Gyandev How did you start teaching in a prison? Nikki After Ananda Yoga Teacher Training in August 2002, it came to me in meditation that I needed to teach free yoga in the prison system. I heard it loud and clear. So I made some calls, and a friend whose brother and sister-in-law are both judges in Idaho connected me with a … Read More
Chandrasana – The Crescent Moon Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies The only real problem here for some fat people is the need to keep the legs together. I don’t think the student risks injury if s/he has a slightly wider stance, but it does tend to decrease the feeling of the body being in a smooth, compact crescent-moon arc — … Read More
Ustrasana – The Camel Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies In this asana, the fat student may have difficulty snagging the heels behind him/her without twisting and leaning back, which is clearly potentially hazardous for the lower back. The modification wherein the student places his/her hands on the upper back rim of the pelvis, then performs the backward bend, is usually … Read More
Assessing and Correcting Posture
Yogananda often said, “A bent spine is the enemy of Self-realization.” Patanjali stated in his Yoga Sutras, “The fruit of right poise is the strength to resist the shocks of infatuation or sorrow.” In The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Swami Kriyananda wrote, “Right posture is vitally important to the yogi.” And one of the first known written books on Hatha Yoga, … Read More
Inversions and Cardiovascular Problems
Have you ever been suspicious of the contraindication, “Don’t do an inversion if you have a cardiovascular problem”? After all, how dangerous can Matsyasana or Padahastasana — or Balasana, for goodness’ sake — really be? This is a safe and conservative guideline for new teachers, but the more we learn about anatomy and physiology, the more we see when this … Read More
Balasana – Child’s Pose
From the Kay Erdwinn’s Post Teaching Yoga for Round Bodies Ugh! Just where is the fat in my tummy, chest and thighs supposed to go in this asana?! Let alone the air from an inhalation? Child’s Pose is often taught as a “reprieve” from a difficult asana — a real “milk and cookies pose.” For the fat person, it is … Read More
Inspiration for Your Teaching
Short Stories Returning to Yoga after a Back Injury Ananda Yoga Goes to the Movies Holding to Your Ideals The Joy of Teaching Meditation Big Yoga, Small Town Growth on All Levels “Left and Right and All Around”: Yoga in a Restaurant, in a Gym, and in the Bible Belt “This is Why I Come to Yoga!” My Experience of … Read More
Miss Yoga Goes to Juvenile Hall
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Karen Barbarick From the interview: “It seemed that the students were born with a deep understanding, but they rebelled against a world that didn’t understand their understanding, and they ended up in jail—frustrated, purposeless. “Now all of a sudden they had a purpose: they could teach the others, and they were eager to do it. “This was … Read More
First Chapter of Nayaswami Gyandev’s New Book, Spiritual Yoga
Chapter 1 The Art and Science of Hatha Yoga Yoga is an art as well as a science. It is a science, because it offers practical methods for controlling body and mind, thereby making deep meditation possible. And it is an art, for unless it is practiced intuitively and sensitively it will yield only superficial results. — Paramhansa Yogananda Hatha … Read More
Therapeutic Yoga for the Lower Back
Picture this: You are about to begin teaching your Thursday evening yoga class when in walks a new student: a middle-aged man, slightly overweight, wearing glasses and a smile on his face. In making your usual introductions, you learn that his name is Randy. You ask him, “Do you have any injuries, or anything else that I should know about?” … Read More