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Yoga Basics: Your guide to the Practice of Yoga

dogsrule93 asked:


Hi!

I have been practicing yoga for about 3 years now, and i love it. I am sick of my 9-5 office job. I was wondering how much the average yoga teacher makes per year and if you get any health benefits? Can you live on a yoga teacher’s salary. or do you need multiple jobs?

Paul M. Jerard Jr. asked:


Truthfully, there are no reasons why any of us cannot be, or do, what we want, as long as you are not hurting anyone. You should always strive to be the best you can be. However, you may find that many people create obstacles, in front of themselves, to avoid success.

This is truly ironic that we hold ourselves back from making achievements, and teaching Yoga is just one of many goals that are not fully realized. Below is a list of common reasons why many good Yoga practitioners do not pursue their goal of becoming a Yoga instructor.

“I am too old to teach Yoga.”

Actually, age is not a factor. There are many styles of Yoga; and the most common, outside of India, is Hatha Yoga and its many sub-styles. Although Hatha Yoga is the Union of physical mastery, it has many gentle and vigorous styles.

There is a need for mature, passionate, safety conscious, and gentle Yoga teachers. The world’s population is aging and Yoga students are living longer. Who would have thought that hospitals and religious centers would seek out Yoga teachers ten or twenty years ago?

Therefore, Yoga is becoming readily accepted by mainstream society and does not have to apply to any one particular religious group. Some of the old barriers that prevented the masses from being exposed to Yoga are gone.

“Dancers, Martial Artists, and Gymnasts perform better Yoga asanas than I can.”

Yoga is not dance, martial arts, or gymnastics. This is not to take away the importance of any of the above-mentioned arts. After all, I am a martial artist, and I was originally introduced to Yoga in a martial arts setting.

Being a little more flexible than the average person is a gift. However, it doesn’t serve as a top priority for teaching Yoga. The best Yoga teachers are those who can communicate, and those teachers usually have to struggle to excel at Yoga.

Yoga teachers who are naturally flexible think that everyone else should be, as well. This is not always the case, as there are skeletal limitations within some Yoga students. This is not to say that they cannot increase, or improve, their flexibility, but each person’s body is unique.

“Teaching Yoga costs too much money.”

This is true in some cases; however, you can shop around for the best course at the most affordable price. Some onsite Yoga training facilities have Seva Programs, where you can work for partial tuition. This is much like a college, where there are scholarships for students who perform tasks around the campus. There are also a variety of Yoga correspondence courses, which allow flexible study hours, little or no travel, and no extra expenses. My wellness center offers such a Yoga course, and we have interns and graduates worldwide.

“I only want to teach Yoga to a few students and I don’t want to go into the Yoga business.”

Many Yoga practitioners feel this way and that’s fine. This is not a problem because if you are teaching a few friends, as a hobby, it is not necessary to go through the certification process.

If your circle of friends starts to expand, it would be wise to get some type of liability coverage. There are a number of liability insurance programs to choose. You could purchase a sports, Yoga, or home liability policy to cover your specific needs.

You should also learn as much as you can about safety, anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology. The reason I mention this is so that you do not hurt your Yoga students. The compassion and knowledge to become a safe Yoga instructor is very important.

“I have a good paying job and teaching Yoga may not support my family.”

Like all start up small businesses Yoga cannot offer “instant bundles of cash.” You would want to build your business as an independent contractor first. In our Yoga teacher course, you will find 16 ways to grow your business, with little or no overhead. When you build up enough accounts, the decision, as to whether or not to open your own independent Yoga studio, will be clear.

This has been a radical job change for all of us, who go into teaching Yoga full time, but you do not have to take any sudden or financial risks. Growing your own Yoga business can start on a part time basis and later develop into full time, if you get the right guidance and take the proper steps.

Bear in mind that the business and marketing information in our Yoga course is current and “field tested.” This information is specific to Yoga instructors and contains successful methods used, with regard to return on investment.

Right now, there are a lot of Yoga studios that “flounder” economically, because the owners have insufficient business or marketing skills. Within this kind of climate, it is not hard to get your market share of Yoga students within your geographic area.

Lastly, there are so many reasons to avoid progress, you could create a book of excuses, but the reason to succeed at anything is your passion. If you are passionate, safe, and knowledgeable about Yoga, this is an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to become a Yoga teacher.

© Copyright 2005 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul M. Jerard Jr. asked:


During the course of a lifetime, most of us have heard the saying,” Do as I say, not as I do.” We see this kind of leadership everywhere we go. All politicians, religious leaders, police, sports professionals, parents, academic teachers, and Yoga teachers, lead by example, even if the example displayed is not a good one.

So, how does this concern you? You may not be a public figure, but your students, and the general public, know who you are. Some may even know more about you than you would like. As a Yoga teacher, you want to keep your health, behavior, and your ethics at a high standard – if you are going to be in the “public eye.”

As far as health is concerned, you should maintain your Yoga practice and meditate daily. This is an irony with many Yoga teachers because your time is also consumed with the business of Yoga, maintenance of the studio, advertising, and many more aspects that keep a business going.

My personal estimate of time that I spent on vacuuming, cleaning, and maintenance of the Yoga studio is thousands of hours before I hired someone else to do it. This does not account for any of the time spent on many other duties that go into running a Yoga studio.

The average Yoga student has no idea of the preparation and support services involved before they come to a typical Yoga class. In reality, you want them to feel relaxed, so you don’t want your Yoga students to feel stressed out over the bookkeeping, marketing, and maintenance of your Yoga studio.

Therefore, you have to put your best “game face” on during class time. This is one very powerful reason for taking the time to develop your own personal Yoga practice. You still must expand your depth of understanding Yoga’s many facets.

Why do, or did, you want to be a Yoga teacher in the first place? The most common reasons for becoming a Yoga teacher are your passion for Yoga and to share the gift that has changed your life. Your health and your personal Yoga practice are an integral part of the Yoga teaching vocation.

Maybe you don’t have a staff and you are busy all the time preparing for the next Yoga class. What can you do? Budget your time and make a personal Yoga, or meditation session, for yourself. Spending thousands of hours on bookkeeping, marketing, cleaning, and maintenance is part of many Yoga studio owners’ lives, but you must also make the time to become a better Yoga practitioner.

You can also offer reduced rates to volunteers or “work for trade” programs to those Yoga students who help you with “domestic chores.” You should consult your accountant to make sure everything is legal and “above board.” You don’t want to violate any child labor laws or set yourself up for any legal problems, so make sure you are following the law “to the letter.” Remember also, that laws vary depending upon your location.

It’s too easy to let the business of Yoga become your new reality. The business of teaching Yoga is more time consuming than any of us can imagine as Yoga students. If you are spending so much time working on your Yoga business, that you have little time to practice, you must re-evaluate your reason for teaching Yoga.

Make time every day to expand your knowledge about Yoga’s many aspects. If you don’t take the time to be a Yoga student and engage in learning, continuing education, and nurturing your passion for Yoga, you risk burn out. The best Yoga teachers are students for life, who love to practice this wonderful discipline we know as Yoga.

When your Yoga studio, Yoga teaching position, or ashram becomes a daily burden, and you cannot expand your knowledge; the end result is no different than any other job. As a Yoga teacher, you owe it to your students to keep your “internal flames of passion” for Yoga going.

© Copyright 2005 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul M. Jerard Jr. asked:


There was a time when the use of the words, “Yoga” and “business,” in the same sentence, would have been considered “shameful.” However, when you have a Yoga studio, pay for a lease, advertising, insurance, utilities, and more – you know this is serious business. Whether you own a Yoga studio, or are an independent contractor, your money is “on the line,” and possibly your life savings.

Many Yoga teachers, and directors, often ask me the following questions: What is my most effective way to advertise? Who should handle the marketing? What can I do about student retention? Why does a Yoga teacher need a sales letter or business plan?

As the popularity of Yoga grows, more Yoga teachers are looking for professional advice to “stream line,” market effectively, and make their Yoga businesses “recession proof.” For some Yoga teachers, Yoga has evolved from a sideline hobby to a fulltime Yoga business. Yoga students will not be happy to train and learn with you “in a closet.”

As a Yoga teacher, your economic survival is at stake. With a fulltime business, of any kind, a surprising amount of overhead will follow. When you own a Yoga studio, you have to “wear many hats.” If you are already an established Yoga teacher, you went into teaching Yoga to share the gift and practice your own solo routine more often.

Many of the most successful Yoga studios, ashrams, and wellness centers, get “insider” business and marketing advice. The surprising fact is that Yoga business coaching doesn’t have to cost as much as you think. Yoga business coaching can be handled on a “per session” basis. Many Yoga businesses save, and learn, far more than the session costs.

If this is not the case, it is time to find a different Yoga business coach or consulting service. The objective of Yoga business coaching is to help the Yoga business owner become self sufficient. Therefore, consulting is not for dependence, but to teach the typical Yoga studio owner how to fill the gaps and address priorities within a particular Yoga business.

What type of Yoga studio should seek business advice? Most Yoga businesses, of any size, can use help with a particular issue. Established Yoga studios, and Yoga teachers, usually know where they need help, but still need practical solutions. Also, established Yoga studio owners may want to “recession proof” their business or increase their market share right now.

Is this type of service geared toward new Yoga studios, as well? After years of Yoga training, and thousands of dollars, many new Yoga teachers need to recover the money they have invested in their new career as soon as possible. Yoga business consulting services will help any new Yoga studio get to the next level and put the learning curve behind.

Are Yoga business consulting and technical support services given by phone or Email? Actually, I use a combination of both methods. After a Yoga business coaching session by phone, there is a “homework assignment” for my client. Sometimes, this assignment will save my client thousands of dollars or create unforeseen revenue streams.

Sales letters, marketing campaigns, and website development can be handled by your Yoga business coach, but it is far less expensive if you learn how to take control of your own marketing campaign. Again, the objective is to have a client who becomes totally self sufficient.

However, complete marketing campaigns for Yoga studios are never refused by any responsible business coach. In any economy, coaching programs for marketing and business will save you thousands of dollars, and teach you skills that will last you a lifetime. At this point, it will be much easier for you to help your own Yoga students and clients.

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

chanchal asked:


India is often recognized as the center of the Yoga world. Certainly, there are more practitioners here than anywhere else. However, the practice of yoga has spread throughout the world. As it has spread, it has been changed and modified through experimentation and the application of creative approaches. In the West, yoga practice has taken on many different dimensions. Yoga purists may find it easy to be critical of many of the new ways and would not agree that these ways are “real” yoga. Be that as it may, the experiments in West have come up few very unique aspects, which have the potential to deeply impact your yoga practice and your relationships. One the these is “Couple Yoga”. It is one of the most successful techniques used by the Yoga teachers in USA and Europe.

Couple yoga is a method in which you team up to learn and practice yoga. Most often, the “couples” are what we understand by the traditional interpretation of the term – a man and a woman. In fact, most of the couples who are practicing couple yoga are men and women who are involved in a loving relationship. But, the term “couple” here can also mean two people. They can be friends of the same gender, a girlfriend or a buddy. They can be a parent and a child. What seems to be most important to a successful yoga “couple” is that they share a caring relationship.

In the practice of couple yoga, each person not only performs individual Asanas, but also performs many yoga exercises together with their partner. Some couple postures involve only minor physical contact, like holding your partner’s back as they bend. Others are such that they cannot be performed alone. A Pascimottanasana is an example in which the couple is seated on a mat with the bottoms of there feet together and their hands clasping their partner’s wrists. Together, they perform a double forward bend and help each other stretch leg, back and arm muscles.

One might ask, “what are the advantages of practicing couple yoga? There are many.

Couple yoga helps each person to perform the most difficult postures with greater ease.

Mutual practice creates a greater level of intimacy. It can take the relationship to a different level and helps develop deeper understanding of ourselves and our partner.

In our busy lives when we do not know how to create time for rejuvenation of our own individual health, sharing the practice of yoga with a loved one can become an important means of improving both personal health and the strength of a relationship.

Practicing couple yoga helps each partner to understand their own and their partner’s strengths and weaknesses and creates the opportunity for each to add to their own and their partner’s strengths and to help improve each other’s deficiencies.

Couple yoga can create a surge of energy in the relationship. It can improve the way you “dance” together. The supportive hand of a partner helps to unlock all those blocked energy areas in your body.

It is difficult for many people to perform postures like chakraasana alone. When you have a partner to give you a helping hand you can do it without any effort at all.

Doing yoga with your kids enhances their feelings of being safe. Your loving touch and protective presence will make them confident and will help in them to grow into healthy adults.

We all know that there are two basic forms of communication – verbal and non-verbal. Doing yoga with your partner will improve the quality of your non-verbal communication and this communication without words gives another dimension for the expression of emotions.

Doing yoga with your partner will help you become sensitive to when your partner is in need and aware of how to help. The combination of touch and caring adds to the healing capacity of your shared yoga relationship. Because partner yoga creates the space and the opportunity to hear each other beyond words, each will be able to hear “inner sounds” of the other. This heightened awareness adds to the feelings of peace and grounding often noted as one of the main benefits of traditional yoga.

Couple yoga creates a feeling of mutual harmony and helps each partner stay in touch with the other. It is one of the best ways to sustain health on physical, emotional and spirit to spirit levels..

The yoga couple will be more flexible and together they will have more energy.

One of the most important advantages of couple yoga is the atmosphere it creates. Humor and laughter are not characteristics of traditional yoga. They are common in couple yoga. They contribute to an atmosphere of lightness, which is one of the best signs of health and happiness.

Couple yoga is not for everyone.

Many people benefit from their daily, solitary practice of yoga or from the yoga classes they attend with others. Many need the individual time as much as they need the benefits they derive from yoga practice. Some people are not comfortable with physical touch or with performing asanas with others watching.

For those who are beginning a new relationship or have been in a comfortable and caring relationship they would like to take to another level or for people, who are looking for a unique and mutually beneficial way to be with their children, couple yoga can open the door to wonderful new relationships.

Partner or couple yoga is about health and happiness and caring.