Yoga Therapy - 4 Steps to Turn a Frown Into a Healing Prayer With Yoga Therapy

Yoga therapy is a lot more than a prescription for yoga exercises. It takes the whole person into consideration at 3 levels: body mind and spirit. So if a frown has shown up once more on your face, here's a healing path you can choose to take. A "frown" is any negative feeling you experience. This self healing path turns a frown into a meaningful prayer from the heart, and calms the heart. Here are 4 ABLE steps that could be used in a yoga therapy session.

Acknowledge and Accept

What exactly are you feeling? Name it. Is it anger or hurt? Are you feeling scared or nervous? Are you worried or anxious? You may be feeling a milder form of emotion. You may have a combination of emotions. Take a moment and acknowledge all feelings and emotions.

Can you find a way to accept the situation, person or feeling? If you find this a difficult step, check to see if you are blaming or if you have guilt.

Yoga Therapy includes yoga psychology and asks us to question and change old belief systems that no longer serve us.

Breathe Consciously

Become aware of your natural breath moving in and out. You can even say to yourself, "Breathing in, I know I'm breathing in" when you breathe in. And then "Breathing out, I know I'm breathing out" when you breathe out. This allows you to be in the present moment, and to be with your body and breath, rather than dwell totally in your head.

Let Go

Let go of tension in the face, shoulders and any where you are holding tension. Relax the mouth, watch the frown dissolve as soften the face. When the mind is tense, it reflects somewhere in the body. Find that place and encourage relaxation. You could visualize being in your favorite nature spot, or see the tension leaving your body like smoke when you exhale.

Visualization is an important aspect of Tantra Yoga and it is included in Yoga Therapy.

End with Heart Connect

Place your hand on your spiritual heart. Thumb and index finger up by the collar bone. In the palm of your hand is a pool of energy. Can you feel it? To increase the energy there, and your level of sensitivity to the energy, rub the palms together a few times then place one hand on your heart. Gently close your eyes and let your attention rest right at that heart connect. Allow a prayer to arise from your heart, and feel this healing prayer in your body.

This is an example of working with the level of the mind in Yoga Therapy.

Take this healing path from a frown to your healing prayer as often as you need to. It is a self healing strategy that connects you with our heart.

And now, I'd like to invite you to free download of Perception Checklist when you visit http://www.yogatogo.com/thank-you-for-your-interest-in-the-perception-checklist

Heather Greaves - the Self Care Mentor and Body Therapies Yoga Training

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Yoga Leg Exercises for Stronger More Stable Steps

A sign of aging is decreased strength in the legs. We can moderate the aging process. Have you stopped sitting on the floor because you fear not being able to get back up again? How about challenging yourself to increase strength in the legs with gentle leg exercises, and watch the progress step by step.

Assessment

How are you presently getting up from the floor?
No use of hands, very steady and with no significant sway in the trunk. Very independentNo use of hands, with unsteadiness and some swayUsing one hand on thighUsing both hands on thighsWith one hand on floorWith both hands on floorWith the help of a chair or tableWith someone standing by just in case, perhaps giving cuesWith little assistance as you make most effort (75% to 99%)More assistance required as you make less than 75% of physical effortYoga Leg WorkoutTo strengthen the front of the thighs, quadriceps; To increase balance; To increase flexibility of the ankles

Feet - Standing well in Tadasana, breathe deeply in to the chest and abdomen. Begin the exhale by gently drawing the lower abdomen in. Continue for 6 breaths minimum releasing any unnecessary tension. Then shift your weight slowly from side to side, while breathing deep into the abdomen. Shift forward and backwards with the breath as well. Practice with the feet hip width apart and narrow your stance as you increase strength.

Toes - Massage your toes to help them lengthen on the ground when you stand. Practice lifting and spreading them apart while standing. Then try to lift just the big toes; then just the little toes. Feel the muscles in the lower legs workout.

Ankles - While sitting on the floor with arms supporting your body in Dandasana, knees can be bent, point toes forward as you inhale; exhale and flex foot back towards your body. You can curl the toes as you inhale and point, and spread them on the exhale. Continue for 6 breaths. Then rotate the ankles. This can also be done lying with knees bent and one leg in the air. Hold a belt around the ball of the foot.

The Warrior poses modified, Chair and a Balance pose against the wall strengthen thighs. While lying on the floor practice pelvic tilts for flexibility in the spine. Yoga exercises will lengthen and strengthen your stride. Always end your session with relaxation.

Moderate the aging process by keeping the spine flexible, the legs strong and the heart happy.

And now, I'd like to invite you to claim your free download of guided relaxation when you visit http://www.yogatogo.com/.

Heather Greaves helps those interested in natural healing learn more therapeutic yoga even though their yoga teacher is a book. "To learn more about something, teach it." Since 2005 this Yoga Therapist and owner of Body Therapies Yoga Training has been training teachers in a certified yoga teacher training program.

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Beginner Yoga Mistakes: Five Steps to Correct Beginner Yoga Mistakes That Create Shallow Breathing

Often when we are new to an activity there are doubts about our ability to be accurate. Hesitancy, uncertainty and sometimes anxiety seeps into our bones and to the core of our very being.. Soon our breathing becomes constricted and there is tightness across our chest. If we are paying attention, we can feel this in our body in yoga. When this happens what should we do about it?

Here are five helpful steps:

1. Acknowledge

First we want to acknowledge that this tendency is present even in our yoga practice. Are you able to be specific about which pose, poses or circumstances evoke this response? Give yourself time to be clear about this. It might mean revisiting the scenario mentally or physically.

2. Prepare

Take a moment before going into the yoga situation to calm your nerves. Use whatever techniques work for you. Slowing down the breath by exhaling through pursed lips is one way to begin to soothe yourself. Sighing works as well.

3. Self Talk

It is more effective to be real about your feelings - to face them. Try to identify the emotion that you are feeling. We cannot fool ourselves by saying we are victorious when we feel we've failed. If we can see ourselves as successful, then we can affirm that. On the other hand, if we feel incapable and do get enthusiastic with the idea of reaching the aim, we can affirm the enthusiasm.

4. Talk with Another

Sharing fears, as well as aims with a well-wisher warms the icy, cold feet and garners support. We know the experience of secrets weighing us down, and making the heart heavy. What does it take to divulge and be a little more vulnerable? And is it worth it?

5. Enlist Help

Sometimes additional instruction or clarification is needed when going into, holding, or exiting a yoga pose. If you are unclear about a particular phase of a pose, ask for help from a yoga teacher.

After taking these five steps you are likely to be much more prepared for your practice and will abort those particular beginner yoga mistakes. You will have identified the circumstances surrounding your mild panic, and created an atmosphere more conducive to exploring your yoga. Plus one more situation that created or enforced shallow breathing will be eliminated. The internal tension that results in a tight face, neck and shoulders will be reduced or eradicated. With your upper body and abdominal wall more relaxed, you will experience gentler, deeper breaths, and calmer nerves.

Heather Greaves is an avid yoga student and the owner of Body Therapies Yoga Training. She organizes yoga and meditation retreats and workshops in Ontario and Barbados, and has been helping yoga enthusiasts learn to teach therapeutic yoga in a certified program. For more yoga tips or to sign up for our monthly newsletter visit http://www.yogatogo.com/

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5 Important Steps of CPR That CPR Certification Training Teaches You

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a process that helps a person suffering from respiratory failure or cardiac arrest. There are two processes namely mouth to mouth breathing and chest compressions that help revive the lungs and the heart respectively. A lot of times CPR can help revive a person from a state of collapse or at least keep the person alive till reaching an emergency medical center. Hence the application of CPR ensures that the patient has least organ damage as supply of blood and oxygen is restored during this process.

It is also important that any person making use of CPR must do it properly so that a life is saved. Any error in performing the CPR technique can be fatal to the patient. Given here are simple five steps process to perform CPR that should be followed to revive a patient:

• Recognition - The very first step is to recognize the condition that the patient is presently in and bring him or her back to consciousness. Try to make body movements or call out to the person loudly. When there is no response you should confirm that the person has taken to a respiratory arrest or a cardiac arrest.

• Functioning - The next thing to do is to check for the breathing and beats of the person. When you have ascertained that the person is not breathing then you can start mouth to mouth breathing to revive the person.

• Time Schedule - As soon as you have identified that the person is sinking due to a respiratory or cardiac failure you should call for emergency medical help. As a sinking person needs immediate medical treatment and CPR can only help keep him or her alive for a short time. CPR is a difficult process for the person undertaking it and cannot be done for a long time.

• Actual Process - When staring to give the CPR to the patient ensure to tilt the head a little backwards. Now close the nostrils and then give mouth to mouth breathing twice. You should be able to see the chest of the person raise up and down when doing this process. When there is no response then change the position of the patients head and then restart breathing and CPR until you see some response or medical help reaches.

• Continuation Of CPR Process - The last step is to again check for the breathing and the pulse of the patient. If you find that there is pulse and no breathing then it means that the heart has started pumping. In order to keep the person alive till medical help reaches continue the breathing and CPR technique.

When making use of the CPR technique you should remember that a patient can take a maximum of 15 chest compressions as you will be pressing down the chest bone to revive the heart. The force applied when doing this should be just enough to compress the chest bone and not any more than this as patient can have other complications otherwise.

So make use of the proper CPR technique to help revive a collapsing person and save a precious life.

For more information, please visit our CPR Certification website.

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