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01
Mar 2011
By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
Pranayama is an essential part of Yoga teacher training, as well as regular classes for students. Pranayama is a science within the larger science of Yoga. Although Yoga and pranayama have existed for thousands of years, their existence in the Western consciousness is a few hundred years old, at best.
Additionally, Yoga and Pranayama are interconnected. There are also internal and external martial arts systems, which practice forms of pranayama. Yet, most martial arts can track their lineage back to Yoga. The science of pranayama has evolved over thousands of years.
Pranayama is the fourth limb of Patanjali’s Yoga. Within the past few centuries, pranayama has become globally popular, due to its healing properties. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is believed to have been written in the 15th century. The Gheranda-Samhita is said to have been written in the late 17th century. Both of the above-mentioned texts give details concerning a variety of pranayama techniques for healing.
Within the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, instructions are given for Surya Bhedan, Ujjayi, Sitkari, Sitali, Bhastrika, Bhramari, Murchha, and Plavini. Kapalabhati is covered just a little earlier, in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, under the instructions for the Shatkarmas. Yet, the exact origin of pranayama is still unclear.
It is said that Brahman priests developed pranayama for oral transmission of the Vedas. The Vedas are a compilation of prayers and hymns. The Vedas took shape in written form, approximately 4,000 years ago. Long before the Vedas were put in writing, Brahman priests carried the message in their minds.
Considering the size of the Vedas, to recite them from memory, requires a sharp mind and amazing breath control. To this day, pranayama is still practiced during pooja, and while reciting the Vedas. Prayers and hymns are found in every religion. Therefore, anyone, of any religion, could practice pranayama, while saying their daily prayers for deeply spiritual inspiration.
Outside of India, pranayama is not often practiced during prayer. Pranayama’s value for stress reduction, general health, and asana practice, are well known. Many different types of athletes practice pranayama to enhance their physical performance. Expectant mothers practice pranayama in natural child birth and prenatal classes.
Regulation of breath control has many different purposes. Any time is a good time to control one’s breath. No matter how many times we practice breath awareness, one stressful situation can cause us to lose control of our breathing. When we have no control over our breathing, our blood pressure may also follow suit. When breath is out of control, the mind will also be out of balance.
The practice of pranayama is a time-tested method, which continues to progress as we record changes and results. Yoga teachers would do a great service, to future generations, by recording notes regarding results they have observed, due to the regular practice of pranayama techniques and other Yogic methods. For the sake of privacy, it is best not to record names, but notes create a written record of progress.
© Copyright 2011 – Paul Jerard / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
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08
Feb 2011
Live Your Yoga & Teacher Training 2011-2012
Some Yoga teacher training interns have no intention of teaching, while others cannot wait to get their business cards printed. Some want to give, and others want to open a business as an independent contractor or own a Yoga studio.
There are as many reasons to become a Yoga teacher, as there are to attend a class. Below are five of the most common reasons why students decide to become a Yoga instructor.
Yoga Teacher Training as a Life Quest: Some interns are looking for a challenge. The type of challenge could be physical, mental, or emotional. A competent Hatha Yoga instructor should learn mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional self-discipline from his or her foundational training.
Giving back to the Community: Social workers, counselors, nurses, physical therapists, chiropractors, and school teachers commonly study Yoga to give their students, clients, and patients the gift of Yogic knowledge for self-maintenance.
The above-mentioned professions attract “givers.” These are people, who help or guide others, to self-manage their lives. Yoga, in all of its forms, will guide a practitioner to a life with less suffering. As simple as it sounds, less pain and suffering is a blessing.
Self-Mastery: Some teachers make the claim that Yoga is not a self-improvement system. Yoga is an art, science, practice, lifestyle; and every modern self-improvement system has borrowed Yogic techniques. If Yoga is not a self-improvement system, it is the mother of all self-improvement systems.
Healthy Lifestyle: Yoga gives us a realistic view of holistic health. It is really hard for us to be perfect. Diet and exercise can challenge us every day, if we set unrealistic goals. Have you ever met a person who was irritable because of a demanding diet? Hatha Yoga offers a path of moderation for exercise and diet.
Teaching Yoga as a Craft: Some graduates cannot wait to work for themselves. Maybe they had employers, who did not appreciate their talent, experience, or intelligence. Some Yoga instructors teach two classes per week, while others teach more than one class per day.
Conclusion:
Yoga gives us a better quality life, and we decide to share this knowledge with others.
Whether a teacher identifies with one of the above-mentioned categories, or not, is unimportant. If a Yoga teacher’s heart is in the right place, that is all a student could ask. Safe Yoga classes, led by one who demonstrates loving kindness, patience, compassion, and tolerance, is the ultimate objective of the teacher trainer.
© Copyright 2011 – Paul Jerard / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
27
Jan 2011
by Christine Kane 
Your habits create your destiny. Have you ever heard that one? Even if you have, read it again. Then read it again. And yea, one more time.
Then, consider this: Your habits also create your confidence, courage and even your creativity!
Don’t believe me? Read on …
I used to be a creature of zero habits. As a result, I didn’t have much direction or focus. Then, I began to shift. I began to create my life. I turned things around. I created habits and rituals – something I had previously dismissed as “too driven” or “too robotic.” (Let the winds blow where they will, right?)
For the record, it IS good to be in the present moment and adopt the principle of surrender. But many people use these ideas as an excuse for not even trying to “Live Creative.” They allow themselves to become “reactors” of their day, rather than the creators they were born to be.
So, how do you change that? How do you manage all the stuff on your plate? How do you create your day, rather than react to it?
Well, for starters, begin with your own personal morning ritual. Your morning ritual sets the tone for your day, your productivity and even your life.
Your morning ritual is personal. Your morning ritual is what gets YOU on track to create your best day. (And subsequently, your best life!) It can be simple or complex. The important thing is that it becomes a HABIT. (Which is why it’s best to start simple.)
My morning ritual combines a mixture of physical, mental and heart-centered activities to engage each of these human power centers!
Here are some easy ideas you can choose from to help you create your own powerful morning ritual.
Hydrate First
Many Eastern health practitioners recommend chugging down at least a half-liter of filtered room-temperature water first thing. (Yes, before your coffee!)
Upon waking, your body has spent hours without hydration. Drinking pure water at this time triggers a series of physiological functions that keep your body super healthy. Some report that this one practice can actually heal many diseases. (I’m not a scientist – but I can attest to the amazing results!)
Get Moving
Exercise is called “The Number One Form of Preventive Medicine.”
It is also a prescription for happiness and a cure for depression! Getting exercise first thing sets your day off right. You can do a simple stretching routine, yoga or an all-out heart-pounding hour at the gym. Pick something do-able and then do it.
Meditate
Start with just 5 minutes. Meditation connects you to your center and to the deep silence that surpasses any drama that might be happening in the world of your personality. Don’t worry about doing it right. Just allow yourself the time to BE.
Set Intention
Your intention is everything. It is your daily GPS.
Your intention sets the course and brings focus.
Reflect for a moment on your Word of the Year. Read a goal you’ve written down for yourself. Remind yourself of a financial dream. (If you’re one of my Gold or Platinum coaching clients, read your Goal Cards!)
You don’t have to know the HOW. You just need to set the intention so your inner GPS stays on target!
Be Grateful
Before I get out of bed, I silently create a morning gratitude list. When I begin my day remembering my “gratitudes,” (instead of my “anxieties”) my heart fills with extreme joy and deep awareness. I then bring that energy into everything I do – and to everyone with whom I connect.
Eat Creative
Your choice of breakfast foods can set up your success with other meals as well. Start your day off in the healthiest way possible for you – and make it a ritual, not a chore. And yes, it’s true what they say: Breakfast is essential!
Be Prepared: Create a Not-to-Do List
Create a “Not To Do” morning list so that you are aware of your Default Activities in advance, and you can catch yourself before you fall into their trap!
Suggestions here include anything that brings up a “reactive” state: Turning on Fox news. Checking email. Answering texts. Answering the phone.
Let these things wait until AFTER your ritual has been completed!
Do it!
After reading this article, don’t just think, “Wow. Those are good ideas. I should try one or two.”
Instead, deliberately create your morning ritual now. Take about 20 minutes to think about and write down what your ritual will be each morning. Start simple at first. Choose one or two items from this menu. Or come up with your own. Write out your personal morning ritual in detail.
Begin first thing tomorrow morning, and let your habits create YOUR destiny starting now!
_____________
Christine Kane is the Mentor to Women Who are Changing the World. She helps women uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly LiveCreative eZine goes out to over 12,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at http://christinekane.com.
Category: Meditation & Breathwork, Yoga
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18
Jan 2011
Category: Uncategorized
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12
Jan 2011
The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. -Sogyal Rinpoche
Interest in meditation continues to grow as people struggle to make sense of their complex lives. Even though they appear to be exciting, personal meaning will never be found in the technological accoutrements of contemporary life and material goods only offer temporary satisfaction, if any. Materialism and technology are here to stay as they are the driving forces of contemporary society. Even though we cannot change our own history, we can find a greater vision where these powers have an appropriate place, but do not rule over us.
Meditation calls out for us like nourishment to a starving man. It has stood the test of time, yet we see our predicament; we sense the imbalance at the heart of our shared lives. It is time to return to this balance, time to look within. Especially here in the West, we tend to live more in the ‘outside’ world. As we look towards meditation we come to examine the very values, principles and beliefs that have sustained us for so very long. Self-knowledge and self-awareness lie ahead. Questions will arise and our answers will come not from the intellectual, rational mind, but from the expanded consciousness, insight and wisdom which arise from a meditative mind.
In the West, meditation has become a popular antidote to our stressful lives. But meditation is not simply a remedy for overwork and the stresses of life. This is simply one branch from a much sturdier tree. Though often confused with relaxation or a form of therapy, meditation is more of a process of expansion. It is a means of complete personal transformation. Allow this idea become an invitation to begin your own transformation. Take this journey yourself and discover the meaning behind the words.
Category: Uncategorized
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06
Jan 2011
Many ancient texts define brahmacharya as celibacy; but we all know it’s the modern age and we are all house-holders, so no worries! Brahmacharya has a much wider definition; moderation. Think moderation in thought, word and deed. in practicing brahmacharya, observe what heppens to your mind when the senses get involved – does that dark chocolate layer cake look too good to resist? If so, by all means, satisfy your craving if it need be, but do you have to eat the whole slice? What happens to the mind when we’re bombarded by today’s media? Buy this; you’ll look younger if you have that; you will be the envy of your peers if you purchase this. When we identify ourselves with the senses, then it becomes difficult to practice moderation and non-hoarding. Even though we have a passion for life, love and creme’ brulee, the brahmacharya yogini knows when enough is enough. Seek balance and indulge in small doses if the senses get the better of us. If we are suffering from addiction (drink, sex, shopping, etc., practice moderation in surrendering the addiction when a problem is detected. we first practice physical brahmacharya, mental purity will soon follow leading us to the middle-path of balance and moderation.
Where there is firm conquest over covetousness, they who have conquered it wake up to the how and why of life. -Yoga Sutras
Category: Texts, Yoga, Yoga Garden, Yoga Sutras, Yogic Philosophy
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30
Dec 2010
At the end of each year, we hold our annual Yoga Mala and work on setting our Word of the Year. This year, in order to put a little more mindfulness and svadhyaya (self-study) into my word for this coming year, I ran across a great tool that has helped me narrow down my options. As we enter our last day of 2010, grab a cup of hot (chai) tea, don on your coziest attire, light a candle, grab a journal and take a look at Sarah Susanka’s YEAR END RITUAL and enjoy!
The only journey is the one within. -Rainer Maria Wilke
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27
Dec 2010
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27
Dec 2010
Many Yoga teachers have difficulty explaining their meditation practice to students. What is Yoga meditation? Yogic Meditation is a discipline in which a Yogi transcends the reflexive mind into a deeper state of awareness (consciousness). There are many forms of meditation, with many different lineages. Some are based on a philosophy, or a religion; and some are contemporary styles.
To name all the forms of meditation practiced in Yoga would make a large and handsome book. Rather than approach all forms of meditation, let’s look at the easiest way to meditate, and enjoy the benefits, in the shortest amount of time. After you have successfully practiced meditating for one month, then feel free to experiment with other methods.
The spine should be straight. This is the first factor of successful meditation. Some Yoga students have a difficult time sitting still. If a student comes from a chair sitting culture, he or she will have even more difficulty sitting still and keeping the spine straight.
Instead of focusing the mind, this student is uncomfortable and thinks of pain in the back. Paulji has a method for being comfortable while meditating right away. “Legs through the chair pose” is the posture he advises to keep the back straight. Hence, the student can focus on meditation instead of a pain in the back.
Legs through the chair is easy. Put a blanket on the seat of a chair with an open back, and roll out a Yoga mat in front of that chair. Lie on your Yoga mat. Bring your knees to your chest, and extend your lower legs onto the seat and through the open back. Let your lower legs relax on the blanket that covers the seat. Adjust until you are comfortable with your spine completely flat.
Now, let your body relax, place one hand on your navel and one hand on the center of your chest. Let your elbows gently root into the ground and close your eyes. Focus on your navel and notice how it moves up with inhalation and down when you exhale.
Observe your breath and nothing more, Don’t make judgments, try to control your breath, or extend your breath. Just enjoy each breath like you are on a peaceful ride to a blissful destination. You are now meditating because your mind is only focused on one task.
Do this same Yoga meditation technique for 30 days and feel your mind change. This simple breath awareness technique has changed many Yoga students lives. Students who had difficulty with other meditation methods had no problem learning how to do this. You can always change the asana or extend your breath cycles after you have mastered the foundation of Yoga meditation.
Hari Om Tat Sat
By: Sanjeev Patel / Aura Publications