More Communication Skills for Yoga Teachers

When Yoga teachers gather in a workshop to hear a lecture about communication - what is the first topic that comes to mind? Is it cueing skills, voice inflection, or when to ask a student for permission to assist? Those are important issues for anyone who teaches Yoga, but lets take a look at many more areas that could use some work.

Communication is a two way street. How can we exchange ideas if students are made to feel stupid for asking questions? Granted, Yoga classes cannot operate like an open forum, if you have a lesson plan in mind, but a student who is experiencing pain should not have to feel bad for asking about it. Nor should he or she have to wait until the end of class to ask an impatient teacher about his or her pain.

Listen Empathically: When a student asks a Yoga-related question during class time, the Yoga instructor present, should listen to all of the details. There are times when a Yoga student asks questions, which are on the mind of many more classmates.

For some Yoga students, it takes a lot of courage to ask a question in a group setting. Some students ponder questions for days before asking them. their heart rate may rise because it took courage to ask the question.

With all this said, listening is a primary communication skill. As a Yoga teacher, you are respected by your students, so do not violate a trust by bolstering your ego. The key is to listen intently, because you may have questions of your own, which will result in a deeper answer.

Who becomes a Yoga students best teacher during Hatha Yoga practice? His or her body, and mind, must eventually be the best Yoga teacher. If not, we have failed to give our students the gift of self-realization. To go further: Yoga students must learn to think for themselves. If they are dependent on a Yoga teacher, all the time, then our teaching method is flawed.

Why do I say this? If a student is not present for Yoga practice, we must make him or her gently aware of it. There is no need to make students dependent on us. Good students will always return to Yoga class.

Yoga must still be practiced after our students have rolled up their mats. Breathing, walking, talking, eating, posturing, and acting with mindfulness, is the sign of a Yoga practitioner. All of the amazing physical feats are nice, but any flexible Pilates student, dancer, gymnast, or martial artist, could do the same.

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Ananda Yoga Meditation Centre And Cornwall

How To Play Better Golf... It's Not What You Think

playing better golf is the lifelong pursuit of every golfer on the planet. Why else would we subject ourselves to one of the most humbling games (sport) ever?

I mean, how many times have you come off the course ready to give it up?

Im dead serious!

You drive home saying never again! Butyou go to the range the next day, or even the same day, after youve cooled down.

man, what a glutton for punishment! Just hours before, you got totally humiliated, and now youre back for more.

The vicious cycle a golfer goes through every season.

So let me guess. Youve bought equipment (lots of it). Taken lessons. And pound hundreds of balls every week.

Am I close?

The 6 million dollar question ishave you gotten better? Are you happy with your game? Are you driving it as far as youd like?

If not, what now?

Theres only one thing left.

YOU!

Youre body is keeping you from the game of your dreams. The game you know youre capable of playing. Doesnt that make sense? If youve tried all the above and still are not satisfied.

Heres what you have to doimmediately!

Diagnose your limitations. Is it strength? Is it flexibility? Or how about stamina? You know its a strength issue, if your swing mechanics are good, but youre not hitting the ball any amount of distance.

Its a flexibility issue if you if you cant perform consistent swings with proper mechanics. And its obviously a stamina issue if your back nine is worse than your front nine.

Once you come up with your personal limitations, youve got to set up a program, or search one out that will get you on the right track and not hurt your game.

Working on your limitations will get you the quickest results, in the shortest amount of time. Youll be amazed at how much better your swing is and how much farther youre hitting the ball.

Your golf will become enjoyable again, and youll wonder why you didnt take this approach years ago.

Remember, its NEVER too late to start!

NEVER!

So get to it right now!

mike Pedersen is a respected golf fitness expert, and the author of the ultimate golf fitness Guide, hundreds of golf fitness tips all over the web and founder of several online golf fitness sites. For more information on his new, cutting-edge golf fitness e-book, go to http://www.ultimategolffitnessguide.com.

Music For Active Yoga Volume 2

20 Conditioning Exercises You Can Do at Home

Doing an effective whole body conditioning and weight loss workout can be done entirely at home without any fancy equipment. A couple of dumbbells is all you will need. (Even if you dont have dumbbells there is usually something lying around the house that is heavy enough to substitute in for them)

Here is a list of 20 exercises you can do right in your own home for a great whole body conditioning and fat loss workout.

exercises:

group 1:
Bodyweight Squats
Bulgarian Split Squats
Y-Squats
Prisoner Squat
Reverse Lunge
Step Ups
One Leg Get Ups

group 2:
Push Ups
Push Up and Point
Mountain Climbers
Decline Push Ups
Push Ups/Stick Ups
Step Up and Press
Squat and Press

group 3:
Plank
Side Plank
Curl and Press
One Arm Rows
Bird dogs
One Leg Deadlifts

Pick one exercise from each group and do them all back to back for a mini circuit of 3 exercises. Do each exercise for a timed interval of 10 seconds for a total of 30 seconds per mini circuit.

As you get better at them work up to doing each exercise for 20 seconds for a total of 60 seconds per mini circuit.

take 30-60 seconds rest between mini circuits.

For beginners do a total of 3 mini circuits to start. Working up to 4 or 5 as you get better at them.

Once youre ready to move to the next level add a second mini circuit by choose 3 different exercises (one from each grouping). Do your second mini circuit with the same time of work to rest ratio as your fist.

If you feel you are already at an advanced level you can add one or two more mini circuits up to a total of 4 mini circuits. These 20 exercises are just an example of what is possible, there are dozens more that would work in this mini circuit style, you can incorporate any exercise that you like into these mini circuits. This style of workout is a great complete whole body conditioning and fat loss program you can do right at home in under 45 minutes. I encourage you to give it a try and see that you can get a great workout done right in your own living room.

John Barban is a certified strength and Conditioning Specialist and a varsity strength and conditioning coach. His trademarked http://www.6minuteCircuits.com Circuit training workouts have helped thousands of women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. http://www.grrlathlete.com John's female sports training articles will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. You can ask John a question on the http://www.grrlathlete.freeforums.org a womens workout forum to help you lose fat and get in shape with circuit training and nutrition.

Buddakan Yoga Meditation

One Bad Golf Hole

Do you have one golf hole that always gets you?

Jim is a 12 handicap golfer. He absolutely loves the game and can't seem to get enough. He buys a new set of equipment about every 2 years or so and watches golf on TV whenever he can. He really enjoys following the pro tours and trying to guess who will win on any given Sunday.

Jim's club tournament is coming up soon. He can't wait. His game has been steadily improving over the season and he feels he's ready for this. A couple weeks ago he shot his best score ever on his home course, a 3 over 75! He knows he's got it in him and maybe even lower since he had a double bogey on one in that round of 75.

As tournament weekend approaches, Jim begins to psyche himself up. He's very excited and even antsy. He has kept himself in great shape and followed a prescribed practice routine by his teaching pro for the last 2 weeks without missing a single day.

This tournament is his! He can feel it.

He walks up to the first tee of the tournament and he stripes it right down the middle. He finishes the first hole with a par and a great relief comes over him as he prepares to settle down and get serious. He plays well over the next 10 holes until he comes to hole number 12.

Hole number 12 is a very narrow long par 4. On one side of the fairway is a lake and the other is out of bounds. It's a tough hole and Jim has this thing about hole 12. It always seems to get the best of him. He hates it! This is the hole that he double-bogeyed on when he had his career round. He thinks it has his number.

Sure enough, Jim plays hole 12 like he always does and chokes on it this day as well.

He finishes the tournament in second place by 2 strokes. He looks back on it and wonders why, why he just can't get past that hole 12...

Does this story sound familiar to you? Do you have a golf hole or maybe two golf holes on your favorite course that always seems to get the best of you? Do you walk up to that tee and immediately feel a shudder run through your body? A tenseness or tightness?

Well, I want to tell you that this is good news! What, are you kidding me? How the heck can this be good news?

Because it says that you have the automatic mechanism! That is, your body responds automatically to certain situations. You can use this in your favor instead of being a victim to it like Jim.

Is consistency important in golf? Duh, of course! It's the holy grail of scoring! Well, if you automatically have a reaction to a certain hole and seem to play it bad every time, well then, guess what - you are showing consistency. This is a resource that you have and you've used it before and it's served you well and sometimes it hasn't.

You see, the mechanics of what is happening inside your mind and body are exactly the same when you go up to a hole that you hate and when you perform your preshot routine to a perfect consistency resulting in the shots you know how to do.

The only difference is in how you have chosen to think about each of the situations.

Begin to think right now how many times you've been automatically consistent in your golf game, good, bad, or otherwise. You see, your body and unconscious mind don't make judgements as to whether something is good or bad. It just does it. Your awake, conscious mind has that job. It also has the job of deciding whether or not this resource you possess called "consistency" is something you have to wait around for luck to happen...or you can choose it .

I think you know the answer to that one...don't you?

greens and fairways,

Craig Sigl, the golf Anti-practice expert, is a master and Trainer of Hypnosis, NLP and Timeline techniques. He plays to a 5 handicap and teaches his methods worldwide. Visit Golf Instruction Tip to receive a free digitized golf book and ezine "golf legends and Gurus"

Delhi Manufacturers Yoga Mats

How To Rent Video Games Online And Save a Fortune

To rent video games online makes sense if you like to shop for them from the comfort of your own home.

The way it works is simplicity itself. You join a rental company and the games are then sent to you by them in a pre-paid envelope which you can also use to send the game back with the next game that you want to order. To choose your game all you do is log into the rental game site of your choice and order the game that you want. It's all done at the push of a button.

Here are a few pointers for what you need to look out when picking an online video game rental outfit online:

1. Are you a gamer that likes to play one game at a time and then order another or do you like to play many at a time? If the latter choose a site that offers a cheaper subscription offer if you order more than one game during the month.

2. The shipping cost should be covered by the subscription of the online video rental site, this ensures that you do not end up with further charges, especially if you like to order many games during the month.

3. Has the site got games for the console machine you play with? Most will have the most popular platforms like the playstation 2 or the xbox, but if you are a game cube fan or a PS1 owner be aware that some site will not stock games for them. So make sure that you check!

4. Shop around for the best prices and special offers. Typically prices from one company to the next will be similar but special offers like a $1 trial for the first month or a free though shorter trial period can make a difference to your monthly expenditure.

Many sites online offer online video game rental, the most popular of which include gamefly, gplay and gottaply which at the moment offers a free 10 day trial (details of which you can find in the link after this article).

Russell