There are so many teachers around teaching yoga, that you may often feel confused. Some teachers will advise you to practice the poses correctly, while others will talk about breath manipulation. If you ask two different teachers, about the correct ways to practice yoga, you could get two entirely different answers. There comes the ambiguity. To be true, there are different forms of yoga, and each style has a certain distinctiveness of its own. While enrolling for a yoga teacher training course, it is very important that you focus on the correct practice to get the most out of it.
Thus, today we bring to you the right ways through which any teacher must guide their students. It will be extremely useful for you as well, as a future teacher of yoga. There are several elements in the realm of yoga, which if used in the right manner, can bring about life-changing results. Let us delve into the same today.
Guiding People In Yoga – Key Elements Decoded
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Covering The Eyes Of The Students
The best teachers guide students, by blindfolding them and then taking them through the yoga postures. There are many reasons, why one should take up this methodology while guiding one through yoga practice. When your vision is blocked, there will be fewer distractions and you will be forced to turn inwards. It helps one to reach a state of calm and meditation. When you make your students close your eyes, then your connection with the environment and yourself increases.
New students often compare themselves with others in their class. And it can often lead to feelings of dismay. By practicing with closed eyes, one tends to focus on inner sensations. Moreover, it has other physical benefits as well. You will often lose balance, while practicing a few standing asanas, but with eyes closed, it becomes easier. At the beginning of the session, the teacher gives clear instructions to guide you through the series that you will be engaging in.
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Inhalation, Movement And Exhalation
You have to start with breathing right. Mastery of any asana comes about, only when you let go off the restlessness. Allow the fresh air to flow in first, as it is the best relationship which you can form. The breath is the guide for the asana practice. You have to make the best use of the respiratory system, spine, and the abdomen. Linking the breath with the movement helps with correct postural efficiency. You will learn about movements that improve inhalation and others that support exhalation.
Only a good teacher with knowledge of such intricacies can guide you on the right track. As a teacher who is responsible for guiding you correctly, you must give the commands for inhalation, taking position, and exhalation. This cycle will of course repeat itself a number of times, depending on the movements in a particular pose. It does not really matter, how beautifully you do the yoga asana. If you cannot achieve the proper integration of the body, breath, and your mind, every effort will be futile.
In general, you can inhale while opening the body, and exhale while closing the body. Use the inhalations to lengthen the body, and exhalation to deepen the pose. Always ensure to breathe through your nostrils. The best teachers at schools like Shree Hari Yoga School will help you to learn these aspects, while doing yoga.
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Disclosing The Asana Stance Slowly
You must observe a student, while guiding him or her through yoga practice. Asking the student to enter a certain pose, with the name reveal is the third thing that should come about. You can also explain the name in Sanskrit and then English. Allow the students to do the yoga pose, according to their understanding. Once, they have taken the stance, you can make adjustments and modifications.
You also need to ensure that a proper foundation for the pose has been built. For standing poses, the feet are used for grounding. While in seated poses, you have to use the sitz bones for grounding. Proper grounding will help in preventing imbalance. Once the student gets the above right, you can focus on holding the pose. You can ask the student to stay in the pose, as long as they are comfortable. Overdoing anything is a bad idea. The students are the best judge of their bodies. These are cues that differ from one teacher to another. It is also an art that not every teacher can perfect. A cue generally allows the student to get into the desired shape for any yoga asana. Then comes refinement. They will help you to personalize the yoga asana for beginners. Every body is different, and as a good yoga teacher, you have to respect that.
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Sequencing The Yoga Class
You also need to sequence well. The class will often start with breathing, moving into a meditative mode. Yoga is more about looking within, than elsewhere. It is important for teachers to build an intention before the flow starts. There will be warm-up, a peak pose, balancing backbends and forward bends, prone poses and then supine poses. You have to allow a slow descent to relaxation as well. You can correctly guide any student, no matter what their level of practice, if you follow the above.
Joining the best yoga school in India, will help you to learn such intricacies that are expected from a yoga teacher.
Conclusion
As yoga becomes more commercialized, the true essence is slowly vanishing. So, it is important for you to absorb the best knowledge from eminent yoga teachers, who are based at the best schools. Yoga is not an exercise, where you need to be guided stepwise, physically. It is more about what is happening internally. The earlier you can imbibe such qualities, the more efficient you can get in your yoga practice. Join the yoga teacher training to get the best exposure to the correct techniques of learning and teaching yoga.
