of esotericism, fitness, self-actualization, body aesthetics, or health care. The essays in this volume explore some of the turning points in yoga’s historico-spatial evolution and their relevance to its current appeal. The authors focus on central motivations, sites, and agents in the spread of posture-based yoga as well as on its successive (re-)interpretation and diversification, addressing questions such as: Why has yoga taken its various forms? How do time and place influence its meanings, social roles, and associated experiences? How does the transfer into new settings affect the ways in which yogic practice has been conceptualized as a system, and on what basis is it still identified as (Indian) yoga? The initial section of the volume concentrates on the re-evaluation of yoga in Indian and Western settings in the first half of the twentieth century. The following chapters link global discourses to particular local settings and explore meaning production at the micro-social level, taking Germany as the focal site. The final part of the book focuses on yoga advertising and consumption across national, social, and discursive boundaries, taking a closer look at transnational and deterritorialized yoga markets, as well as at various classes of mobile yoga practitioners.

Millions of people practice some form of yoga, but they often do so without a clear understanding of its history, traditions, and purposes. This comprehensive bibliography, designed to assist researchers, practitioners, and general readers in navigating the extensive yoga literature, lists and comments upon English-language yoga texts published since 1981. It includes entries for more than 2,400 scholarly as well as popular works, manuals, original Sanskrit source text translations, conference proceedings, doctoral dissertations, and master's theses. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author for easy access, while thorough author, title, and subject indexes will help readers find books of interest.