As yoga teachers, we're often asked by students how they can deepen their practice; some express the desire to teach, while others hope to simply expand their understanding. Teacher trainings offer an ideal situation for either intention, though often classes are held outside of the Vail Valley. This spring, the Vail Vitality Center is offering its first Yoga Alliance registered 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program, taught by Gina Caputo, of Boulder, and Julia Clarke, of Vail. Gina and Julia have provided a brief Q&A below to answer common questions about the benefits of teacher training and what students can gain from attending any continuing yoga education program.

Q: What is yoga teacher training?

A: Teacher training programs no matter the discipline help students gain a more comprehensive understanding about the roots of yoga, the philosophy, the techniques of meditation and pranayama, and why you feel the way you do in a yoga pose. Teacher training is the best way to deepen your yoga practice beyond a one-hour yoga class experience, regardless of whether or not you'd like to teach.

Q: Do I need to have an advanced yoga practice to take a basic teacher training?

A: No, but you do need to have a dedicated and devoted practice. Great classes come from our own introspection and self-study on the mat, so it's vital to nurture your practice at home and with teachers.

Q: What makes a great yoga teacher?

A: Great teachers don't need to be able to tie their bodies in knots. Many master teachers stick to more basic sequencing but offer powerful presence, inspiring themes, instill a quiet confidence in their students and are able to be dexterous in a room full of students at different levels.

Q: What inspires you to teach others?

A: There is a huge gap in the modern understanding of the relationship between mind and body; the body-mind feedback loop in not being adequately addressed either in caring for ourselves on a regular basis, or healing schisms that occur. We're so busy treating and medicating the mind and body's woes separately that we've lost sight of their relationship. Hatha Yoga, if taught full-spectrum and not just as a stretchy workout, is an opportunity for people to experience a reunification of the powerhouses that are our minds and our bodies and to understand how intricately intertwined their functioning is. This tends to lead to a greater valuation of presence of life and living today.

Q: Will I be ready and able to teach after training?

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Furthering your practice with yoga teacher training

Heritage College Yoga Teacher Training School Offers No Cost Yoga Classes to Public in Denver

Denver, CO (PRWEB) February 26, 2013

Were proud of our beautiful new studio, said Heritage School Director Jennifer Sprague. It is built with humans in mind. Its a place for students to escape into mind and body with a soft quiet atmosphere. Its a perfect space to share with people of similar mind and goals.

At Heritage, we believe yoga should be affordable. The yoga studio plans to offer free sessions in 2013. Heritage also makes advanced yoga teacher training affordable. Yoga Teacher Training at Heritage is just $995, and includes five independent 3-week courses.

Drop-ins are welcome, but advanced reservations are encouraged. For reservations, visit the schools website for Denver yoga training (http://www.heritage-education.com/denver-yoga-teacher-training.htm)

Heritage College is a Yoga Alliance approved school and offers Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) courses. These same courses have been approved by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) as continuing education courses. The courses are designed for students who want to incorporate yoga teaching as part of their career or for students who simply want to achieve a deeper level of yoga understanding and mastery.

Yoga teacher training at Heritage consists of five independent 3-week courses. The courses cost $199 each ($995 total). All books are included in the tuition.

The five individual courses have been recognized by Yoga Alliance and students who successfully complete all courses can apply to be recognized as Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT-200). These courses make good continuing education and/or professional development course options for personal trainers, physical therapists, massage therapists, occupational therapists, and other wellness practitioners.

This training offers depth, beauty, mindfulness and mastery of the yogic path, said Lead Yoga Instructor Jenn Stewart. Yoga is a workout that unites the body, mind and spirit. Thats why the curriculum stresses reading bodies, physically and emotionally, as well as assessing the energy of a group or individual.

Heritage students learn to sequence asanas (yoga poses) in a fluid manner and unite breath with movement. The curriculum emphasizes alignment and how to avoid injuries, as well as development of strategies for encouraging and inspiring practitioners.

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Heritage College Offers No Cost Yoga Classes at New Yoga Studio

By JEFF BERLINICKE | Special correspondent Published: February 26, 2013 Updated: February 26, 2013 - 12:22 PM

Beth Bentley walked into a Barnes & Noble, immediately ordered a large coffee, and talked. And talked. And talked.

The last thing Bentley needed was coffee, because she is one of the most energetic, vibrant, outgoing people on the planet, a boundless stream of energy with a great sense of humor.

Bentley is passionate about yoga, starting Bentley Yoga Golf to help golfers with their stretching, mindset and confidence. For while Bentley is licensed to teach yoga and teaches several different types, she also is passionate about her new golf undertaking.

After picking up that coffee and noticing that no tables were available, it was off to the back of the bookstore, where she took off her shoes and started demonstrating yoga.

"If you can't tell, I live for yoga,'' said Bentley who has twin 8-year-old daughters,Holland and Jolie, both of whom have been doing yoga since their earliest memories. Teaching toddlers is just another of Bentley's yoga interests. "I was into this since I first discovered yoga. Look at all this energy it gives me. I am always ready to go.''

Bentley had been working in pharmaceutical sales and said she was always stressed. She decided it was time to recover from all of that stress and started to take yoga seriously. Golf, actually, was just hobby, one where she was happy to make contact with the ball. It wasn't until she took a golf lesson that she realized how similar here two interests really were.

"I started to visualize the swing (and) it all started to make sense,'' Bentley said, of the dynamics involved in your average golf swing. "I kind of walked away from golf after I had the twins, but it all started to make sense, mixing yoga and golf. My whole life started to open it up so I wanted to think of ways to apply it to golf. You don't hear much about yoga and golf in the same sentence.''

In truth, many professionals practice yoga and many of the big-name players have personal instructors who travel the world as part of the entourage, but the practice isn't common amongst your average Sunday golfers. Bentley practically guarantees that she can help take some strokes off.

"Think of the golf swing and how much extension you need to bring the club back as far as you need to,'' Bentley said. She demonstrated two exercises, the first that most regular golfers do before a round, then showed off a yoga technique that brought the invisible backswing back much farther.

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Yoga instructor at Cheval vows to help golfers

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks did some yoga Monday to help them relax after a disappointing loss in Detroit, but a potentially stressful question still needs to be answered.

Coach Alain Vigneault must decide whether to go back to Roberto Luongo, who allowed all of the goals in an 8-3 loss to the Red Wings. Vigneault was not around to field reporters' questions and add a new chapter to Vancouver's season-long goaltending saga.

Goaltending has been a hot topic since Cory Schneider displaced Luongo as the team's starter in last spring's playoffs, but the team did not trade the latter as expected.

Luongo was not available Monday, either, but teammates were quick to defend him after the shellacking in Motown.

"Goaltending has been excellent," said Daniel Sedin. "That's one game, and everyone can have an off night. That was one for Lu, and he's going to come right back and be good again."

Bounces off defencemen, shooters left wide open, and a poor penalty-killing effort, which enabled Detroit to convert three of five power plays, did not help his cause. The outing contradicted his 23-save effort in a 1-0 win in Nashville two nights earlier.

"(Luongo) and (Schneider) have been our best players this year," said Henrik Sedin. "That's the bottom line."

He said forwards and defencemen can go without scoring and generate little discussion, but everybody talks about the goaltenders even if they have an average performance.

Accordingly, fans and some media types were questioning Sunday and Monday whether Luongo should have been pulled rather than being left in for all eight goals. Luongo saw his goal-against average fall to a highly respectable 2.11 after he led the league. He suffered his first regulation-time loss of the season and sports a 5-1-5 record, including two shutouts, along with three overtime losses and two shootout setbacks.

Schneider has a 2.68 goals-against average with a 5-3-2 mark and one shutout.

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Yoga session help Canucks relax, but goaltending question remains to be answered

New York, Feb 27 (ANI): As more men are flocking to yoga classes, it seems they're tired of borrowing their girlfriends' purple, flowered yoga mats.

Thankfully for them, some savvy retailers have heard the complaint and are starting to step up their offerings for male yogis.

YogaJack Inc., a fledgling company based in San Francisco and Boston, last week announced its introductory line of yoga gear just for guys, the New York Daily News reported.

Among the offerings are longer, thicker yoga mats with a "proprietary non-slip surface" for sweaty dudes, and tote bags in guy-friendly basic black.

Founder and president Jahon Jamali, a 32-year-old father of two who once worked in intelligence for the Department of Defense, first got into yoga because hi wife had been pushing him.

"I gotta be honest - yoga is a little intimidating for guys at first. I went out to buy a cheap mat and I couldn't find anything for me. I'm not a New Age guy; I'm a standard average Joe. Guess what, I don't want a floral print mat," he said.

The YogaJack ONE Men's Premium Yoga Mat is longer and cushier than other mats on the market.

YogaJack isn't the only company to get a jump on guy-friendly yoga gear.

High-end athletic shop Lululemon has a dedicated men's yoga section in its stores and on its website, though the women's offerings are still more plentiful.

Yogi favorite Manduka offers its signature mats in longer sizes and a wide range of colors.

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More men trying yoga than ever before

(MENAFN - Arab Times) YOGA balances the basic elements of existence to create harmony between body, mind and spirit. In this week's interview, Dareen Akkad, a certified yoga instructor, discusses at depth the intricacies of this ancient wisdom and how it can help bring discipline into your life. She traveled East to the land of its origins and practiced against the pristine backdrop of the legendary Himalayas to earn the certificate that entitles her to pass on this all-encompassing art to the benefit of the society. Read on and find out how a transcendental union with the universe can be achieved, not through a space odyssey, but by simply turning inwards into your own self.

Question: Yoga has become very famous worldwide in the last few decades. There are a lot of yoga teachers springing up everywhere, and often times there are conflicting methods in which they teach. How can you tell a genuine teacher from someone who has just picked up some Asanas from the Internet and pretends to be an expert?

Answer: You will have to find out if the person is certified yoga teacher. I have an Indian Yoga Alliance Certificate. This is a certificate from a worldwide yoga alliance, which is sort of an international yoga regulatory body. If I want to teach in Canada I will have to register with the Canadian chapter of the Alliance using my certificate. This certificate can be transferred anywhere in the world, where the Alliance has a chapter. However, there could be yoga teachers who may not be certified yoga instructors, but they would be certified in some other forms of physical training and qualified to teach yoga. In some cases, the instructor would have practiced yoga long enough to be able to teach yoga. It's actually your discretion whether or not you want to be instructed by a certified instructor.

Q: But is that advisable, because some of the postures you practice could have profound effects. There are postures which a pregnant woman or a person with hypertension is not supposed to practice. In that case, if an instructor is not a professional he could cause harm to his students. Isn't it? A: Yes absolutely. That's why I wouldn't advise you to go to just anybody and learn yoga. You have to be careful in choosing your instructor. But let's also not misunderstand that all teachers without a formal certificate are fakes. However, it's advisable to go to a certified instructor, because then you can be sure. Yoga is for anybody and everybody. From the beginning to the end, you have the same Asanas. If you take the Tree Pose for example, there are ways in which a beginner does it, and you can work yourself up to advanced levels in the same Asana. A certified instructor will be able to guide you in a manner that you can adapt the pose to your body's limitations. If you are not a qualified teacher, then you might do something that could cause injuries.

So, if I have a mixed class of students at different levels, I can teach one Asana to them considering the limitations of each student. It's important to listen to your body. Your body is smarter than you. It gives you signs that it's not happening. Yes, there's going to be some stress when you stretch your muscles, but everybody has a limit, beyond which it can cause damage. If you listen to your body, you will know what that limit is. Stop at that limit, or you could tear a muscle or injure a ligament.

Q: Does yoga actually help in losing weight? I am asking this because obesity is a growing health issue in Kuwait, like in so many other parts of the world. A: Yoga helps you do so many things, beyond just losing weight. It helps your lung capacity, it helps your circulation, it helps regulate your appetite... all the tissues, organs, glands in your body work together harmoniously to achieve the perfect balance.

Q: Before we get deeper into that, can you define yoga for me? A: Yoga in Sanskrit means union. It's a practice that aims at creating a harmonious union or marriage of your body, mind and soul. A lot of physical exercises work on improving your physical state, or regulating your body's fat percentage and such things. But they don't work on your spirit or your mental health. Yoga creates equilibrium, a balance of your physical, mental and spiritual health. So, all three important elements of your existence are addressed. For a person to feel fully healthy, all these elements have to be addressed. A person who is overweight has physical imbalance in his existence. A person who is depressed and stressed has a mental imbalance, and person who feels lost has a spiritual imbalance. If any one of those elements is compromised, then you are less healthy.

Q: How does yoga help to bring the balance of mind? A: Yoga creates balance of mind mainly through meditation. Hindu or Buddhist saints practice meditation for hours or days at a stretch. They believe they can attain enlightenment, which is becoming one with the universe. You lose your ego, and you become aware, and understanding of everything that happens around you. That's the ultimate aim of meditation, but at our common practicing level, meditation helps clear your mind, and be focused and calm. It helps to manage your frustrations and anger better. After meditation, the second thing you do is Pranayama, which is breathing exercises. Pranayama firstly helps in improving the relationship between your lungs and your heart. It improves your lung capacity; it helps clean out toxins from your lungs and body. It also prepares you for the yoga session ahead. Breathing exercises also helps you relax; that's why they ask you to take a deep breath when you are stressed or angry. Deep breathing also helps you achieve better meditation. And then comes the Asanas, which are different postures. There are some very common and well known Asanas in yoga, one's that are very commonly used. But Gurus tell you that there are hundreds and thousands of Asanas. The list never ends. The Asanas represent practically everything. A lot of times, it's the animals and insects. There are Asanas that are named after warriors, gods etc.

Q: Is it true that the Asanas have very specific objectives, like a certain posture reduces blood pressure, and another one helps in secreting a certain hormone and so on? A: Well, at the very fundamental level Asanas strengthen your body posture. An Asana can have very obvious physical benefits such as back strengthening, abdominal strengthening and so on. You will know and feel it as you do the Asana as your muscles tense. You will know that a particular Asana is working on your hamstrings, quadruplets etc. Then there are other biological benefits, which you can't necessarily perceive. You can have an Asana that can have an effect on your thyroid glands because you are compressing and relaxing it from the way you are postured. You are actually giving the gland a good massage, promoting circulation to your thyroid. Similarly, you can do something that extends your liver, and so the blood-flow to that organ improves. A posture that massages your ascending and descending colons can help in stimulating the process of digestion. The more you practice the Asanas and the better you breathe the more flexibility and strength you will gain. Eventually, you will be able to do the Asana to its full extent, and to its maximum benefit.

However, that's not to say that a beginner gets less benefit than an advanced practitioner. Even if you are a beginner, you are putting in as much effort as an expert in achieving an Asana, and both stand to gain equally. So, if someone can't do an Asana to the fullest extent, then that doesn't mean they will not get the full benefit.
As you practice more you will begin to feel more comfortable in the pose, until you can rest in a particular Asana. You can even meditate in that pose for ever and not feel any discomfort or pain. That's why you see Yogis in India who get into a Tree Pose or a Headstand and vow not to come out of it for weeks until the goal is attained. And they are comfortable in that pose. One more important thing to bear in mind is that the meditation you started your yoga session with should continue to the end of the session. You don't lose your focus. If your focus is to touch you toes, then keep that focus. A troubled mind affects your performance.

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Yoga helps achieve the perfect balance