A friend recently shared an inspiring story of how he overcame his difficulties with insomnia through the practice of Ananda Yoga. Matthew attended our most recent session of Ananda Yoga Teacher Training at The Ananda School of Yoga & Meditation. He openly shared with the group that he had been an Infantry Marine about 10 years prior, and had been … Read More
When I first started doing yoga postures, I heard that Yoga would make you taller. Being about 5 foot 2 inches in height, I always liked the idea of growing taller. And although after many years as an Ananda Yoga practitioner and teacher, I still don’t tower above the general population, I can say that at 62 years old, I … Read More
For fifteen years, I’ve been teaching yoga. In December of 2012, I did something that changed the direction of my yoga teaching in a very positive way: I took a weeklong course Yoga Therapy Training: Seniors and Bone Strength at Ananda’s retreat center, The Expanding Light, near Nevada City, California. The course is part of the curriculum for Ananda’s Yoga Therapy Training … Read More
Anyone can receive many benefits from meditation during pregnancy, and all of those benefits—calmness, communion, centeredness and more—are especially important at this special time in life. Meditation practice can help you get through, not only the challenges of pregnancy, but also those of delivery. However, meditating while pregnant can have its challenges. Here are some tips on how to work … Read More
In Part 1 of this article Nicole discussed how to handle three “prenatal situations” that you might encounter in your teaching: (1) a new, pregnant student drops into your general yoga class, (2) a pregnant student and her pregnant friends ask you to teach a prenatal yoga class, and (3) an advanced student of yours becomes pregnant. We’ll pick up … Read More
Read Part 2. It’s in the news: prenatal yoga is a great choice for mothers-to-be. Researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, and Gunasheela Surgical and Maternity Hospital in Bangalore, India collaborated on a research project (published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, April 2005) that showed that practicing prenatal yoga helped to improve birth weight, reduce … Read More
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
Have you ever had a student come to your class, having recently had a total hip replacement, and tell you her doctor gave her no restrictions in movement whatsoever, encouraging her to do whatever she likes? It can and does happen — and you’re right if you’re suspicious as to whether the doctor is giving correct advice. But are you … Read More
