Therapeutic Essentials Every Yoga Teacher Should Learn to Support Health and Wellness
Therapeutic Essentials Every Yoga Teacher Should Learn to Support Health and Wellness
Recently, yoga has started to transform back from being a trendy exercise class to its more traditional roots of improving your health and lifestyle. As a yoga teacher, you now have an opportunity to be a part of spreading this deeper knowledge about the traditional roots of yoga to your clients. Today, we will explore the therapeutic essentials every yoga teacher should learn to support health and wellness.
Pursuing advanced yoga teacher training in therapeutic essentials
A therapeutic essentials yoga practice has a gentler style, designed to address injuries and imbalances in your client’s body alongside supporting joints and caring for muscles.
The foremost reason to study yoga therapeutic essentials as a yoga teacher is to learn anatomy in-depth and understand how diseases and injuries transform the body. Running parallel to these physical transformations, mental wellness is tested when injury and illness create anguish and insecurities. In some cases, the condition isn't a physical process but a spiritual one instead. Providing appropriate guidance in asana, meditation, and pranayama using therapeutic essentials eases the body and mind gently and thoughtfully.
Teaching yoga can then become about holistically caring for the individual, regardless of physical characteristics and conditions. Your yoga community will broaden, inviting all bodies to a supportive place.
Therapeutic essentials is based on Hatha yoga, a highly accessible and transformative practice. Gone are the rigors of vinyasa flow, heated rooms, and asana as exercise. Because Hatha yoga is a largely static practice, clients have the opportunity to truly focus inward and notice their body, as well as their mind's reaction to it. There is also an opportunity to use the transitions between postures to explore the body.
Exploring movement with therapeutic essentials principles
Hand in hand with anatomy is the study of biomechanics and how the body acts works within itself. When viewed through the yoga lens, understanding biomechanics can translate observed movements into functional and helpful asana. This extends from the feet upwards in all limbs, joints, and particularly the spine.
It's worth noting that biomechanics can include the narrow focus of one individual joint or muscle group and the broad focus on the body's movements as a whole. Open communications and interactions with your clients help complete the big picture of an individual's anatomy and movement. The result is personalized instruction with safe and effective sequencing.
All movements do not agree with all bodies, and props and modifications facilitate postures. Without addressing injuries and the uniqueness of everybody, asana often creates situations where the transitions and postures are detrimental. Properly addressing safety and comfort with the help of sturdy props is advised.
The mind and therapeutic essentials
Guiding yoga with therapeutic essentials principles also encourages the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). This branch of the central nervous system creates a peaceful mind, allowing the body to rest, restore, digest, and function quietly without stress. This is where healing and growth happen.
When therapeutic essentials tools weave into a yoga class, they are not for judgment or diagnostics. Instead, the complete package of movement, individualized modifications, props, and spiritual guidance help the student become more aware of themself. The PNS rises to the forefront, and all components of wellness intersect.
Want to learn more about therapeutic yoga essentials? Consider viewing our online course at PremaYogaInstitute.com
While the practice of yoga therapeutic essentials appears straightforward, it's learning how to interpret and help your student's bodies that is the real challenge.
There is much to study about therapeutic essentials, and learning how to change the focus from an asana-driven practice to a body-focused practice takes education and practice. Furthering your education through classes, seminars, and courses is the best way to improve your teaching knowledge and skills.
We’d love to invite you to consider our Online (Accredited) courses at Prema Yoga Institute.
Enrollment for our Feb 2022 Online Course Yoga Therapeutics Essentials is now OPEN and features:
Yoga for All Bodies
Pranayama, Philosophy, Meditations
Restorative Yoga Essentials
Slow Flow Essentials
Introduction to Ayurveda and One-on-One Yoga
Care for the Caregiver Focus: Restorative Yoga
3 weeks of meaningful live hours with your faculty and cohort
Option to complete online or in person for selected hours at Pure Yoga in New York City
In-person registrants receive one month of complimentary yoga classes at Pure Yoga through February (for non-members only)
LEARN MORE AT: PREMAYOGAINSTITUTE.COM
Prema Yoga Institute is longer limited to New York City and is now available online with interactive trainings through 2022. PYI is an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!
If you found this information useful, visit our Blog often or subscribe to our Mailing List for similar content.
Exploring the Doshas in Advanced Yoga Teacher Training
Exploring the Doshas in Advanced Yoga Teacher Training
Enrolling in Advanced Yoga Teacher Training (RYT500) will give you the freedom to concentrate on one or more aspects of yoga that your initial yoga teacher training omits. The art and science of teaching yoga develop with additional education, such as the 300-hour RYT courses.
Of particular interest to study is Ayurveda and how this ancient healing process seamlessly integrates with your yoga teachings. Learning the fundamental principles of Ayurveda and the Doshas improves the relationship to your clients, as you can better serve their dosha balances and needs.
Introduction to Ayurveda
Ayurveda is an ancient healing system, an excellent balance of science, tradition, and holistic wellness. The original text about Ayurveda is The Caraka Samhita, written between 1500 and 5 B.C.E. This holistic scripture discusses lifestyle, diet, disease, and even embryology.
Four purposes comprise life in Ayurveda, working together to achieve long-lasting health and life. These purposes are Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. Dharma describes the following in a virtuous path, and Artha addresses collecting wealth. Kama addresses fulfilling your dreams and experiencing pleasures and desires. If all three of these are found and achieved, Moksha - achieving salvation - occurs.
The Doshas
Also within Ayurveda are the Doshas. Everyone and everything in the world has a basic constitution - qualities that make up that person or thing. In Ayurveda, air, fire, water, space, and earth combine in various combinations to create doshas. There are three doshas, and everyone is a unique blend of the three. Some people are tridoshic, meaning the doshas are equally balanced. When the doshas are highly imbalanced and extreme, the body and mind become unbalanced, and disease can set in.
Kapha is the earth and water dosha. Kapha also corresponds to the 1st and 2nd chakras of muladhara and swadhisthana respectively. Qualities of kapha include clear and sometimes oily skin, dark wavy hair, large eyes, and a strong body that tends to gain weight. This dosha is also associated with the winter season.
The Pitta dosha represents fire and water, and is associated with the 2nd chakra swadhisthana and the 3rd chakra manipura. Pitta characteristics include freckled and flushed skin, light or red hair, and light eyes. The body shape is balanced, and weight fluctuations are easy. Pitta is associated with the spring and summer seasons.
The Vata dosha represents air and links to the 4th chakra - anahata. Vata elements include dry and olive tinted skin, dark hair, and small eyes. The body is wispy and light, and hands and feet may be cold. Fall is the season associated with the Vata dosha.
Yoga and the Doshas
While teaching yoga, your clients are your guide. Their particular dosha composition, and the season, give you valuable feedback on what sequencing and poses are beneficial to bring the mind and body back into balance.
All aspects of Ayurveda - diet, asana, pranayama, season, routines, and meditation - vary from dosha to dosha. For example, the kapha dosha benefits from vigor, like a fast-pased vinyasa class or more challenging asana and complex sequencing. Pitta types benefit from cooling yoga practice, stressing inward reflection. Vata types find slow and restorative hatha practices beneficial.
Blending pranayama into your yoga teaching is another way to address the doshas. The kapha dosha relates to kapalabhati pranayama, and the breath of fire. Any time the breath can heat, as with suyra bhedana, the kapha imbalance subsides. The pitta dosha benefits from calming pranayama, avoiding the kapha positive pranayama. Focus instead on sitali or sitkhari pranayama. Vata types need to balance with kapalabhati in moderation and focus on jalandhara bandha to equalize.
Yoga and the doshas away from the yoga mat
Perhaps one of the most fulfilling roles of being a yoga teacher is giving your clients the tools to bring yoga and Ayurveda home. Use your newfound understanding of doshas to enable your clients to explore their doshas in-depth and find lifestyle solutions. Teaching routines, simple pranayama, and appropriate asana and encouraging them to practice away from you will solidify a habit that benefits many aspects of their physical and mental health.
Pursue Advanced Yoga Teacher Training and Learn More About Exploring the Doshas – Training Now Available Online!
Learning more about the doshas and Ayurveda in continuing education also gives you the knowledge to specialize your teachings, and conduct comprehensive Ayurvedic seminars and workshops.
As a yoga teacher, pursuing advanced teacher training will ensure a long career and help you reach more clients than before. To learn more about this topic, reach out to us at PremaYogaInstitute.com and we will be happy to help! Also, we’d love for you to consider enrolling in our next Online and RYT Accredited course below:
Online Education: Yoga Therapeutics Essentials:
Introduction to Ayurveda and One-on-One Yoga
Exploring the doshas (body/personality types) as inspiration in practice and teaching.
Adjusting the yoga practice for time of year, time of day, and time of life.
Bringing your practice off the mat in a practical, holistic way.
Using intake to personalize the yoga practice for your clients.
Yoga Therapeutics Essentials program format features:
Convenient self study hours
3 weeks of meaningful live hours with your faculty and cohort
Option to complete online or in person for selected hours at Pure Yoga in New York City
In-person registrants receive one month of complimentary yoga classes at Pure Yoga through February (for non-members only)
LEARN MORE AT: PREMAYOGAINSTITUTE.COM
Prema Yoga Institute is longer limited to New York City and is now available online with interactive trainings through 2022. PYI is an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!
If you found this information useful, visit our Blog often or subscribe to our Mailing List for similar content.
Ayurveda and Heart Wellness
Ayurveda and Heart Wellness
Yoga teachers know first-hand that Ayurveda is a whole-body system of wellness and longevity based on the balance between mind, spirit, and body. Ayurveda seeks not to cure disease but to promote wellness and overall health. Ayurveda has guided meaningful change in the lives of practitioners for over 3,000 years.
Just in time for Prema Yoga Institute’s upcoming Yoga Therapeutics Essentials course (which features an “Introduction to Ayurveda and One-on-One Yoga”), we will take a closer look at ayurveda and heart wellness in today’s blog.
A brief overview of Ayurveda
Ayurvedic beliefs center around the connection between everything in the universe, regardless of life or lack of energy. Five elements in the universe create these connections - air, fire, water, space, and earth. These five elements combine to create three doshas within the body - the energetic life forces within. Everyone has three doshas - kapha, pitta, and vata - in varying degrees of balance. It is usual for one dosha to be dominant to the others.
When the body's natural balance is disrupted, the body has a logical unease. Ayurveda believes that doshas correlate to bodily functions, and illness results from an imbalance in the doshas. Injuries, sickness, seasons, a poor diet, inappropriate exercise, and aging disrupt this balance.
Ayruvedic principles and the heart
The human heart is the center of the body - physically and spiritually. Heart wellness requires sustaining the emotional health and physical health of this life-giving organ.
The heart is the hub of the doshas, and the ojas - the core of immune functions and liveliness. Additionally, srotamsi transverse the heart. These internal channels of waste, energy, sensations, and nutrients also transport blood throughout the body. The body's nadis also integrate through the heart. Nadis are energy paths of the subtle human body that move prana, or life-force energy, throughout.
The heart is also the anahata chakra. This chakra is the energy center for forgiveness, love, and understanding. The heart is truy the center of the body and spirit, and maintaining the heart's vitality is central to life.
Heart wellness with Ayurveda
Yoga teachers with advanced training know that Ayurveda is a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and can exist parallel with modern health care treatments and practices.
To enhance heart wellness, yoga teachers often train to instruct clients to focus on these general principles of Ayurveda:
stress reduction
health via diet
proper and fulfilling sleep
appropriate exercise
creating worthwhile schedules and habits
When the body and mind have a routine and schedule, there is a certainty to the day, and priorities for healing and health will be honored. The daily schedule will address the diet, rest, exercise, and meditative activities that improve the quality of life and incorporate actions that influence positive heart wellness. One’s particular routine should align with her unique doshas. When all of these actions in a schedule align, the body comes into balance.
Ayurveda also suggests that sleep be regular, and one should awaken close to sunrise. Our natural sleep cycles align with nightfall. One’s morning routine should include self-care rituals including voiding the bladder and bowels, practicing dental hygiene, and attending to the skin and sinuses. Using oils for skin health and neti pots for nasal cleansing are suggested.
Incorporating pranayama, movement, and centering meditation into the day is encouraged. All three yoga activities will promote physical and emotional well-being and actively reduce everyday stresses.
Ayurveda also includes the daily consumption of healthy foods. One’s dosha may influence the types of foods and drink that suit a person best. Eating to honor a kapha dosha involves vegetarian meals, the pitta dosha benefits from an alkalizing diet, and the vata dosha enjoys a diet free from sugars.
Dive deeper into Ayurveda and Heart Wellness
Ayurveda is a time-honored and holistic approach to cardiac wellness. With the proper training, there is room in everyday life and modern health care to incorporate these Ayruvedic principles and practices seamlessly with many health treatments.
As a yoga teacher, pursuing advanced teacher training in Ayurveda will is essential. To learn more about this topic, reach out to us at PremaYogaInstitute.com and we will be happy to help! Also, we’d love for you to consider enrolling in our next Online and RYT Accredited course below:
In fact – you’re invited to enroll in our upcoming Yoga Therapeutics Essentials program, which includes:
Introduction to Ayurveda and One-on-One Yoga
Exploring the doshas (body/personality types) as inspiration in practice and teaching.
Adjusting the yoga practice for time of year, time of day, and time of life.
Bringing your practice off the mat in a practical, holistic way.
Using intake to personalize the yoga practice for your clients.
Yoga Therapeutics Essentials program format features:
Convenient self study hours
3 weeks of meaningful live hours with your faculty and cohort
Option to complete online or in person for selected hours at Pure Yoga in New York City
In-person registrants receive one month of complimentary yoga classes at Pure Yoga through February (for non-members only)
LEARN MORE AT: PREMAYOGAINSTITUTE.COM
Prema Yoga Institute is longer limited to New York City and is now available online with interactive trainings through 2022. PYI is an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!
If you found this information useful, visit our Blog often or subscribe to our Mailing List for similar content.