Yoga

{"posts":[{"title":"Level Up Your Yoga Practice With Mudras (Meditation Mudras for Chakras Explained)","coverUrl":"mtzclby030ft7pqfp6qp.jpg","slug":"yoga-mudras-and-meditation-chakras","content":{"text":"There is an easy way to get more out of your yoga and meditation practice, and this method is commonly overlooked. Mudras, or hand gestures, can be used to help heal specific issues, gain powerful insight, or direct the flow of energy throughout your chakras. These hand gestures vary depending on your intended use, and some are more simple than others. But overall, they are effortless to try and can help you gain so much more from your practice.\\nFirst, let’s understand what mudras are and how we can use them.\\n\\nMudras: An Ancient Technique for Modern Living\\nAs we mentioned above, mudras are symbolic hand gestures with specific purposes. Think of your hands and fingers as powerful conductors — certain pressure points emphasize targeted benefits that work in tandem with pranayama (breath work), meditation, and yoga postures. These sacred gestures have been around a long time, first incorporated by ancient yogis thousands of years ago. As far as we know, mudras first appeared in 15th century Sanskrit texts, but they may have been used long before that and kept secret. The actual origin of these gestures is still unknown.\\nThe possibilities for mudras are endless, and there are hundreds to choose from. For instance, in Bharatanatyam, there are 59 mudras and 32 of them are for just one hand. But if you are just getting started with these powerful gestures, you can easily get acquainted with the simplest ones and go from there. It’s best to approach each mudra with mindfulness and curiosity, taking care to notice how you feel and any changes within your body and/or energy field.\\nWhen you are practicing with mudras, keep in mind that each finger of your hand represents an element. Mudra hand sign will help you understand how each mudra works to direct energy within your being, and how you can utilize mudras for specific goals. Mudras can perform simple tasks, like improving your mood, clearing your mind, sharpening your focus, or deepening your practice. As mentioned above, they can also direct energy throughout your chakras, offer healing, longevity, and a multitude of other uses.\\nEach one of your fingers represent the following: \\nThumb - Fire\\nIndex finger - Air\\nMiddle finger - Space/Ether\\nRing finger - Earth\\nPinky finger - Water\\n\\nCan Beginners Use Yoga Mudras?\\nEven though ancient yogis may have kept mudras hidden from less accomplished practitioners, that is no longer the case in modern times. We now have access to a wealth of information about these sacred gestures, and anyone can use them. Even if you’re a beginner, you can start incorporating mudras into your practice to level up your energy, emotional health, and spirituality. \\nIf you’re not sure where to begin, you can approach mudras with a specific goal in mind, or simply an open, experimental attitude. Below, we’ve provided a road map to a selection of mudras that are easy to perform and impart meaningful benefits that are useful to anyone who is just starting out. Like many other yogic traditions, regular practice of these mudras is key to realizing long term gains.\\n\\nEasy Mudras You Can Try At Home\\nTry one or several of the mudras below to get started deepening your yogic journey. You can use any of these mudras in conjunction with your yoga, meditation or pranayama practice. If you’re not sure how to approach a mudra, simply sit in Easy or Lotus pose for 30-45 minutes while performing the task. Following are the list of mudras with pictures :\\n\\n1. Ashwini Yoga Mudra \\n\\nAshwini Mudra is a yogic technique that involves contracting and relaxing the anal sphincter muscles. This practice is considered to be an important aspect of Hatha Yoga, as it helps in controlling and regulating the energy flow within the body. \\nAshwini Mudra is believed to stimulate the Muladhara, or the root chakra, which is responsible for grounding and stability. The contracting and relaxing of the anal sphincter muscles during the practice of Ashwini Mudra is said to help release stored tension and increase blood flow to the area, promoting physical and mental well-being. Additionally, this mudra is believed to improve digestion, regulate elimination, and increase the overall strength of the pelvic floor muscles. As with any form of yoga, it is important to practice Ashwini Mudra under the guidance of a qualified instructor to ensure proper form and avoid injury.\\n\n2. Prithvi Mudra\\n\\nPrithvi Mudra aids the healing process by spiritually balancing the earth element within your body. Along with meditation and pranayama, you can use this mudra while performing some yoga postures — particularly those that require careful balance to help ground and support your body.\\n Touch your thumbs to the tips of your ring fingers on the same hand, with your remaining three fingers extended straight — connecting the earth element with fire.\\n\\n3. Anjali Mudra\\n\\nChances are you’ve been practicing this mudra all along without realizing it. Anjali Mudra is the prayer position students make with their hands at the beginning or end of a yoga session. It activates your third eye chakra, improves focus, self-awareness, and stability.\\nSimply press both palms together in a prayer position at the center of your chest, or directly in front of your heart. Your fingertips should be pointed toward the ceiling, taking care to press the entire surface of your palms completely together.\\n\n4. Dhyana Mudra\\n\\nIf this mudra looks familiar, you may have seen it on display with buddhist statues, or in a meditation class. The purpose of Dhyana Mudra is to act as a seal — promoting stillness, concentration, and balance.\\nWhile sitting in Easy or Lotus pose, rest your hands in the center of your lap with your right hand on top of your left, palms facing up. Touch your right and left thumbs together to create the “seal.” \\n\\n5. Gyan Mudra\\n\\nThis is another commonly used mudra that you may have already incorporated into your meditation practice. It’s the mudra you turn to in order to promote mental clarity and gain access to your higher wisdom.\\nTouch the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb, with your remaining three fingers extended straight. Rest each hand in this mudra on your knees while sitting in Easy or Lotus pose.\\n\\n6. Shuni Mudra\\n\\n\\nLike Gyan and Prithvi Mudra, this gesture also involves connecting your thumb (fire) with another element. By activating your space (or ether) element with fire, you can increase your level of positivity, patience, and self discipline. Use this mudra whenever you feel the need to empower your sense of duty and self-control.\\nPress the tip of your middle finger together with the tip of your thumb. You can use this mudra while meditating or performing a pranayama technique — like Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril) breathing. You can also turn to this mudra anytime you need a little help with patience.\\n\\n7. Prana Mudra\\n\\nAre you looking to power up your chakras and awaken your kundalini energy? Prana Mudra is intended for that purpose, as the mudra for removing blockages in your chakras and energizing your vital life force.\\nTouch both your ring and pinky fingers with your thumb, uniting earth and water with fire. Keep your middle and index finger straight. Perform this mudra while sitting in a meditative posture, or while practicing specific kundalini postures.\\n\\n8. Apan Mudra\\n\\nIf you’ve attended a rock concert, you might have seen this mudra on display without realizing it. Little known to fellow concert goers, this hand position actually utilizes space and earth elements to improve digestion and release stress.\\nTo practice Apana Mudra, you can meet the tips of your middle and ring fingers with the tip of your thumb. Alternatively, you can hold the tips of your middle and ring fingers behind your thumb. For best cleansing results, perform this mudra while practicing Breath of Fire.\\n\n\\n9. Rudra Mudra\\n\\nIn this mudra, we are connecting air and earth elements with fire for greater concentration, increased energy, improving your blood circulation, and decreasing stress. Rudra Mudra can also help to balance your emotions and relieve dizziness or vertigo.\\nPress the tip of your index and ring fingers to the tip of your thumb, while keeping your remaining fingers extended. You may find it difficult to keep your middle and pinky fingers straight — just do the best you can.\\n\\n10. Kali Mudra\\n\\nKali Mudra, also known as the \"thumb mudra,\" is a hand gesture commonly used in yoga and meditation practices. This mudra is formed by touching the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, while keeping the other fingers extended. The thumb represents the individual consciousness, while the little finger symbolizes the supreme consciousness. When the two are joined in Kali Mudra, it is believed to symbolize the union of the individual and universal consciousness. This mudra is said to bring balance and peace to the mind, helping practitioners to focus and deepen their meditation practice. Additionally, \\nKali Mudra is believed to enhance the flow of energy in the body, promoting physical and mental well-being. It is typically performed while sitting in a comfortable and upright position, with the back straight and the eyes closed. Kali Mudra is a simple yet powerful tool for enhancing one's spiritual practice and achieving a greater sense of inner peace and harmony.\\n\\n7 Types of Meditation Mudras for Chakras\\nMeditation Mudras are hand gestures used in various spiritual practices to help direct energy flow and focus the mind. Each mudra is associated with specific chakras, or energy centers, within the body and is believed to help activate and balance these centers. In this article, we will explore the various types of meditation mudras for the chakras and their significance.\\n\\n1. Root Chakra (Muladhara): \\nRoot chakra is associated with the feeling of safety, stability, and grounding. To activate the root chakra, the Vajra Mudra can be used. This mudra involves touching the thumb and index finger together, creating a circle.\\n\\n2. Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana): \\nSacral chakra is associated with emotions, creativity, and sexuality. To activate the sacral chakra, the Varuna Mudra can be used. This mudra involves touching the thumb and the little finger together, while keeping the other fingers extended.\\n\\n3. Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura): \\nSolar chakra is associated with personal power, self-esteem, and self-confidence. To activate the solar plexus chakra, the Ganesha Mudra can be used. This mudra involves touching the thumb and the middle finger together, while keeping the other fingers extended.\\n\\n4. Heart Chakra (Anahata): \\nHeart chakra is associated with love, compassion, and forgiveness. To activate the heart chakra, the Anjali Mudra can be used. This mudra involves bringing the palms together in front of the heart, as if in prayer.\\n\\n5. Throat Chakra (Vishuddha): \\nThroat chakra is associated with communication, self-expression, and creativity. To activate the throat chakra, the Shuni Mudra can be used. This mudra involves touching the thumb and the index finger together, while keeping the other fingers extended.\\n\\n6. Third Eye Chakra (Ajna): \\nThird Eye chakra is associated with intuition, imagination, and inner vision. To activate the third eye chakra, the Shambhavi Mudra can be used. This mudra involves looking at the space between the eyebrows, with the eyes slightly closed.\\n\\n7. Crown Chakra (Sahaswara): \\nCrown chakra is associated with spirituality, wisdom, and enlightenment. To activate the crown chakra, the Sahasrara Mudra can be used. This mudra involves touching the tips of the index and middle finger to the thumb, while keeping the other fingers extended.\\n\\nIn conclusion, meditation mudras are an important tool in helping to activate and balance the chakras, promoting physical and mental well-being. By using these hand gestures in meditation and spiritual practices, one can cultivate a greater sense of inner peace and harmony, and achieve a deeper connection with the divine"},"createdAt":"2023-02-08T11:24:14.600082+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Announcing MyYogaTeacher’s Free Yoga for Everyday Self Care Event","coverUrl":"sqksdkhom5g0uivl5z2l.png","slug":"everyday-selfcare-event","content":{"text":"Ready to make time and take time for YOU in the New Year? This 2-day event on January 16-17 makes it easier than ever to start and keep a self care routine going.\\nAnd, of course, you’re invited!\\n\\nAlmost everyone is guilty of not putting themselves first most of the time. \\nBut did you know that research shows that self care reduces heart disease, stroke, and cancer? Not to mention that people who have a consistent \\nself care routine\\n are 67% more productive, 71% happier, and 64% more self-confident than those who don’t!  \\nThe impacts of a yoga for self care routine are nothing but positive. And there is nothing standing in your way of creating one with MyYogaTeacher’s free event. Imagine how much better you’ll feel and how much more productive you’d be if you just took some time for yourself everyday. Your routine doesn’t have to be time consuming. Even 30 minutes of yoga for self care may make all the difference in your life! \\nHere at MyYogaTeacher, we understand creating a self care routine may seem unobtainable at first. That’s why we created this event!\n\\nHow to join the Yoga for Everyday Self Care Event:\n\\nMembers\\nJust click the links below to one or all of the classes you’d like to attend and register as you would any other group class! Simple as that.\n\\nNon-Members\\n\\nClick this link to sign up for your free two week trial\\n to get access to this incredible event! No credit card required.\\n\n\\nAre you a nonmember who signed up for a trial in the past but it’s lapsed?\n⁠\\nIf you’re not a member but signed up for a free-trial in the past, and it has expired, just reach out to \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n to let us know!  We'll reset your trial and give you full access to the event.\\n\n\\nMake this event the start of something wonderful for your mental, emotional, and physical health! So you, too, can be happier, more self-confident, and more productive!\n\\nWe've put together a schedule of yoga sessions designed specifically to get you started on your self care journey.\\n\\nCheck out the educational, inspiring, and exciting event classes and expert yoga instructors making this event happen!\\n(Click the class links to register for any or all of these amazing sessions!)\n\\n\\nYoga Breathwork: Relaxation and Self Care with Archana\\n\\nTuesday, January 17 at 5:30 pm PST/ 8:30 pm EST\\n\n\\nDo you make time for selfcare? Meditation and yogic breathing are excellent forms of selfcare that you can do almost anywhere or any time! Join us for this relaxing class focused on breathing, meditation, and gentle stretching. Discover how easy it is to take time for you!\\n\n\\n\\nYoga for Self Care: An Everyday Practice with Archana\\n\\nMonday, January 16 at 5:30 pm PST/ 8:30 pm EST\\n\n\\nDo you struggle to make time for self-care? You’re not alone! This beautiful yoga session is designed to help you learn asanas and stretches that you can do every day specifically as a self-care practice. Join us for self-care through yoga!\\n\n⁠\\nWe offer these events so you have the tools and guidance to live in harmony with your inner self, outer self, and the world. So you can move in the world with peace and good health. And so you can be less stressed, more productive, and more \\npresent\\n.\\n\\nExperience the peace that comes from yoga and explore all the tools our expert yoga instructors offer to help you start and maintain a consistent self care routine. We’re here to support you on your journey now \\nand\\n when the event is over!\n\\nSo join us for this free event! And don’t forget to check other yoga classes MyYogaTeacher offers as a part of your membership or free trial! Many are perfect for continuing your self care routine long after this event is over. Or reach out to the yoga instructors below offering 1-on-1 sessions to address specific issues!\\n\\n- Ankit Bhatnagari\\n- Abhishek Bodhi\\n\\nAnd remember: If you’re a nonmember who’s two-week free trial has ended, reach out to \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n to have your trial reset so you can easily sign up for these awesome classes!\\n\\nWelcome to MyYogaTeacher’s Yoga for Everyday Self Care Event!\\nSee you soon!\\n"},"createdAt":"2023-01-06T09:47:25.040388+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga for Seasonal Affective Disorder","coverUrl":"cqufajiqp5au0ipmos2e.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-seasonal-affective-disorder","content":{"text":"When the fall months of October and November transition to winter, do you start feeling a bit down? Do you often struggle to feel positive and motivated in December and January, or a sense of gloom that sticks with you all winter long?\n\\nSeasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a common condition that impacts up to 3 percent of the general population, and it can occur for some people every winter. It’s a certain type of depression that is typically felt during the dark and colder months of winter. Even though this condition can be a chronic occurrence for some, there are ways to alleviate these wintertime blues. \n\\nWhat Exactly is Seasonal Affective Disorder?\\n\\nSeasonal Affective Disorder is a feeling of gloominess or depression that occurs during a specific season every year — most commonly winter. SAD can make you feel tired, unmotivated, hopeless, have difficulty concentrating, and it can cause you to overeat and oversleep. \\nPhysically, SAD can deplete your energy levels, cause weight gain, and disrupt healthy sleeping habits. For some it can bring on suicidal thoughts and a feeling of worthlessness. For these reasons SAD shouldn’t be underestimated or brushed off. If you or someone you know is experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder, it’s important to seek help and find ways to counteract the symptoms. Yoga is just one of many effective tools you can use to alleviate this condition.\\n\n\\nHow Does Yoga Help With Seasonal Affective Disorder?\\n\\nYoga can help improve your state of mind and elevate your mood through physical postures, mindfulness meditation, and breathing techniques. Yoga asanas can help you feel balanced and energized by circulating blood throughout your body and building endurance. Performing yoga postures can also help reset your circadian rhythms and regulate your nervous system.\\nMindfulness meditations also help alleviate symptoms of SAD by creating new pathways in your brain and stimulating your pineal gland. Learning and training your mind to focus on the present moment can give you the insight and strength to counteract thoughts and feelings caused by Seasonal Affective Disorder, along with a sense of gratitude and positive outlook.\n\\nPranayama, or yogic breath work, is another powerful tool in combating symptoms of SAD. Yogic breathing not only calms your mind and helps relax your body, but it can also increase levels of serotonin and lift your energy level.\n\n\\nHow to Practice Yoga for Seasonal Affective Disorder\\n\\nWhat’s the best yoga to practice for Seasonal Affective Disorder? Depending on your symptoms, there are several different types of yoga you can try — and the good news is, yoga is unlikely to make your symptoms worse – so there’s nothing to lose by giving it a try. Restorative yoga coupled with pranayama is a gentle way to get started, with long, calming stretches and breath work designed to soothe and regulate your nervous system.\n\\nTo get your blood flowing and counteract SAD weight gain, try some basic Hatha yoga poses. For example, a few rounds of Sun Salutations can do wonders for your mood and energy level, while symbolically honoring the light during the darker winter months. You can also recharge your body and get your blood pumping with a Vinyasa or Flow yoga class, if you’re looking to incorporate some movement and heat in your body.\\n\n\\nYoga Poses for Seasonal Affective Disorder\\n\\nIf you’re dealing with symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder and you’re not sure where to start, a few yoga poses a day can effectively lift your mood and your spirit. Here are a few postures you can do at home to help keep the winter blues at bay:\\n\\n1. Sun Salutations Pose\\n\n\\n\\nStart by standing straight at the top of your mat in Mountain pose with your hands in prayer position. Close your eyes, take a few moments to center yourself, and focus on your breath. Inhale deeply and sweep your arms up above your head, and then bend forward as you exhale into Standing Forward Fold. Inhale and lengthen your spine as you lift up your gaze in Extended Front Fold. \n\\nAs you exhale again, step your left foot back into a lunge position. On your next inhale, plant your palms on the mat and step your right foot back to join your left as you move into Plank pose. Exhale and lower into Chaturanga Dandasana, followed by Downward Facing Dog as you inhale. Step your left foot forward into a lunge position, and then bring your right foot forward to meet your left as you move back into Extended Front Fold. Exhale as you bend forward into Standing Forward Fold. On your next inhale, soften your knees, and bring yourself back to standing in Mountain pose. Repeat this entire sequence three times.\n\\n2. Legs Up The Wall Pose\n⁠\\n\\n\\nPlace a folded blanket parallel against a wall. Sit sideways in the middle of the blanket, and turn yourself toward the wall, lifting your legs up and propping them against the wall. Lay back comfortably, rest your head and neck on the floor, and fully straighten your legs. Spread your arms out to your sides with your palms facing up. Allow your chest, abdomen, and pelvis to completely relax. Breathe evenly and mindfully while holding this pose for 5-8 minutes.\\n \\n3. Cat-Cow Pose\\n \\n\\nStart with your hands and knees on the floor. Inhale and look up, lifting your chin and gently arching your back. As you exhale, drop your chin and look down toward your naval as you curl your spine forward. Continue this movement 5-10 times.\n\n\\nPranayama for Seasonal Affective Disorder\\n\n\\nYou can use yogic breathing techniques to counteract symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder anywhere you feel most comfortable. You can use these techniques to realign your mind and spirit anytime you feel troubling, anxious, or negative thought patterns. Here are a couple of basic yogic breathing techniques you can try:\n\\n1. Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing\\n\\n\\n\\nStart by sitting in a comfortable position on the floor or in a chair. Breathe in through your nose and exhale completely. For your next inhale, gently place your right index finger on your right nostril, while breathing in through your left nostril. Alternate each side by placing your thumb over your left nostril and exhaling through your right. Continue to repeat this alternating motion 10-20 times, or until you feel calm and at-ease.\n\\n2. Ujjayi or Ocean’s Breath\\n\\n\\nThis is an easy yogic breath you can try whenever you feel stressed or uncomfortable. Inhale through your mouth, and as you breathe out, close your mouth and tuck your chin to create a narrow passageway in your throat, so that you create a small audible “ocean” sound with your breath as you inhale and exhale exclusively through your nose. Repeat at least 5 to 10 times.\n\n\\nOther Tips for Beating the Winter Blues\\n\n\\nIt’s important to try a few different techniques for lifting seasonal gloom, since yoga alone may not completely cure seasonal depression. First and foremost, reach out to a trusted professional, like a doctor or behavioral therapist. They can help you talk through your emotions and offer support.\\n\n\\nLight boxes can also be enormously helpful in reducing symptoms of SAD, providing UV light on demand during the winter months. Try turning on your light box every morning for at least a half hour to help reset your circadian rhythm and give your serotonin levels a boost. You can also try performing pranayama techniques in conjunction with your light box for even better results.\n\n\\nMyYogaTeacher Classes for Seasonal Affective Disorder\\n\\nHere at MyYogaTeacher we offer yoga classes that can help with Seasonal Affective Disorder. You can try a Restorative class for deep relaxation, or join us for a Golden Light Meditation. We also offer a Suprabhatam morning yoga class to energize your day. \n\\nTo help fight off that winter gloom, sign up for one or more of the following classes:\\n\\nRestorative yoga\\n\\n\\nGolden Light Meditation\\n\\n\\nSuprabhatam Morning Fresh yoga\\n\\n\\nTrataka candlelight meditation\\n\\n\\nYin Restorative yoga\\n\\n\\nYoga for Flexibility: Mind and Breath awareness\\n\\n\\nVinyasa yoga\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2023-01-05T12:13:24.396384+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["emotional_health","yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga for Sleep: 10 Yoga Poses for Your Best Night’s Sleep","coverUrl":"vvcoxjzlrhbltxf0sviv.jpg","slug":"yoga-poses-for-sleep","content":{"text":"Are you having problems getting to sleep after a busy day? Do you keep waking up in the middle of the  night? Or are you having trouble staying asleep? You’re not alone. According to Sleepfoundation.org, It is believed that between 30-50% of older adults suffer from insomnia. But not to worry! Yoga can help. \n\\nSo, how can yoga help you sleep better? It goes without saying that yoga is universally very relaxing for any time of the day. But if you’re trying to catch some extra zzzs, taking some time to unwind with yoga before bed can be beneficial to your sleep cycle for a variety of different reasons. \n\\nYoga Calms your body and sensory apparatus.\\nIt’s widely known that when we’re feeling stressed, out of control or physically upset, focusing on your breath can help to focus our nerves and regulate our bodies. So if you’ve had a long or stressful day and your nerves are on edge, it’s a no-brainer that slowing down with yoga will help you shut down and relax your body and mind. \\n\\nYoga provides mental relaxation.\\nHave you ever tried to go to sleep but you’re busy making sure you checked off all the things on your to do list? Or maybe you stay awake late planning your list for the next day? \\nIt’s important at the end of the day, to unplug and unwind. Yoga can be a mental break from the mundane or from our normal “busy” lives. It’s a great way to transition from wake to sleep by making sure our mind isn’t racing or worrying about thoughts from the day past, or the one ahead. Do you need to take pen to paper before bed? Try pairing your yoga routine with journaling. \\n\\nYoga can release any physical tension. \\nOur body goes through so much in a typical day. From commuting to and from work, taking care of our families, cooking and cleaning, and physically carrying us through our work day. Your body can experience fatigue and tension from sitting too long at a desk or in your car, being on your feet for too many hours or being in severe temperatures depending on the season. Ending your day with yoga can ease any physical tension you may experience and assure you’ll wake up well rested and pain free! Relax with us, \\nclick here to get a free two week trial! \\n\\n\n\\nAccording to a \\nstudy done at John Hopkins University\\n, doing yoga before bed as an adult can improve overall sleep quality, improve time spent asleep and sleep “efficiency”.\\nIt’s suggested that you should “set the scene” for sleep. When you do yoga before bed, choose low lights, a cool space and comfy clothing. You could even diffuse essential oils of your choosing to make your space more zen. We’d suggest lavender or eucalyptus. Now that the scene is set, roll out your mat and get in your practice! \\n\n\\nHere are the Top 10 Best Yoga Poses to Practice Before Bed! \\n\\nBound Ankle Pose (Baddha Konasana)\n\\n\\nHead to Knee Pose (Janu Sirsasana)\n⁠\\n\\n\\nLizard Pose (Utthan Pristhasana)\n⁠\\n\\nSeated Straddle Pose (Upavistha Konasana)\n⁠\\n\\nSide Seated Wide Angle Pose (Parsva Upavistha Konasana)\n⁠\\n\\nBridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)\n⁠\\n\\nWide-Knee Child's Pose (Balasana)\n⁠\\n\\nReclined Twist (Jathara Parivartanasana)\n⁠\\n\\nHappy Baby (Ananda Balasana)\n⁠\\n\\nLegs up the wall (Viparita Karani)\n⁠\\n\\nDo you need to zen out with dictation? Feel like you need a guided meditation style? No worries! We’ve got you covered. You can log on and join us for classes that will relax you and set you up for a great night's sleep! \\nOur FREE trial \\nincludes two weeks of group classes and one on one privates with master instructors from india! \n\\nClasses to try to help improve your sleep.\\n\\nMeditation for Sleep\\n - This class will help you take your energy and focus it on getting a deep night’s sleep.  The goal of this class is a deeper night’s sleep & reducing sleep anxiety.\\n\\nYoga Nidra \\n- This class will help you find a restful night’s sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Includes a chakra meditation and sound bath to send you off to dreamland!\\n\\nRestorative Yoga \\n - This class allows the body to relax by slowly moving through asanas. Practice is meant to relieve stress and improve sleep. \\n\n\\nOther ways to improve the quality of your sleep\\n\n\\nTurn off the screens\\nDid you know that Tvs and phone screens can suppress the quality of your sleep? The National sleep association recommends turning off your devices 30 minutes to one hour before bed for a better night's sleep.\n\\nSip some Tea\\nDrinking Tea before bed is proven to promote calmness and is a great way to help your body wind down at bedtime. Teas like chamomile or lavender are a great, natural alternative to melatonin or other sleeping meds. \n\\nStick to a schedule\\nSetting up a daily routine is important for balance in our lives. Sticking to a routine with our meals, fitness and sleep can help us to build healthy habits that keep our system’s calm because our body knows what to expect throughout the day. Try to implement a schedule of getting to bed by a certain time on weekdays and you’ll see an improvement in your sleep quality in no time! \n\\nCreate a restful environment\\nCreating your perfect and calm sleep space is so important. What does your body need for sleep? Meditate on what you need to create a restful space. Maybe you need a sound machine or a guided meditation for sleep. Maybe you need to regulate the temperature? 68 degrees is the suggested temperature for homeostasis during sleep! Not a fan of waking up to the sun? Maybe invest in some black out curtains! \n\\nNow that you have the tools, how will you prepare for your most restful sleep? Take the time to make an investment in yourself and relax before you lay your head down to sleep! Your morning routine will be so thankful when you wake up well rested and ready to take on the day like  the warrior you are. You are unstoppable."},"createdAt":"2022-11-02T15:48:06.608037+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga and Buddhism: Are They the Same?","coverUrl":"m1ywjkjpa53uc5yy1m5r.jpg","slug":"yoga-and-buddhism","content":{"text":"Both Yoga and Buddhism first originated in India, leading some to wonder how they each came to evolve and whether or not they are related. In fact, it’s common for people to confuse the two, since these ancient systems of philosophy were born thousands of years ago and feature complimentary beliefs. But despite areas of similarities, Yoga and Buddhism do contain some differences from one another. \n\\nTo explain the similarities and differences between these ancient philosophies, we need to first go back in time to when they each started.\\n\\nYoga and Buddhism History\n\\nMore than 2,500 years ago in India, the Buddhist religion was born from an ascetic and spiritual teacher named Siddhartha Guatama. Based on the tenets of the Four Noble Truths, this belief system was organized around mindfulness, meditation, and seeking enlightenment through the liberation from suffering and the ego. \\nHowever, before Guatama became the Buddha (which means “the awakened one”), he was a scholar and practitioner of yoga — which originated long before Buddhism. Yoga has been around for over 5,000 years, and unlike Buddhism, it actually isn’t considered a religion, but rather a practice that is derived from Hinduism. It can also be practiced by anyone regardless of their belief system or values. \\nBuddhist texts were among the earliest to teach the physical practice of Yoga, but Yoga was first mentioned in the “Rigveda,” an ancient collection of Hindu texts that existed long before. Here we see that Yoga influenced Buddhism, but the same can be said for Buddhism influencing Yoga. \\nFor instance, meditation is a yogic technique used in Buddhism to achieve freedom from the ego and attain enlightenment — a shared goal between the two disciplines. And yet, the Hatha yoga technique actually draws its roots from Buddhism, and can be found in early Buddhist texts. \\nThis shows us that even though Yoga and Buddhism are regarded as different, various elements of each are informed by the other.\\n\\nHow Yoga and Buddhism are Similar\\n\\nBoth Yoga and Buddhism contain some similar philosophies, mindsets, and goals, which make these systems complimentary in many ways. More than anything, their similarities show how intertwined they really are. \\nThese are some of the beliefs shared by the Yoga tradition and Buddhist religion:\\nAchievement of enlightenment by awakening energies in the body\\nFreedom from ego and suffering\\nEmphasis on compassion and non-harm of self or others\\nPractice of non-attachment\\nThe concept of karma and rebirth\\nMeditation as a tool to achieve self-realization\\nYoga and Buddhism also both contain sub-varieties and different forms of practice. There are some yogic or Hindu Gods and Goddesses that appear in some Buddhist traditions, and they each acknowledge the principle of dharma as the true reality or cosmic law. \\nIt’s easy to see why Yoga and Buddhism get mistaken for each other. But there are still some pretty important differences between the two.\\n\\nDifferences Between Yoga and Buddhism\\n\\nWhile many of the goals and philosophical beliefs of Yoga and Buddhism share similarities, these two systems have been regarded as fundamentally separate for thousands of years. \\nWhy is that? \\nIt all comes down to the foundations of Yoga and Buddhism. The basic underlying principles of Yoga come from Hinduism, with a belief of an inner Self, or “Atman,” and a God who created the universe. \\nBuddhism, on the other hand, asserts that the Self does not exist, and neither does God — maintaining both are inventions of the mind. \\nThere are also distinctions between the two when it comes to the physical realm. Yoga concerns itself with the body, using it as a tool to energetically align the chakras and achieve enlightenment. It was conceived as a preparation for the body to engage in the act of sitting in meditation for long periods of time. \\nBuddhism focuses on the psychological aspect of enlightenment — what we do and how we transform once we are seated in meditation.\\n\\nSo, is Yoga Part of Buddhism? Or is Yoga Hinduism?\\n\\nIn a nutshell, there are elements of Yoga that are integrated with Buddhism, like meditation and Hatha yoga. But if we look at the history of Yoga and Buddhism, the practice of Yoga was first derived from Hinduism, and maintains its Hindu roots even still today. \\nWith so much crossover between Yoga and Buddhism, is it possible to practice both at the same time? Or must we choose one path over the other?\\nWith such fundamental differences between the two systems regarding belief in the existence of Self and God or creator, it may not be possible to completely adhere to the philosophical contexts of Yoga and Buddhism at the same time. Though following one and completely excluding the other isn’t altogether necessary.\\nBoth Yoga and Buddhism are systems designed to bring you inner peace, harmony, compassion, and forgiveness of yourself and others. These ancient traditions have proved themselves for thousands of years as means to achieve self-realization and enlightenment through the yogic method of meditation. \\nSo, if you’re wondering where to start on your own journey, the simple practice of meditation can help you discover your path. And if it leads in the direction of Buddhism, or if you identify more with the spiritual teachings of Yoga, it is yours to decide. \\n\\nGetting Started with Meditation\\n\\n\\nAll of this discussion of self-realization, enlightenment, non-attachment, and karma can be intimidating if you’re just getting familiar with the spiritual foundations of Yoga and Buddhism. But if we look at the shared, common tool of meditation, we have something concrete and actionable with which to embark on our personal journeys toward freedom from suffering.\\nMeditation in and of itself is the simple act of quieting the mind in order to develop awareness and transcendence of ego. But in our modern day lives of distractions, responsibilities, stress, and trauma, that might be easier said than done. Meditation is called a “practice” because it requires just that — practice. The physical Yoga asanas were first conceived to allow practitioners to sit in practice for longer durations, thereby enabling them to further hone their ability to achieve inner bliss.\\nAnyone can meditate, and you don’t have to be experienced or knowledgable in Yoga or Buddhism to start incorporating this effective tool into your everyday life. Aside from being a core teaching in Buddhism and Yoga, meditation also offers an array of benefits for your physical and mental well-being.\\nHere are just a few of the ways meditation can impact your life:\\nReduces stress and anxiety\\nBuilds self-awareness and connectedness\\nBrings balance and stability to everyday life\\nImproves sleep and relaxes the body\\nReduces depression\\nImproves focus\\nCalms and regulates the nervous system\\nThere are many types of meditation you can try in conjunction with your yoga practice. With\\n online classes available\\n at MyYogaTeacher, you can learn about meditating at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home.\\n Sign up for a free, two-week trial\\n at MyYogaTeacher to discover how meditation can change your life. Once you’ve become familiar with the basics, you can choose a path that aligns with your goals — whether it’s Yoga, Buddhism, a combination of the two, or a completely different set of beliefs.\\nWhat matters most is the journey itself, and the benefits that Yoga, Buddhism, and meditation can bring to your everyday life. \\n\nGet started today at \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-10-11T13:41:44.045964+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga at Home : 10 ways to start your home yoga practice","coverUrl":"ajwcgjkkcaeg1mp3bb9p.jpg","slug":"how-to-practice-yoga-at-home","content":{"text":"How to get Started:\\nAre you ready to commit to an at home yoga practice? No matter what your reasons for deciding to start an at home practice, \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n has you covered! We will help you begin your journey from beginner to advanced yogi, all without having to leave the comfort of your own home.\\n1. Set up your yoga space\\nWhen you decide to start an at home practice you want to create a space that inspires movement. Since you’ll be coming to your Zen space often, this should be a spot in your home that promotes joy, comfort and peace.\n⁠\\nWhat you need\\nStart with a quiet space. You don’t want to be in a space where you can hear traffic, noise or your family bickering. Find a space where you’re away from noise. If you can’t find a place that’s quiet, invest in headphones for your practice.\\nPlay some music! Grab a small speaker or headphones and find your tunes. There are tons of great yoga playlist available. Find one that inspires you!\\nVisual aids Images or quotes that motivate you. You can put these up or even make a vision board which will help with intentions when you’re read to set them!\\nYourself! The most important thing you’ll need is you! Come as you are to your space. Thank yourself for showing up and have some grace as you begin your journey.\\n2. Get your gear\\nTo begin a yoga practice at home, there are a few things you’ll need to bring to your physical space. If you’re a yogi on a budget, no worries! We’ll provide you with a swap you already have at home!\\nA Mat or towel : Normally for yoga, we use a mat for our practice. If you don’t have one, you can use a towel or two. Just make sure it’s thick and doesn’t slip too much!\\nA bolster or small pillow and blanket: If you’re interested in a relaxation or deep stretch practice, these are essential.  A small couch pillow can take the place of a bolster and any blanket will suffice.\\nBlocks or books:  Sometimes we use blocks in our practice to help deepen a pose or get us closer in our pose. You can also use a chapter book in place of a block!\\nWith these swaps there’s no excuse to wait till you can purchase props to get started! You have everything you need already!\\n \\n3. Find your Why\\nWhy do you want to build an at home yoga practice?\\nWhat are your goals? Before you get started, sit down and think about your “why”.  Be intentional about why you’re on this journey. Our online classes can be a great addition to your at home practice! \\nYou can grab a free trial and get started with us today! \\n\\n Do you want to get stronger?\\n \\nTry a power\\n or\\n \\nvinyasa practice.\\n\\nAre you looking to find more ways to relax?\\n \\nTry a restorative\\n or\\n \\nyin practice.\\n \\n \\nTrying to lose weight?\\n \\nTry our mindful weight loss class.\\n\\n \\n4.Find Your Style\\nWhat type of Yoga is right for you?\\nLet’s break down some of the most popular styles so you can find the right fit for your home practice!\\nVinyasa\\nA vinyasa practice is meant to build strength in your body and mind. Typically, we move with our breath in a vinyasa class. One breath per movement. This flow class is good for building strength.\n⁠\\nHatha\\nGetting back into a fitness routine? Hatha is great for building into an existing or newly revamped fitness routine. This style is meant to improve overall health and fitness as well as build a mind-body connection.\n⁠\\nAshtanga\\nAn Ashtanga practice is for toning up. This practice helps you to build strength and flexibility. This practice is better for intermediate or advanced students as it uses a lot of upper body and core strength.\n⁠\\nYin Yoga\\nLooking to relax? Yin is meant to relax the body and help alleviate any pain or tension in the body. This style is great for recovery for athletes or those rehabbing an injury!\n⁠\n\\nNow you’re ready to practice:\n⁠\\n5. Begin your journey\\n·         Rule of 5’s – Stick to your goals by practicing the rule of 5’s. Five minutes, Five poses, Five deep breaths(slow inhales and exhales) . This is a great way to get started! Slow and steady wins the race and you can ease into your journey with just five minutes at a time!\\n·         Poses for beginners – Five poses to get you started! These poses are great for everyone beginner through advanced.\\n\\n- Mountain Pose\\n\\n\\n\\n- Forward Fold Pose\n⁠\\n\\n\\n- Downward Facing Dog Pose\\n\\n\\n\\n- Pigeon Pose\\n\\n\\n\\n- Child Pose\\n\\n\\n\\n6. Set an Intention\\nThis is your guiding force. It can change with each practice or always be the same. Pick a mantra or an intention. Let it drive you. Let it help you find your focus\\n \\n7. Find your breath\\nBegin a prana practice! There are lots of different types of breath practices. Find one that helps you find balance and try to add it into your practice.\\nRead more about them in\\n \\nthis article\\n from our website!\\n\\n8.\\n \\nCommit to a schedule\\nFitting yoga into your life should be easy. Take some time to think about your goals.\\nHow much time do you want to commit to your practice daily or weekly?\\nSet a goal to do yoga a certain number of days per week. Remember to make your goal attainable. It can always be adjusted. Yoga is a practice, not a perfect. There are no wrong answers in yoga. Any time you make to move your body is an achievement.\\n \\n9. Enhance your home practice\\nStill building your Zen space? Here are some things to add to your space to create an atmosphere you can really relax in!\\nEssential Oils- Grab a few of your favorite oils and a diffuser so your space’s aroma puts you in the right state of mind to move.\\nJournaling- Sometimes the only way to get out of our heads is to put a pen to paper. If your mind is too busy while you practice, try to journal before. Get a notebook and special pen you can keep in you Zen den!\\nBuilding a meditation practice- Extend your yoga practice by building a meditation practice to add on before or after your flow. This can help you emerge from your space more calm, cool and collected.\\n \\n10.\\n \\nFind your community\\nHow to begin an at home practice with us at MyYogaTeacher. \\n\\nJoin our free trial\\n: You’ll get two FREE weeks of unlimited group classes and two free 1-on-1 sessions. \\nHave a plan! Our expert yoga teachers will help customize a plan that’s perfect for you! \\nTake classes & build your practice every day! \\nNow that you have the tools and information, you’re ready to go! Make a plan and get started! Your body will thank you!"},"createdAt":"2022-10-07T10:59:25.142855+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga For Runners : Why Runners Should Incorporate Yoga Into Their Training?","coverUrl":"tbdacuzob0fuqml8dyjd.jpg","slug":"yoga-benefits-for-runners","content":{"text":"Training for a big race? Setting some goals you want to crush before the year ends? No matter what your reasons, yoga can be a great way to cross train for running from a 5k to a marathon! Running is great for your heart and body but can also be a huge strain on the muscles. Having an active yoga practice to complement your running routine can have tons of benefits! Let’s dive into how yoga can help!\\n1. Breathing\\nProper breathing and breath stabilization are both incredibly important principles in Yoga and Running. If you can practice proper breathing while running, you can maintain speed longer because you will take long deeper breaths to match your long strides, instead of short breaths which cause instability and speed decline.\\nPracticing Pranayama for runners - \\nAdding a pranayama breath practice before a run can help you to maintain focus as well as speed. Even if running is a release for you, and feels relaxing, Using breathwork to relax and focus can help you clearly see the physical and mental road ahead. Pranayama can also help if things are going off course on your run. If you need to regain control, you can come back to your breath and refocus. With these practices together, your run really can be a religious experience, or a way to relieve stress! \\nTo start a pranayama practice, all you need to do is focus on controlling your inhale and exhale. Start by standing tall and relaxed, or sitting tall and calm if you prefer. Close your eyes and focus inward. Start by breathing in for two and out for two. As you continue to grow your practice, you can  build up to breathing in for six and out for six. You can even play with pausing for two to four breaths in between your inhale and exhale. When you finally build a practice you’re confident with, you can start to set intentions and visualize your success. With this practice, you’ll begin to see your running dreams come true!\\n\\n2. Flexibility/Strength\\nIt would be great if in life, we only ever needed to do one thing to get to our goals. But in reality,just like we can’t have cookies for every meal, cross training for runners is essential to maintaining a long term healthy routine. While you could easily just add weight training or stretching a la cart into your week, yoga gives you more by going deeper and getting into those smaller, harder to access ligaments and tendons you might otherwise miss with strength training . Adding yoga into your running routine can reduce the risk of injury and help to maintain your goals. The more flexible your muscles are, the less likely they are to tense up or be stressed during running so you can move with more confidence and ease. Not to mention, it’s always great to look forward to a nice long stretch after a run. \\n\n3. Conditioning \\nWe all know running is GREAT for your cardiovascular health, can add years on to your life and keep your heart pumping at its best! But it doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a veteran, running can make your body sore. Yoga is great for conditioning those tired and fatigued muscles without having to “take a day off” to rest. In between your runs or on conditioning days, you can take a class focused on your back or knee health, or even a class to open tight hips after a long run. There’s nothing the magic of yoga can’t do! \\n\n4. Balance/Posture\\nEven though running is a “walk in the park” compared to ballet where balance is concerned, you still need to do your best to focus on alignment while you move.\\nYoga can improve your running form by elongating the limbs so you cover more ground in less time. You'll be PR’ing in no time! Proper alignment is also important when running because as you increase your speed, the level of impact (and injury) becomes greater. Maintaining your body's alignment during movement assures you arrive at the finish line aliment free! Love a tree pose? Want to learn to fly into a warrior? Lots of yoga poses force you to balance on one leg, which helps you to build a unilateral movement practice much like the ebbs and flows you take while running. \\n5. Stress and Mental Clarity\\nFeeling stressed before a big run? Worried about your PR? Yoga can help! Focus your breathing and set an intention. You’ve got this!\\nFocus and clarity are so important when running so you can know where you’re headed and stay on track. Add your yoga practice in before training or race days and you’ll feel your worries melt away. According to scientists at \\nHarvard,\\n adding just minutes of yoga to your week can improve your outlook, slow down the body and decrease stress. You’ll find your body will be more relaxed, focused and ready to run for those goals when you release your tension with yoga. \\nGetting started:\\nSo what do you need to get started? Simple! Yourself, a mat, some water and a quiet space are all you need! Are you ready to add yoga into your running routine? \\nGet started with a two week free trial of our classes and one on one sessions!\\n\\nLet’s figure out where your yoga practice would serve you best! \\nDoing yoga BEFORE your run will help you to warm up your muscles and ligaments. By fully warming up your body before you hit the pavement, you decrease the chances of injury, help with an easier recovery and can improve your PR as you continue to train! \\nBest Yoga Poses to practice before a run :\\nHigh Lunge - This pose stretches the legs from top of the thighs down to the ankle\\n\\nWarrior II - Helps with focus and stamina. Great before heading out!\\n\\nSide angle bend - This stretch helps to stretch the side body and release any tension in the shoulders and spine. \\n\\n⁠Prefer to do yoga after your run? That’s a great option too! Yoga is great for recovery after a run! Finishing your running routine with a yoga stretch helps you to rebalance. You can stretch muscles or limbs that became tight during your run and strengthen anything  that may have become fatigued. You can also refocus and deepen your breath to reset for the next part of your day. \\nBest Yoga Poses to practice after a run :\\nButterfly Pose - a basic hip opener to ease into your stretch\\n\\nHalf Pigeon - A great pose for multiple alignments! Working through the psoas and hip flexors. Make sure to practice on both sides.\\n\\nHappy Baby - This pose is great for finishing up your hip opener extension while giving a nice massage to the back and stretching the soles of the feet.\\n\\nWant to take a class? Try some of our favorite classes for runners!\\n\\nYoga for Strength and flexibility \\n\\n\\nYoga for Knee Pain\\n\\n\\nYoga for Back health\\n\\nReady to join us for class? \\nGet started with a free trial now! \\n\\nRemember, with a great training plan for your runs, and an ongoing yoga practice you’ll be ready to run to your greatest finish line feeling and looking your best! Just like peanut butter and jelly, yoga and running are great together!"},"createdAt":"2022-09-20T13:50:56.406936+00:00","author":{"name":"Ritesh Bhatt","pictureUrl":"ritesh.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"ritesh-1"},"category":["fitness","yoga"]},{"title":"How to Start Doing Yoga at Home","coverUrl":"cqivxw3vkrcihpumlny7.jpg","slug":"yoga-at-home","content":{"text":"There are lots of reasons for doing yoga at home instead of a yoga studio, some of which include distance, busy schedules, kids, financial concerns, and health issues. The good news is you can set up your own yoga practice at home, and still get all the benefits of a regular yoga routine — without the studio. It can also be a great way to integrate yoga into your life on a regular basis, and it’s easy to do in your own home.\\nCan Anyone do Yoga at Home?\\nAnyone can perform yoga at home, and you don’t have to be an advanced yogi to try. Even beginners can practice yoga in a home environment, all you need is adequate floor space, a few (optional) pieces of equipment, and guidelines for practicing the primary yoga poses. \\nIf you’re a beginner, it’s recommended to first learn from a certified yoga instructor, so you can progress with the proper technique and alignment to avoid injury. Thanks to online learning platforms like\\n MyYogaTeacher\\n, you can still practice yoga at home with the help of a qualified teacher.\\n11 Tips on How to Perform Yoga At Home\\nThe idea of starting a yoga practice in your very own living room can seem daunting or intimidating at first, especially if you’re accustomed to attending classes in a yoga studio. But with a little bit of preparation and creativity, you can set up your own yoga space and develop a mindful yoga routine that can benefit your life.\\nHere are some suggestions to help get you started:\\n1. Make Space in Your Home for Yoga\\nIt’s easy (and fun) to make your own yoga space, and you can design it as a temporary space or a dedicated one, depending on your needs. All you need is enough floor space to move around and stretch out the full length of your body — a little more than the length and width of your yoga mat. This can be your living or bedroom floor, your kitchen, or your backyard. Just make sure there isn’t any furniture or objects lying around that could get in your way or cause injury.\\n2. Decorate With Calming Accessories\\nYou can also create a comfortable and inviting space for yoga by hanging calming or inspiring artwork on the wall, lighting a candle or incense, and keeping a few house plants nearby for a pleasing atmosphere. The more you can tailor and dedicate your space for yoga, the easier it will be to motivate yourself to keep up a steady routine. Hanging a mirror in front of your practice space is also helpful in maintaining the correct alignment while performing postures.\\n3. Be Prepared With the Right Equipment\\n\\nYou’ll want to invest in a yoga mat, and it’s wise to also keep modifying props on hand — like blocks, bolsters, blankets, and a strap. If you’re just starting out and you’d like to improvise for props, you can use pillows, blankets, and other items around the house to suit your needs. Just make sure your props are sturdy, supportive, and nearby for when you need them.\\n4. Practice Regularly\\nThe best part about practicing yoga at home is it can be done any time you want. The challenge lies in your dedication and commitment to the practice even when your couch appears more inviting. According to this study, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to create a new habit. It’s important to be patient with yourself and identify guidelines for your practice that you can realistically follow through with. \\n5. Schedule Your Yoga Session\\nSet yourself up for success by committing to your yoga practice at a certain time of day, and for a specified number of days per week. It’s best to start out easy with goals that are achievable and progress as you gain momentum. For instance, if you’ve never been an early riser, don’t expect yourself to suddenly start practicing yoga at dawn. If that’s the case, try scheduling your yoga session for late morning, afternoon or evening, and keep your existing schedule in mind when planning a time that works for you.\\n6. Keep it Simple\\nRegardless of your experience or ability level, practicing yoga at home means watching out for your own safety. Make sure you have props handy for when you need them, and avoid overdoing it with strenuous poses. When it doubt, keep your routine simple. Even if you’re an advanced yogi, those basic, primary yoga poses are still an important part of a holistic yoga practice, and may be less likely to cause injury.\\n7. Listen to Your Body\\nThe best way to avoid getting hurt while practicing yoga at home is to listen to your body. If any posture causes you discomfort or pain, stop practicing it immediately — no matter how easy or difficult the pose. Don’t push yourself too hard, and remember to focus on your alignment. If you are unsure of how to execute a specific pose, try learning it from a certified instructor before performing it on your own at home.\\n8. Take an Online Yoga Class\\n\\nBy far the best way to practice yoga at home is with an online class. This way, you get all the benefits of doing yoga at home in your own time, with the added help of an instructor who can make sure you’re performing poses safely and effectively. You can find\\n online group classes\\n for every type of yoga at\\n MyYogaTeacher\\n, with over 42 classes offered throughout the day. Private, 1-on-1 instructors are also available for at-home yoga, giving you plenty of options to get the right kind of training while still practicing in the comfort of your own home.\\n9. Squeeze in a Short Practice\\nThe beauty of an at-home yoga practice means you can squeeze in a quick session when you just have 20-30 minutes of time. Even short yoga routines are beneficial for your body and mind, and performing a few of the primary yoga poses on a daily basis will change your life for the better. Try incorporating the Sun Salutation flow series into your morning routine when you first get out of bed in the morning, or practicing some relaxing poses like Legs-Up-The-Wall or Savasana in the evening. \\n10. Switch it Up and Make it Fun\\nYoga doesn’t always have to be serious, and you can make your home yoga practice fun and spontaneous for you and your family. Practicing with your kids is a great way to help them learn mindfulness and self-awareness, while stretching and strengthening their growing bodies. You can also take your practice to the backyard to enjoy sunshine and good weather, or invite friends over to share in the experience. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box!\\n11. End Every Practice With Savasana\\nWhen practicing yoga at home, it can be tempting to skip important parts of the journey due to time constraints, distractions, or disinterest. If there is one element of yoga you should never skip, it’s Savasana, or otherwise known as Corpse pose. Always end your practice with 5 minutes of relaxation to help your body integrate the routine. Keep a blanket nearby to warm your body after it has cooled down, and consider an eye pillow to help you relax. Your body and mind will thank you as you move on to the rest of your day, having given yourself the gift of healthy movement to better your life.\n⁠\n⁠\nMaybe you’re an experienced yogi who knew this already. Maybe you’re not! Or maybe you are at an age where protecting your spine and preventing spinal problems is more challenging than it was a decade or two ago.\n\nWhatever the case, MyYogaTeacher is here to help! When you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\ngrab TWO FREE 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n! \n⁠To setup your process with MyYogaTeacher, check out our \\ntest setup\\n!"},"createdAt":"2022-09-14T13:07:13.39269+00:00","author":{"name":"Archana R","pictureUrl":"archana.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"archana-1"},"category":["yoga","therapy"]},{"title":"Interested in starting a Hatha yoga practice? 10 tips to get started!","coverUrl":"kwfhavtczeih1sjadbhk.jpg","slug":"start-hatha-yoga-practice","content":{"text":"Are you new to yoga? Looking to develop a practice but don’t know what style or where to begin? Hatha yoga is a great choice for beginners looking to build a routine or veterans looking to deepen their practice of breathing and flexibility.\\nFirst things first, What is Hatha Yoga?\\nHatha yoga is a form of gentle yoga made up of poses and breath work and often starts or ends with a meditation. This type of practice can be challenging because in most traditional Hatha classes, poses are held for 30 seconds to a minute. \\nStyles of Hatha Yoga that we offer at \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n:\\nHatha Yoga - This practice focuses separately on each asana. Focusing on connecting each asana with the breath and deepening each pose. This practice allows for breaks between poses and is more gentle and slow paced. \\nHatha Vinyasa - Known as a flow class, adding in the vinyasa makes the practice a little more fast paced. The poses are more linked together and the movement is connected to your breath work. \\nWhat are the benefits of a Hatha Yoga Practice?\\nThere are many benefits to building a hatha yoga practice. On the surface, for your physical health, hatha can increase flexibility, strength and balance!  Hatha is proven to fight signs of aging and  help with joint or muscle pain and improve blood flow!\\nWhen you turn your practice inward, it can also deepen your sleep and with the addition of the breathwork, your practice can also help you cope with anxiety or depression symptoms. \\nHatha is a great place to start your yoga journey because you can take your time to get familiar with the poses and learn to connect them to your breath.  It’s good for the body and the mind!\\nHere are 10 tips to get you started with a Hatha Yoga Practice:\\nKnow your why - Before you start to build your practice, it’s important to establish why you’re coming to your mat. Is your reason for physical health, mental health or maybe just to press pause on your day and breathe? Each flow can be personalized for whatever brings you to your mat each day.\\nBe a student! - Take a class with us so you can learn how to flow on your own. Sometimes before you fly solo, you need a co-captain. And if you never decide to fly on your own, we're happy to have you here with us! Our teachers are the best and we think you'll love their classes!\n⁠\n⁠Check out these three Hatha classes we love!\n⁠\\nHatha for Beginners\\n\n⁠\\nHatha Yoga Intermediate\\n\n⁠\\nHatha Vinyasa\\n\\nLearn to breath - In this practice, you'll be holding in poses and breathing into the space you create. The traditional breath practice for a hatha yoga class is\\n Ujjayi breathing\\n otherwise known as victorious breath. This breathing practice is often used in yoga because it forces you to slow down and focus on your breathing and its connection to your movement. \\nChoose your asasas - While Hatha is usually a gentle practice, there is no right or wrong way to build your Hatha flow. The goal is just to focus and move your body! All you need is a minimum of three to five poses to get started! Start by reviewing the poses you know and then when you’re ready, add more as you grow.\\nPractice your pause - once you know what asanas you’d like to practice, grab a stopwatch! Work on holding each pose for 30 seconds, then 45 seconds, then a minute. Don’t forget to breathe into it. And if you can, try to find space and deepen into each pose as you practice more. \\nFind a way to beat the mental fatigue - Don’t give in to the voice in your head that says you can’t do this.  Holding the poses can be difficult at first. Have a little grace and try your best not to give up. Practice your mantras to keep you going. Our favorite? Your stronger than you think!\\nBuild a meditation practice - When building a meditation practice, it’s important to figure out what you need from it. Do you need mantras to help you keep going? Do you need to visual what's coming? Or do you need to focus inward on your breath and the current moment. Remember, there’s no wrong answer. Play with this practice. Add it to the beginning, then the end and see where it serves you. Can’t settle in for quiet reflection? Try journaling instead. \\nBe benevolent to yourself - In Hatha yoga, one of the most important practices is the principle of non-violence (ahimsa) this means do no harm to yourself or to others Try to go through your life being kind to yourself on and off your mat. For more on this practice, check out \\nthis article\\n by Yogauonline\\nRead the text- Like a lot of Yoga, hatha isn’t just based on a movement practice. In fact, there are two connected texts to teach you the foundations of this practice. \\nHatha Yoga Pradipika \\n- a 15th century Sanskrit manual on the practice and style. \\nSiva Samhita\\n - from the hindu perspective breaking “yoga” the practice, down into five parts.\\nTrack the progress of your practice - Once you’ve developed your practice, there is no ‘ end' in yoga, we can only keep coming back to deepen or extend our practice. That’s why it’s a “practice” because there is no perfect. You can always adjust. Some days you’ll need more, some days less. But all the days…you'll need yoga. \\nFive poses to get started with Hatha Yoga:\\n1. Childs Pose\\nFocus on your third eye here. Move your head from right to left to massage your forehead.\\n\\n\n2. Cat Pose\\nBreath into your spine as you arch your back away from the floor. Relax your neck.\\n\\n\\n3. Down Dog\\nFocus on lengthening your heels into the floor and pushing your hips towards the back of the room. \\n\\n\\n4. Forward Fold\\nSurrender into this pose. Reach your palms towards the floor and deepen your stretch with every exhale.\\n\\n\\n5. Savasana\\nRelax your entire body into the ground. Release all the tension and slow your breath. \\n\\n\nNow that you have the tools you need, you’re ready to go! Find where your practice fits best and get ready to feel relaxed and enlightened! If you’re doing hatha for physical health, try adding the practice in after another workout or at the end of your day. \\nLooking  to build a practice for relaxation or to wind down from your anxiety? Try starting your day with practice and a cup of green tea! \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n has tons of options available to you! See you on your mat! "},"createdAt":"2022-09-13T08:10:21.940734+00:00","author":{"name":"Namrata Khandelwal","pictureUrl":"namrata-k-pro.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"namrata-2"},"category":["yoga_poses","yoga"]},{"title":"Ayurveda Week: Managing Your Health & Wellness Through Yogic Principles and Practices","coverUrl":"re2e9xci04rauux8vgyu.png","slug":"ayurvedic-health-week-sep-2022","content":{"text":"Announcing MyYogaTeacher’s first ever FREE Ayurveda Week Event! \\nYou’re invited to participate in seven days of free sessions focused on managing your health & wellness through Ayurvedic principles and practices!\\n\\nAyurveda\\n is one of the world’s oldest holistic health practices and is based on the idea that illnesses and disease are a product of imbalance and stress in a person’s consciousness.\\nIn a world that is so focused on traditional medicine, Ayurveda principles and practices holistically:\\nImprove gut health\\nDecrease symptoms of anxiety\\nReduce inflammation in the body\\nHelp with pain management\\nBoost immunity\\nPromote weight loss\\nand so much more! \\nHow to join the Ayurveda Week Event:\\nMembers\\nJust click the links below to one or all of the classes you’d like to attend and register as you would any other group class! Simple as that.\\nNon-Members\\n\\nClick this link to sign up for your free two week trial\\n to get access to this incredible event! No credit card required.\\n\\nAre you a nonmember who signed up for a trial in the past but it’s lapsed?\\nIf you’re not a member but signed up for a free-trial in the past, and it has expired, just reach out to \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n to let us know!  We'll reset your trial and give you full access to the event.\\nConsider how different your life would be if you were mentally, emotionally, and physically healthier! How much more joy would you have? How would you move better in the world? What kinds of activities would you participate in that you can’t now?\\nWe've put together an entire schedule of Ayurveda classes dedicated to helping you be your healthiest self, even amidst all the internal and external chaos in the world right now.\\n\\nCheck out the educational, inspiring, and exciting event classes and very special guest instructors making this event happen!\\n(Click the class links to register for any or all of these amazing sessions!)\\n\\n\\nIntroduction to Ayurveda with Anjali Deva\\n\\nWednesday, September 14 at 4:00 pm PST/7:00 pm EST\\nJoin Anjali, Ayurveda practitioner and founder of Madhya Way, a school for Ayurveda! Anjali specializes in an integrated and trauma-informed approach to this ancient practice. This class will cover the history, current practice and introduction to the philosophy of Ayurveda, the traditional medical system from India that is over 5,000 years old. This will be a 45-minute interactive lecture and discussion.\\n\\n\\nGut Health - An Ayurvedic Perspective with Dr. Akhilesh Sharma\\n\\nThursday, September 15 at 4:30 pm PST/7:30 pm EST\\nWe are excited to welcome Dr. Akhilesh, special guest expert, former Ayurveda Advisor to the Government of Delhi, and Ayurvedic physician with over 30 years of experience practicing and promoting Ayurveda across 19 countries globally! Join him as he teaches you the basic theory of Tridosha and its application in daily life. This will give you a fair understanding about Ayurvedic perspective towards a Diet Plan and Kitchen remedies from Ayurvedic Food. This will be a lecture session followed by Q&A from participants\\n\\n\\nYoga and Ayurveda with Arun Deva\\n\\nFriday, September 16 at 4:00 pm PST/7:00 pm EST\\nMeet Arun! Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner (NAMA), Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist, Yoga Therapist (IAYT), Vinyasa Krama certified yoga teacher, and international lecturer, speaker, and teacher!  He also serves on the National and State Ayurvedic Associations. Join him in learning how Ayurveda and Yoga are intertwined in healthcare. When our yoga is informed by Ayurveda, it becomes more of a healing art. In this short session, learn how yoga and Ayurveda connect, where they intersect and how they support each other in our healing paradigm. Participants will learn about the health benefits of Ayurveda and Yoga. This session will also introduce Ayurveda as an alternate approach to your health which will help you in your day to day life.\n\\n\\nPregnancy and Nutrition with Dr. Geetanjali Shah\\n\\nSaturday, September 17 at 4:30 pm PST/7:30 pm EST\\nJoin pediatrician, prenatal coach, author, and co-owner of three hospitals, Dr. Shah, in her class for parents-to-be! In this session, parents-to-be will get guidelines on what to eat and what are the right proportions to be followed for a balanced maternity diet. We will also talk about Pranic foods and how they are important for fetal brain development. This session will help participants create their own diet plan and weekly food timetable. It will be helpful for couples planning to have a baby, pregnant women and their partners, and also post delivery lactating mothers.\\n\\n\\nFood and Spirituality with Vinay Varanasi\\n\\nSunday, September 18 at 5:00 pm PST/8:00 pm EST\\nA keen practitioner of Sanatana dharma, Vinay is a lecturer, teacher, and spiritual guide. With his heavy focus on Shiva consciousness, Vinay will lead all those seeking to deepen their spiritual journey. This session will help seekers identify ways to connect with their food, recognize it as a form of the divine and deepen their spiritual practice through moments of gratitude around food.\n\\n\\nManaging Vata This Autumn with Dr. Bhattacharya\\n\\nMonday, September 19 at 4:30 pm PST/7:30 pm EST\\nAs director of the DINacharya Institute in New York, Dr. Bhattacharya leads workshops and seminars, and trains health practitioners in Ayurveda. She has a PhD in ancient Indian chemistry, is a licensed physician, published author, educator, and scientist! She has also been featured on the Discovery Channel in a documentary about Ayurveda. Join her in learning about Vata and its management. Vata is the principle of movement in the microcosm and macrocosm of your being. We will explore how Vata management can help ensure better digestion, ensure better mental health and also help in pain management.\\n\\n\\nAyurveda and Joint Health with Dr. Dhanada Kulkarni\\n\\nTuesday, September 20 at 6:00 pm PST/9:00 pm EST\\nWe’re excited to welcome Dr. Kulkarni, Bachelors of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery, Masters in Alternative Medicine, Yoga Therapy Specialist & Expert, licensed Massage Therapist, and renowned Ayurveda physician! Her session, the last of our event, will focus on joint health. You will explore how Ayurveda can help in improving joint health. By the end, participants will understand how Ayurveda can help improve back health and knee health.\\n\\nHelping you live your most joyful, healthiest life is important to all of us here at MyYogaTeacher! We are so excited to have you join us on the journey to holistic health and more harmony!\n⁠\\nYou don’t need to know exactly \\nwhat Ayurveda is\\n to join. Just come and experience it for yourself!\\nAnd remember: If you’re a nonmember who’s two-week free trial has ended, reach out to \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n to have your trial reset so you can easily sign up for these awesome classes!\\n\\nWelcome to MyYogaTeacher’s Ayurvedic Week Event!\\nSee you soon!\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-09-05T18:57:32.695601+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What is Ayurveda? How can Ayurveda enhance your Yoga practice ?","coverUrl":"lyb6uylxsv5tlqxhezb6.jpg","slug":"what-is-ayurveda-yoga","content":{"text":"What is Ayurveda?\\nIn Sanskrit, Ayurveda means “science of life”\\nAyurveda is one of the oldest known medical practices with roots based in India. It’s an alternative type of medicine that believes in using herbs and lifestyle changes for a healthier and more well balanced life. Ayurveda can truly add years to your life even when you’re suffering from major illnesses like cancer or diabetes. Unlike western medicine that loops us all in together, the practice looks at each person separately & helps to find what your body needs to aid in wellness. For example, an Ayurveda practice can ward off the effects of chemo for someone going through cancer treatments. \\nAyurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population report using it. It has survived thousands of years and political values and is currently making its way into western medical practices. \\n\\nWhy should you practice Ayurveda?\\nAyurveda is completely individualized. It believes each person is born with their own health constitution.\\nAyurveda can improve the quality of your daily and overall  life. Just like yoga, Ayurveda is practical for your daily routine because it starts with the routines of your everyday health like a balanced diet, sleep patterns, setting a routine and getting in your vitamins. If you become sick, it targets the root of the issue, not the symptoms. So you can become rebalanced more effectively. \\nAccording to \\nJohn Hopkins\\n, Ayurveda is important because:  “Ayurveda translates to knowledge of life. Based on the idea that disease is due to an imbalance or stress in a person's consciousness, Ayurveda encourages certain lifestyle interventions and natural therapies to regain a balance between the body, mind, spirit, and the environment.”\\n\\nSo how does Ayurveda connect to Yoga?\\nIt is often said that “Ayurveda is considered yoga’s sister science”  Like yoga, Ayurveda uses the same style practices like postures, breathing, mantras and meditation. While some people use yoga to treat physical ailments or mental fatigue, Ayurveda also uses herbal formulas and oils.  Also, just as there are 8 limbs of yoga, there are 8 branches of Ayurveda. The practices are like paternal twins!\\nIn Ayurveda, it is believed that each body has a constitution that falls under three main dosha types. Your constitution will help you discover more about yourself as well as the best kind of yoga for your body and mental health. \\nThe Type of practice that balances each Dosha are as follows: \\nVata - Calming and grounded. Try a \\nrestorative\\n or \\ngentle\\n class. \\nKapa - Stimulating and warm. Try a \\nvinyasa\\n class. \\nPitta - Assertive and intense. Try a \\npower\\n class or \\nashtanga\\n class. \\nWant to know yours? \\nTake this quiz!\\n\n⁠Once you know your dosha, you can find the best asanas for your practice! \\nHow can Ayurveda enhance your Yoga practice\\nYoga and Ayurveda practices are intertwined like tree branches. Quite frankly, connecting the two will create ultimate peace in your life and body.\\nIn the words of Dr. David Frawley, esteemed scholar of Ayurveda, Yoga and Vedanta and director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies:\\n“Using Ayurveda along with Yoga helps us gain complete harmony and balance in body and mind so that we can discover our true self that is one with all. All Yoga teachers should learn the fundamentals of Ayurveda and all Yoga students should seek Ayurvedic guidance to enhance their Yoga practice.” For yoga teachers or those who practice often, it tends to be a lot on our bodies. An Ayurveda practice can help with muscle fatigue, burn out, dehydration and sleep issues.\\nBe Intentional about your “self care”\\nWe can be so focused on the culture of “self care” in our modern lives. We think an expensive coffee or a trip to the salon is what we need for “self care” but if you can be as intentional about your self care practice as you are about your yoga practice, thata Ayurveda. It can be as simple as realizing your body is tired and getting a massage or drinking more water to keep yourself hydrated on a long day. Tuning in to what you need, just like when you set an intention in yoga will help you to achieve a more balanced, happy and healthier life. \\n\\nWhat Yoga Classes pair best with an Ayurveda practice?\\n\\nPranayama and Meditation \\n\\nA pranayama class is great to pair with Ayurveda because pranayama is the science of “self healing” through the breath. It’s an essential part of both a yoga practice and an Ayurveda routine because it promotes physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. \\n\\nAshtanga Yoga\\n\\nAshtanga is a great choice because it forces the yogi to focus on your nervous system. It makes you check in & notice how your body feels and what may be imbalanced. When you discover what’s bothering you, you can apply Ayurvedic techniques to the aliment. \\n\\nKundalini Yoga\\n \\nNo matter what your dosha, kundalini fits all Aryuvedic constitutions. This practice will help you be intentional, set a mantra and meditate. \\n\\nHatha Yoga \\n \\nHatha is actually considered one of the “ Ayurvedic healing modalities. The asanas help all dosha’s to properly align both physically and mentally. \\nNeed help getting started? We’ve got you covered!\\n\\nHere, read about the diet and how to start eating for optimal health.\\n\\nWant to speak with a professional to see if Ayurveda is right for you? \\nContact our staff practitioner! \\n\\nThere’s no time like now to align your practices! If you’re interested in starting an Ayurvedic practice to pair with your yoga practice, all you need to do is look within. Be intentional and listen to your body! It’s had the answers all along! "},"createdAt":"2022-09-01T16:37:46.744669+00:00","author":{"name":"Shelly","pictureUrl":"shelly.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"shelly-1"},"category":["yoga","therapy"]},{"title":"The Importance of a Yoga practice for Women","coverUrl":"llizejqjzzeaxaxii2ey.jpg","slug":"yoga-practice-for-women","content":{"text":"Why adding Yoga to your routine can make you feel like your most calm and confident self.\\nWe all know women have a lot on their plate. With all the things we have to get done in a day, it’s hard to remember to add taking care of ourselves to the list. We sometimes find time for a trip to the gym, a podcast episode or a quick walk between our to-do list, but the benefits of taking even 10 minutes to do yoga or a meditation can carry us through stressful days, help us sleep better or relieve pain and anxiety. Let’s break down why yoga is so important to the feminine being.\\nYoga is important for your mental health\\nA consistent yoga practice promotes relaxation, reduces anxiety and stress and can aid in mental clarity and a calm mind. Yoga is a great way to end your workday or transition from work back to your home life. If you have a high stress job, or you’re spending your day with kids, taking just five to ten minutes to breathe and stretch can put you in a clearer mindset to switch roles or tasks with ease. For example, Pranayama, the practice of focusing your breath takes only a few minutes and can help you adjust or focus your breathing, mind and heart. Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, prana means \"vital life force\". In stressful situations, we can always come back to our breath. This is especially a great practice for women, as we tend to be a “lifesource” for our families.\\nLet’s find the right poses to ease your mind!\\nSuggested Poses for stress relief:\\nStanding Forward Fold :\\n\\nThis pose releases tension in the neck and back and is a physical and mental “letting go”\\nEasy Seat :\\n\\n Gentle hip opener, relieves physical and mental exhaustion.\\nChilds Pose : \\n\\nReleases the Nero and lymphatic systems.\\nSuggested Poses for anxiety relief:\\nHead to Knee forward bend :\\n\\nCalms the mind.\\nBridge pose : \\n\\nReduces anxiety and fatigue.\\nCamel Pose : \\n\\nBoost Energy.\\nSuggested Poses to calm the mind:\\nLegs up the wall : \\n\\nLegs up the \\nwall \\nallows your body complete relaxation.\\nCorpse Pose :\\n\\nQuiets your system and lowers your blood pressure\\nCat Pose :\\n\\nHelps to relieve stress and calm the mind.\\nYoga is important for your physical health\\nYou can find little ways to add yoga into your life every day to keep your body in tip top shape! You can add yoga to the end of your workout to lower your heart rate or choose it as a workout on “low impact” days. Believe it or not, yoga can actually take the place of strength training and cardio programs if you take the right classes! \\nMyYogaTeacher has so many options to support your active lifestyle! Yoga can improve flexibility, strength and even help with range of motion. So if you’ve got goals, we’ve got a class to fit them! \\n A normal yoga practice can keep your hormones in check and help with menopause and menstrual symptoms. Not feeling well? Tired? Yoga can also aid in normal digestion or help you maintain a healthy sleep cycle.\\nNow that you know yoga can help your physical body, let's find the right styles for you!\\nFor flexibility – If you’re trying to improve flexibility, you’re in luck! Most styles of yoga are GREAT for stretching and flexibility. If you’re looking to just stretch, we’d recommend a \\nrestorative \\nor \\nyin yoga class.\\n\\nFor Pain relief- If you’re in pain, try a focused Yin Yoga class for your injury or ailment. We have some great choices! Just use the search feature on our website! There are classes that are as specific as \\nyoga for knee pain \\nor yoga for digestion!\\nFor Strength – If you’re a warrior who loves to sweat, Vinyasa is your go to style. Try this low impact style that’s sure to raise your heart rate faster than any treadmill run. Are you a more advanced Yogi?\\n Try a Power Yoga\\n class!\\nYoga is important for your emotional wellbeing\\nMost yogis believe that yoga is a mind, body and soul practice meaning that it’s not just for fitness or for mental clarity, but it’s a life experience that can add joy and comfort to your everyday life. For most of us, the practice of yoga is what we take back to our lives long after we leave the mat.  \\nYoga can improve your energy-\\n A study done by Oxford\\n, found that a yoga practice and yoga breathing can restore your energy better than any other visualization or relaxation practice.\\nYoga helps connect the mind and body- While our mind and body are always physically connected, Yoga makes us stop, think and question that connection. It trains us to concentrate on our breath and connect our thoughts to one body part, or move at a time. Which helps us to increase focus.\\nAnd last, but certainly not least, yoga is great for socialization! Group fitness classes help us to make friends, or find friends who share our common interests or goals. Who doesn’t love taking a class with their friends? And with our site, you can take class together from the comfort of your own homes!\\nReady to fit yoga into your life? Let’s find a way to make it work for you!\\nWhen can you fit in yoga if you have a busy schedule? Unlike a traditional studio or gym, Our website makes it easy for you to fit yoga in when it works for you! Classes run live from 6am to 9pm. And you can take classes at home, on vacation or even at work on your lunch break. You can take your practice anywhere with our \\nvirtual options\\n. Don’t think you can commit to a live class? Watch your recordings later on your own time! \\nAre you a stay-at-home mom? Do you feel like you can’t get away for a workout? Do it with them! Make yoga time a part of your family’s routine to either start or end the day. We even have kid’s classes you can take together! \\nTry one today!\\n\\nNot a fan of group fitness? Maybe you prefer to workout alone or have specific goals you want to meet. Our\\n one on one option\\n is great for deepening your practice or working directly with an instructor to meet your goals on your timeline! \\nSo whichever reason speaks to you, even with all the things you have to do for your family or work, You can always make time for yoga and add more joy to your life with a yoga practice. Where there’s a will there’s a way. All you need for yoga is your body and a commitment to yourself! Make the time to start your practice today! Your body will thank you!\\n\\nReady to get started? Grab a free trial!\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-08-22T09:21:21.098639+00:00","author":{"name":"Divya","pictureUrl":"divya-1.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"divya-1"},"category":["yoga","fitness"]},{"title":"Celebrating National Relaxation Day With MyYogaTeacher: Free 7 Days of Relaxation Event","coverUrl":"i9lswae7b72hwhv8bjas.png","slug":"7-days-of-relaxation","content":{"text":"August 12-18\\nKeep reading to learn more and sign up for some very special sessions!\\nThe pandemic, politics, climate change, a recession and inflation…these things do not have to define your mental and emotional status! You \\ncan\\n experience deep relaxation in the midst of stress and chaos.\\nWe've put together an entire schedule of classes dedicated to helping you relax deeply, no matter what's going on at home, at work, or in the world.\\nIf you were more relaxed, more calm, more present – what would your home life look like? What would your work life look like? Now do you think it's worth carving out a few hours for yourself, to relax, to connect with WHY you do what you do? (ie. the love you feel for these people in your life)\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nThis event is completely free. It starts on August 12 and goes through to August 18th.\\nNote\\n: If you signed up for a free trial more than two weeks ago, your free access is probably gone. No worries, if you want to attend any of the sessions - send an email to care@myyogateacher.com and say “Please restart my trial so I can join the Relaxation Day event!” And, as always with MyYogaTeacher, these sessions are all live, interactive, and online. So you can learn from master yogis, in India, from the comfort of your home!\\n\\nAnd yes, we are going to keep many of these relaxation sessions going even after the free event ends. So if you're a member and you're reading this, you get to continue to soak up the mellow vibes.\\nBring your friends and family!\\nYou're welcome to invite your family members, friends, or anyone you think could benefit from a little stress relief. In fact, we encourage you to do this with your entire family! Imagine what your household would look like if everyone was a little more at ease, peaceful, and patient.\\nThere are 23 classes being offered for this event (a lot, right?!). Including our very special featured class with the amazing Dr. Savitha Kootil!\\nBreathing Life Back Into Your Mental and Emotional Wellbeing with Dr. Savitha Kootil\\nDr. Kootil takes a holistic approach to health. She offers patients, and those feeling anxiety and stress, various breathing, meditation, and mindfulness tips that are grounded in yoga philosophy. “I tell patients that yoga is not just a physical practice with difficult poses, but also a mental practice that can help with breathing, posture, and feeling better emotionally,” says Dr. Kootil. Her webinar “Breathing Life Back Into Your Mental & Emotional Wellbeing” will address how people can take control of their emotions and thoughts which are making them feel angry, depressed, helpless, inert, sad, or scared. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\n\\n\\n                                      \\nClick here to see a zoomed in version of the schedule\\n\\n\\nPartner Tantra Yoga (Building Your Relationship in New Light) with Niyata and Bodhi\\nPeople practice couple/partner tantra to feel connected to their partner on a higher level. Strengthens relations. Tantric techniques involve the five senses and their intimate understanding, which leads to new discoveries about yourself and the person you are practicing with.Tantric yoga demands your full focus, which will allow you to connect and reflect. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nBhakti Yoga (Bhajan,Kirtan and Mantra Chanting) with Niyata\\nThis practice has been found to provide a number of physical and mental health benefits, such as increased energy and stamina, reduced anxiety, stress, and depression, as well as improved sleep quality, enhanced self-esteem and self worth.  It improves overall psychological well being. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nLove and Kindness Meditation (Metta Meditation) with Preeti\\nLoving-kindness meditation or ‘Metta’ meditation is an ultimate form of generous and selfless love towards ourselves and others.It is the simplest meditation. You will become more self-accepting than ever andl feel a deep sense of emotional strength that balances your thoughts and actions. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nMeditation For Sleep - Golden Light Meditation with Preeti\\nThis is a simple method of transforming your energy and leading to a deep state of rest. If you are seeking restful sleep and refreshed mornings, this is the perfect class for you. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nLaughter Yoga (Hasyayoga) with Sujit\\nLaughter yoga helps to ease anxiety and helps with depression ... simply by allowing you to stay in the present moment. These exercises are value based, playful and Yogic but they are all ultimately about letting go and are very diaphragmatic. It helps to bring oxygen to the brain and all the cells in our body and helps to release all the feel good chemicals and endorphins. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nMantra,Mudra and Meditation with Bodhi\\n Chanting mantras has the power to transform our mind, body, and spirit. When we recite any mantras mantra, it creates vibrations in our whole body. The movement of energy regulates the chemicals in our brain. So mantras can make a profound impact onour mind. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nTheta Meditation: Accessing the brain power with Bodhi\\nCreated for deep relaxation, this class uses theta waves. Theta activity has a frequency of 3.5 to 7.5 Hz and is classed as a “slow” activity. It is seen in connection with creativity, intuition, daydreaming, and fantasizing and is a repository for memories, emotions, and sensations. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nPranic Energization Technique (PET) with Bodhi\\nWhat is PET? An advanced Yogic meditation technique where we use our Prana Shakti to energize the whole body. It can strengthen the immune defense system of the body. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nTrataka - Candlelight Meditation with Akshay\\n Using the candlelight we gaze at the flame learning to train the eyes not to blink. It gives great relaxation to the eyes and nervous system. The benefits of Trataka candlelight meditation: increased cognitive performance and focus. improved sleep quality. improved eye health. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nVipaasana Meditation with Akshay\\nVipassana is a way of self-transformation through self-observation. It involves observing your thoughts and emotions as they are, without judging or dwelling on them. Vipassana can reduce stress and anxiety, which may have benefits for substance use. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nYoga Nidra with Shivayogi\\nSome relaxation breathing techniques. Holding longer restorative poses before bed helps your body find restful sleep that leaves you waking up refreshed and ready for the day. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nStretch and Breath with Shrutika\\nA simple practice of stretching, connected with your breath, to improve elasticity and muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased range of motion, muscle control, and flexibility. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nRestorative yoga for deep relaxation with Swathi\\nRestorative yoga allows the body to slow down & relax with 4-6 poses/asanas per session, each pose is held for longer duration. This Practice will help to relieve chronic stress, improve sleep, improve digestion, balance your Blood Pressure, reduce muscle tension & general fatigue. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nKriya, Pranayama and Meditation with Rohan\\nThis practice focuses on breathwork and using breath and meditation to relax, rejuvenate, and heal the mind, body, and spirit. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nKundalini Yoga-Breathing,Movement and Meditation with Bodhi\\nKriyas are a set of purifying practices intended to help the body to clear energy pathways and strengthen the immune system. Simple kriyas can be included in a daily practice to boost self-confidence and promote vibrant health. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nBreathing & Meditation with Trupti\\nMeditation stills and calms the mind. Your teacher will guide you to focus on your own breath and then clear your mind from excessive thoughts and distractions. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nBreathing & Meditation with Archana\\nMeditation stills and calms the mind. Your teacher will guide you to focus on your own breath and then clear your mind from excessive thoughts and distractions. Meditation is a great way to restore energy to a tired mind and help you gain mental focus and clarity. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nBreath & Flow with Bharath\\nA Yoga class for all! This class introduces foundational yoga asanas combined with a full-body flow which will help to stretch, strengthen and rejuvenate. In addition to asana, the class includes opportunities for pranayama (breathing techniques) and meditation. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nChakras & Sound Healing with Abhishek\\nChakra meditation followed by bamboo flute and jaw harp. Greater and faster ability to heal your mental, physical, spiritual and emotional self. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nKundalini with Sujit\\nA Kundalini practice is enlivening and even beginners will feel a sense of awakening. The breathing techniques are used to stimulate the nervous system, leaving the mind feeling sharp and alive. Kundalini yoga uses the breath, postures, and meditation. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nLaughter Yoga with Kanika\\nThis modern exercise involves prolonged voluntary laughter. This type of yoga is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides similar physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter.  much playfulness between participants. Intentional laughter often turns into real and contagious laughter. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\nYoga for Stress & Anxiety with Nandeep\\nThis is a mind-body practice that combines physical postures, breathing exercises, kriyas, pranayama, deep relaxation & meditation. With a regular yoga practice, your stress hormone levels drop & your body functioning improves thus creating an environment for your mind to effectively manage stress. \\nClick here to find out more or book this session\\n\\n\\nJoin the MyYogaTeacher team and community for this rejuvenating 7 day event from August 12-18!\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-07-25T16:08:37.667528+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["myYogaTeacher","yoga"]},{"title":"11 Common Yoga Questions (and Their Answers)","coverUrl":"wjnf6gca2leiwcxskli4.jpg","slug":"frequently-asked-yoga-questions","content":{"text":"Most of us have questions before or when we start practicing yoga! That’s normal. As a matter of fact, as you grow in your practice, the amount of questions doesn’t really get smaller. They just get different!\\nYoga teachers get asked tons of questions, and, generally, they love answering them! But sometimes, a new yoga student or someone who’s considering starting yoga may feel too shy or embarrassed to ask. Then they go to Google, get lots of conflicting answers, and may give up on yoga before they ever start.\\nWe definitely don’t want that!\\nSo here are the 11 most common yoga questions we get asked and their \\nreal\\n answers!\n\\n\\n1. How long do I wait after eating before I can do yoga?\\nIf you can practice in the morning, before you eat, that is ideal, or later in the evening. However, other than those times, we recommend waiting at least 2 hours after you eat before you start your yoga practice. Doing yoga on a full stomach can cause discomfort and even nausea. It also means you’ll have less energy since your body is busy digesting food!\\n\\n\\n\\n2. Do I have to be flexible to practice yoga?\\nAbsolutely not! As a matter of fact, lack of flexibility is a good reason to \\nstart\\n a regular yoga practice! Besides that, yoga is much more than just stretching. It’s a physical activity that tones, strengthens, calms, and heals the body, mind, and spirit.\\n\\n3. I’m pregnant. Can I still do yoga?\\nYes you can! It’s important when you’re pregnant to do yoga under the guidance of a prenatal yoga instructor or other expert yoga instructor though. There are yoga poses that pregnant women should avoid, such as inversions and poses where you lie flat on your back. \\n\\n4. How often should I practice yoga for best results?\\nIf you’re a beginner, we recommend starting with only 2-3 classes that require more exertion a week (such as Ashtanga, Power, or Vinyasa yoga). However, there are many other types of yoga to try in between, such as restorative yoga, yin yoga, or any of MyYogaTeacher’s meditative yoga classes! As you advance in your practice, you may feel strong enough to try more difficult yoga classes more times per week. Either way, you’ll experience the benefits of yoga whether you do it once a week or 7 days a week!\\n\\n5. Do I need any special equipment to practice yoga?\\nWhile we do recommend the use of a yoga mat, technically, you don’t \\nhave\\n to have one. You can practice yoga on any surface you feel is safe and comfortable. Many yogis also have blocks, bolsters, and straps to help them modify poses or go deeper into poses. But those certainly aren’t necessary to reap the benefits of doing yoga.\\n\\n\\n\\n6. Why do I need a yoga class? Can’t I just do it by myself with a book or video?\\nYou certainly can do yoga by yourself with the use of a book or video but most yogis (especially inexperienced ones) will agree that this isn’t as safe as practicing yoga with a live teacher. Yoga classes allow your yoga teacher to see how you perform the poses and can make corrections to your alignment or help you make appropriate modifications and adjustments as needed. At MyYogaTeacher, ALL of our classes are taught live, and you get personalized attention from your yoga instructor, even in group sessions!\\nDoing yoga poses incorrectly may cause injuries! MyYogaTeacher offers a Yoga Basics and a Yoga 201 class to help beginners create a strong yoga foundation for regular practice. \\n\\n\\nGrab your free 2-week trial of unlimited group classes here and check them out! No credit card required\\n.\\n\\n7. What kind of clothes do I need to practice yoga?\\nDespite what you may see on social media, you do not \\nneed\\n a certain kind of clothing, including the ever popular yoga pants or yoga leggings. If you’d like to wear those, however, by all means! The best clothes for yoga are comfortable ones that you can move freely in. You’ll practice barefoot or, if you’d prefer, in yoga socks.\\n\\n8. What are all the strange terms I hear my yoga teacher saying?\\nMany yoga instructors commonly use the Sanskrit words for yoga poses instead of the English translation. This is a good thing! Yoga is ancient and rooted in tradition, and continuing to use and pass on the language is an important part of maintaining the culture of yoga. If you don’t understand something your instructor is saying, please ask! However, we’ve compiled a list of common yoga \\nSanskrit words you may hear in class and what they mean in this blog post\\n.\\n\\n\\n\n9. Will yoga get or keep me in shape?\\nIf you practice regularly and eat healthfully, yes! Absolutely! Just like with any physical activity, you won’t see continued results unless you practice regularly. How you fuel body is also a large part of getting physically and mentally healthy. Yoga can be as strenuous as cardio or as easy as your regular post workout stretch and everything in between. It is definitely possible for yoga to help you lose weight and/or get the body you want.\\n\\n10. Can I do yoga if I’m injured or have a physical disability?\\nYes, you can! Here at MyYogaTeacher, we feel strongly that yoga is for every body. Meaning any body type, shape, size, and all ability levels. Our highly trained and experienced expert yoga teachers from India come packing credentials and tools to help you practice yoga in a way that is safe and works for you!\\n\\n11. Why should I start practicing yoga anyway? \\nA regular yoga practice provides benefits far beyond what any other type of exercise will do! Why? Because yoga is a whole health form of practice. Everything you do in yoga positively affects your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing, and the benefits carry over to your life from day to day. Yoga cures things like back pain, joint pain, lowers blood pressure, provides mental clarity and focus, reduces blood sugar, promotes healing, and so much more.\\nWe guess the question is, why \\nwouldn’t\\n you want to start practicing yoga?!\\nMost, if not all, of MyYogaTeacher’s expert yoga instructors are \\nmore\\n than qualified to help you! We value authentic, traditional yoga and truly care about the health and wellbeing of our students. For us, yoga isn’t just a class. It’s the way we live our life.\\nNot a MyYogaTeacher member? Whether you’re interested in teaching yoga, starting yoga, or growing in your yoga journey, MyYogaTeacher is a great place to do it!\\nWhen you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\ngrab two free 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-07-22T20:08:11.250342+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"How Kundalini Yoga Helps You Break Bad Habits for Good","coverUrl":"aqhpng8xmxojrvkucffv.jpg","slug":"kundalini-yoga-for-breaking-bad-habits","content":{"text":"You have the power to break bad habits. Whether you feel like you do or not, you have the power inside you to make \\nany\\n changes you want in yourself!\\nWillpower is the main source of drive for most people trying to break bad habits.\\nUnfortunately, for most of us, the strength of our willpower ebbs and flows with the ups and downs in our lives! A bad day may lead to emotional eating. A stressful situation may lead to resuming something like smoking. Celebratory occasions may prompt someone who is trying to quit drinking to have “just one drink.” \\nYou’re not weak when you “fall off the wagon” from breaking whatever bad habit you’ve been working on breaking. You’re \\nnormal\\n.\\nThe secret of breaking bad habits is to be able to control your physical, mental, and emotional self no matter the ebbs and flows of life. So that the willpower you rely on to help you break bad habits is more stable and not subject to change on a whim.\\nYoga helps you break bad habits for sure! You certainly have more control over your emotions, better self awareness, a healthier mindset, and more harmony in your life. However, kundalini yoga specifically helps strengthen intuition and willpower.\\nSeveral of our expert and experienced yoga teachers at MyYogaTeacher focus specifically on teaching kundalini yoga! They understand that many people struggle with breaking bad habits and creating positive changes in their lives that last and want to help their students do just that.\\nNot a MyYogaTeacher member? Whether you’re interested in teaching yoga, starting yoga, or growing in your yoga journey, MyYogaTeacher is a great place to do it!\\nWhen you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\ngrab two free 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n!\\nLet’s talk about how kundalini yoga will help you break bad habits now and in the future (and permanently)\\n\\n\\nKundalini yoga and meditation focuses on repetitive behaviors\\nIn the physical aspect of a kundalini yoga practice, you’ll not only repeat asanas, but you’ll also hold poses for longer periods of time. Sometimes even up to five minutes!\\nDeveloping the mental and physical fortitude that is required to repeat poses in a structured flow on a regular basis is an excellent way to teach yourself how to kick bad habits and replace them with healthier ones.\\nBy committing to these repetitive movements, you are training your mind and entire nervous system to resist the temptation to give up. This is an important aspect to breaking bad habits and building new ones.\\nRemember, breaking a bad habit isn’t just about ending a cycle of negative repetitive behaviors. It’s also about \\ncreating a cycle of positive ones\\n!\\nAdditionally, there is always a meditative aspect to any traditional kundalini yoga practice, where you will learn chants, repeat chants, and learn breathing techniques you’ll use in times of stress, emotional upheaval, and/or when you’re feeling tempted to cave to whatever habit you’re trying to break.\\nWhich leads us to…\\n\n\\n\\nKundalini yoga improves your mood\\nHave you ever noticed if you’re going to give into temptation, \\nmost of the time\\n, it’s when you’re sad, mad, anxious, depressed, or stressed? Yes, of course we cave at celebrations too or at events when we’re happy. \\nBut we are certainly more inclined to stick to our guns when we’re in a good mood, feeling good about ourselves, or feeling accomplished.\\nA regular kundalini yoga practice entails a very spiritual (not religious) meditation and includes several different types of breathwork. Both of these aspects of yoga have been proven by scientific research to reduce stress and improve, or even eliminate, feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, and frustration. The reduction of negative emotions and the improvement of mental and emotional health are part of what makes kundalini yoga perfect for helping people stop bad habits for good!\\n\n\\n\\nKundalini yoga requires physical and mental strength\\nWhen you think about ending bad habits for good, maybe doing something that you \\nknow\\n requires significant effort to help you do so isn’t the first thing you think about. Because why take something hard like breaking a bad habit and make it harder, right?\\nWrong.\\nPart of the reason people struggle with permanently changing their habits is because they haven’t “exercised” the part of themselves that are needed to make the change for good. You don’t make physical changes without changing your diet or physical activity levels. And those changes aren’t maintained if you quit doing the things you did to make the change to begin with.\\nIt is the same for breaking bad habits! Kundalini yoga and meditation is a tool to keep your physical, mental, and emotional health strong so that you are more easily able to not just break \\none\\n bad habit, but any that you want to. \\nKundalini yoga requires you to use physical and mental strength and helps you maintain and grow in the areas you need to grow so you can create permanent positive changes in your life.\\n\n\\n\\n\nMany find kundalini yoga and meditation challenging, but they also walk away from their practice enlightened, strengthened, more relaxed, and prepared to live presently and positively in their life.\\nAt MyYogaTeacher, there are many amazing and experienced yoga instructors who work with yogis every single day on how to break bad habits. Many are experts in kundalini yoga and meditation and guide MyYogaTeacher students in this very special type of practice.\\nIf you’re interested in how to strengthen your physical, mental, and emotional fortitude so you are equipped to create permanent change in your life, I encourage you to grab your 2-week free trial of MyYogaTeacher! No credit card required.\\nWe offer 1:1 classes with authentic yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India! And if you haven’t experienced virtual private yoga classes yet, MyYogaTeacher makes 1:1 classes affordable and accessible! PLUS, with your membership, you get:\\nRadiance! More energy, peace of mind, and better health & fitness\\n42+ daily group yoga classes, 100% live!\\nDiscounted yoga workshops, all live and interactive!\\nMaking new like-minded friends from around the world\\n\\nGrab your 2-week free trial and check out your membership options here!\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-07-06T00:09:59.700384+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["anxiety","emotional_health","meditation","yoga"]},{"title":"MyYogaTeacher Reviews! What People Are Saying About The Online Yoga Platform","coverUrl":"isq4hw4ivknbxwkgziz0.jpg","slug":"myyogateacher-reviews","content":{"text":"MyYogaTeacher now has over \\n105,400 \\nstudents and a 4.9 star rating with 73,653 reviews!\\n\\nApple App Store Reviews: 4.9 out of 5 star rating - 1,010 reviews\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nGoogle Play Store Reviews: 4.7 out of 5 star rating - 596 reviews\\n\\n\\n\\n100+ Expert Indian Yoga Teachers – 40+ Daily Classes (Live & Interactive) – Affordable 1-on-1 Sessions – All Online, All Free to Try!\\n\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n⁠MyYogaTeacher made its debut in September of 2019, and ever since then, the team has strived to provide not only high quality yoga instruction, but more importantly, a phenomenal yoga community experience!\\nWith over 100 expert yoga teachers from India, over 40 different types of group yoga classes, and the opportunity for affordable, 1-on-1 superb yoga instruction, the MyYogaTeacher community continues to grow, grow, grow!\\nWe are humbled by our community growth, and excited for the future!\\n\\n\\nNot familiar with MyYogaTeacher yet?\\nThe experienced, expert yoga teachers at MyYogaTeacher all teach from the roots of yoga and tradition. And they are not just invested in your yoga journey. They’re invested in \\nyou\\n. Your health, life, goals, successes and failures.\\nWe walk alongside our students, helping them in more than just their yoga practice. Because humans were built for connection. They were not built to do this life (or yoga) on their own.\n⁠\n⁠If you haven’t experienced virtual private yoga classes yet, MyYogaTeacher makes 1:1 classes affordable and accessible! PLUS, with your membership, you get:\\nRadiance! More energy, peace of mind, and better health & fitness\\n42+ daily group yoga classes, 100% live!\\nDiscounted yoga workshops, all live and interactive!\\nMaking new like-minded friends from around the world\\n\\nGrab your 2-week free trial and check out your membership options here!\\n\\nMyYogaTeacher was co-founded by Jitendra Gupta. His mission is to give people all over the world access to top-notch yoga instruction because he knows and understands how it can positively impact your physical and mental health. Jitendra wants to help empower you to take positive steps forward in your life, to heal from pain and illnesses. And he knows firsthand that yoga can do just that!\\nBut for Jitendra, it was never about getting MyYogaTeacher reviews. It’s about helping humans.\\nSo we’ve created an online yoga community that provides the highest quality, traditional, authentic yoga instruction via two-way live streaming. So you can practice yoga anywhere and everywhere you want, connect with your yoga instructors, get personalized feedback and corrections, make friends from all over the world, and grow in your yoga journey. And also grow as a human.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nHow does MyYogaTeacher work?\\nWhen you sign up to be a MyYogaTeacher member, you’ll have the opportunity to view all our group classes (over 40 of them!), which you can filter by class, teacher, or type – like \\nVinyasa\\n, \\nPower Yoga\\n, \\nHatha\\n and more unique classes like ‘\\nChakra and Sound Healing\\n’, ‘\\nGentle Yoga\\n’, ‘\\nStretch and Breathe\\n’ and ‘\\nKriya, Pranayama, and Meditation’\\n. You’ll see all the different class times and you’ll be able to check out the teacher profile for each yoga class instructor.\\nOnce you sign up for a class day and time that fits your schedule, you’ll receive a confirmation in your email, which will have the Zoom link you’ll use to join the class! You’ll also get an email reminder for your class. Additionally, you always have the option to chat with your yoga teacher in the MyYogaTeacher \\napp\\n or on your desktop if you’re logged into the MyYogaTeacher platform\\nOnce your class begins, you can choose to have your camera on or off, as well as your microphone, and you may chat with your instructor via the chat function in Zoom. He or she will often have someone modeling the yoga poses correctly for your reference or will be doing it with you. \\nYou will also have the opportunity to tell your instructor about any medical concerns, illnesses, injuries, or prior injuries you may have, and ask for modifications for those concerns. \\nBenefits of yoga at home (or anywhere you have WiFi!)\\nHere at MyYogaTeacher, we understand that many people don’t feel comfortable participating in an in-person group yoga class. Or they just don’t have the time and energy to make travel to a gym or yoga studio. So they either don’t try or do yoga at all or they rely on pre-recorded yoga from random yoga instructors they found on the internet. \\nNeither of these are great options!\\nWhile yoga at home is very beneficial, it can be harmful without proper guidance from an experienced, expert instructor. However, with MyYogaTeacher the benefits of yoga at home (or anywhere you feel comfortable) abound! Benefits like…\\nPersonalized attention -\\n Each class is like having a yoga teacher in your home\\nIndividual corrections - \\nGiven with compassion, explanation, and encouragement\\nWearing what you want - \\nNo need to worry about being judged for your attire\\nNo more travel time - \\nSave money, time, and gas\\nUsing your own yoga equipment - \\nNo need to borrow a mat or blocks from the studio or gym that may have not been cleaned\\nPractice any time - \\nMyYogaTeacher offers live classes at many different times of day and night\\nMonthly workshops - \\nWe offer all kinds of workshops for you to explore and grow in your life journey\\nDoing yoga at home doesn’t have to mean you miss out on quality yoga instruction, connection with other yogis, or “in-person” attention from your yoga teacher! \\nOur private yoga instructors are all about giving yogis individualized attention, focused instruction, and modified poses that keep yogis coming back for more every week. MyYogaTeacher yoga teachers are highly experienced, expert yoga instructors who offer 1-on-1 yoga classes for people just like you!\\nWhen you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\ngrab two free 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n!\\nListen to what some of our amazing yoga students have to say about the benefits of doing yoga at home with MyYogaTeacher!\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-06-16T11:23:34.459237+00:00","author":{"name":"Jitendra","pictureUrl":"jitendra1.png","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["fitness","yoga","myYogaTeacher"]},{"title":"18 Common Sanskrit Words to Know Before Your First Yoga Class","coverUrl":"so7zp7thknpvd3b7mtd1.jpg","slug":"common-sanskrit-yoga-words","content":{"text":"Whether you’re a new yogi or you’ve been practicing for a while, there’s bound to be words you’ve heard in a yoga class that you didn’t know or understand.\\nThat’s normal! And you’re certainly not the only one.\\nIf you don’t know already, Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. Many Hindu scriptures and epic poems were written in this beautiful language, but so were all the original Yoga Sutras! Sanskrit has a sort of harmonious fluidity to it, almost spiritual sounding, which makes it an effective tool for practicing yoga.\\nWe don’t want anyone to feel lost or confused in our yoga classes, and we certainly don’t want anyone to be embarrassed to ask questions about any particular words that are used.\\nMyYogaTeacher instructors teach and believe wholeheartedly in the benefits of traditional yoga, and most of them are from the birthplace of yoga, India! \\nNot a MyYogaTeacher member? Whether you’re interested in teaching yoga, starting yoga, or growing in your yoga journey, MyYogaTeacher is a great place to do it!\\nWhen you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\ngrab two free 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n!\\nAnd after this article, I hope you’ll feel comfortable joining one of our classes, knowing much of the vocabulary that your yoga instructor might use!\\n\\n\nYoga \\nYoga means to “yoke” or “bind” and is often interpreted as “union.” Union of breath, body and mind.\\n\\nAsana\\nIn these times, “asana” is interpreted as the physical yoga poses you’ll practice, but it originally means “seat.”\\n\\nChakra\\nA chakra indicates an energy center within the body between the base of the spine and the top of the head. We have seven. You can learn more about chakras in \\nthis article\\n.\\n\\nNamaste\\nTraditionally, “namaste” means “the light within me bows to the light within you,” but in this day and age it also is a common greeting for “hello.”\\n\\nPranayama\\nThe word “prana” means life energy. Pranayama is a series of yogic breathing exercises that helps your breath move freely through your body.\\n\\nMudra\\nA mudra is a hand position or gesture used to help one focus, concentrate, and develop a deeper connection to self. Prayer hands at the heart (Anjali) is an example of this.\\n\\n\\nVinyasa\\nAlso a type of yoga, a vinyasa is a series of postures connected to your breath, strung together in a longer flow.\\n\\nHatha\\nIn Sanskrit, “ha” refers to the sun and “tha” refers to the moon. Hatha yoga is a slower paced, basic style of yoga and helps form the foundation of other styles.\\nSavasana\\n\\nSavasana is corpse pose, meaning you literally lie on the floor in total relaxation, typically at the end of a yoga session.\\nChaturanga\\n\\nChaturanga is low plank pose or also known as four-limbed staff pose and is usually a transitional pose from plank position to upward facing dog.\\n\nUjjay\\nAlso known as “victorious breath,” ujjay is the common form of breath used in many types of yoga where air enters and leaves a constricted throat. It often sounds like the ocean.\\n\\nOm\\nThe universal sound of consciousness, chanting “om” causes a vibration in the back of your throat and has many benefits.\\n\\nDrishti\\nA focal point used in yoga set up by the yogi to assist with concentration, balance, and focus. This is particularly helpful for balancing postures like tree pose.\\n\\n\\nShanti\\nIn Sanskrit, shanti means “peace.” It is often chanted at the beginning or end of class.\\n\\nIyengar\\nIyengar is a type of yoga that is focused on precision and alignment while practicing yoga poses. It is a fairly popular style and often requires the use of props.\\n\\nShakti\\nShakti literally means “power” in Sanskrit and is the female principle of divine energy. Shakti is often represented by a lotus flower.\\n\\nKundalini\\nThis form of yoga is a system of chanting, meditation, breathwork, and, sometimes, singing. The word itself is a form of female energy that resides at the base of the spine.\\n\\nBhanda\\nBhanda is a lock or bind in yoga, an internal mudra. The purpose of bhanda is to lock in the body’s life energy/force.\\n\n\\nSome of these words you may understand based on the definition and some you may not. That’s ok! Yoga is an experience, which means some words you will simply have to experience to truly understand what they are and the impact they have on your mental, physical, and emotional health.\\nAnd if you still don’t know after you’ve experienced them? Ask!\\nAt MyYogaTeacher, we have members from all walks of life, religions, and all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities! MyYogaTeacher offers 1:1 classes with authentic yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India! And if you haven’t experienced virtual private yoga classes yet, MyYogaTeacher makes 1:1 classes affordable and accessible! PLUS, with your membership, you get:\\nRadiance! More energy, peace of mind, and better health & fitness\\n42+ daily group yoga classes, 100% live!\\nDiscounted yoga workshops, all live and interactive!\\nMaking new like-minded friends from around the world\\n\\nGrab your 2-week free trial and check out your membership options here!\\n\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-06-09T00:07:57.890522+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"5 Restorative Yin Yoga Poses for Neck and Shoulder Pain","coverUrl":"u92rlshwashhjwgeelb0.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-neck-pain","content":{"text":"You may hear a lot about yoga for back pain, yoga for joint pain, yoga for lots of different types of pain. That’s why we don’t want to leave out yoga for neck and shoulder pain!\\nYour cervical spine is the most fragile part of your skeletal system! Not only does it hold up your head (about 10-11 lbs!), it is also the least protected of any other part of your body. Think about it. If you’re in a car accident, your neck area is one of the primary areas of injury. \\nMany\\n types of accidents can cause injury to your cervical spine. Additionally, your shoulders are connected to your neck area. So injuries to neck muscles often cause pain and misalignment in your shoulders as well.\\nA yin yoga practice focused on your neck and shoulders is not only beneficial for pain relief from prior injuries, arthritis, or previous surgeries. Yin yoga is great for preventing pain and injury to the neck and shoulder area as well!\\nYin yoga alleviates tension in the muscles, helps correct poor posture, and increases flexibility and circulation in the neck and shoulder areas. \\nOne of our amazing yoga instructors, Supriya, even offers a Yoga for Neck and Shoulders class! Because here at MyYogaTeacher, we know that yoga heals! We offer 1:1 classes with authentic yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India! And if you haven’t experienced virtual private yoga classes yet, MyYogaTeacher makes 1:1 classes affordable and accessible! PLUS, with your membership, you get:\\nRadiance! More energy, peace of mind, and better health & fitness\\n42+ daily group yoga classes, 100% live!\\nDiscounted yoga workshops, all live and interactive!\\nMaking new like-minded friends from around the world\\n\\nGrab your 2-week free trial and check out your membership options here!\\n\\nLet me talk to you about my top 5 yin yoga poses for neck and shoulder pain relief!\\n\\n\\n\n1. Standing forward bend\\nRolling down into standing forward bend, knees bent or straight (depending on your preference), release your head down so the crown of your head faces the ground. This pose is most effective for your neck and shoulders if you relax and sort of dangle and take 5-10 deep breaths. You may also choose to gently sway side to side.\\nThis isn’t traditionally a yin yoga pose because it’s not completely static, but it is restorative and helps stretch your neck, shoulders and back. If you want, you may roll back up to standing or mountain pose and repeat standing forward bend again.]\\n\\n\\n\\n2. Thread the needle\\nThis pose provides significant relief from neck and shoulder pain. The twisting from this pose also releases tension in the lower and upper back. Feel free to place a blanket or block under your head if you need some elevation or are uncomfortable. Perform this pose on both sides, holding for 1-2 minutes on each side.\\nBegin on all fours with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.\\nLift your right hand up towards the sky and bring it down and underneath your torso to the left along the floor with your palm facing up.\\nPress your left hand into the floor for support as your rest your body on your right shoulder and look over to the left.\\nRemain in this position for 1-2 minutes, as tolerated.\\nRelease gently and slowly, pressing back into Child’s Posefor a few breaths, and repeat on the other side.\\n\\n\\n\\n3. Half lord of the fishes pose\\nYin yoga poses for neck and back often benefit other parts of your body as well. This is one such pose! Half lord of the fishes pose provides a great stretch in the upper \\nand\\n lower back and helps alleviate tension in the muscles that result from bad posture.\\nFrom sitting, bring your right foot along the floor across to the outside of your left hip.\\nPlant your right foot on the floor, so that your right knee is pointing up.Your right foot should be “rooted” on the outside of your left thigh.\\nBend your left knee so that your left foot is still on the floor but close to your body\\nLengthen your spine and then twist your upper body to the left.\\nPlace your left hand on the floor behind your buttocks.\\nBring your right arm to the outside of your left leg.\\nTurn your head to look over either shoulder, or you may gently circle your head.\\nStay in this pose for 1 minute.\\nThen do it on the opposite side.\\n\\n\\n\\n4. Triangle pose\\nTriangle pose stretches the neck, shoulders and upper back. You may use a block under the hand that reaches to the floor for more stability or if you do not have the flexibility to reach the floor. You may also place your hand on your shin or ankle, as long as you maintain proper alignment.\n\\nStand with your feet apart so that they’re wider than your hips.\\nTurn your right toes towards the front of your mat and your left toes out at an angle.\\nRaise your arms up so they’re parallel to the floor with your palms facing down, similar to the beginning of Warrior I, but keep your legs straight. Your chest should be facing out.\\nKeeping your legs straight, reach forward with your right arm as you hinge at your right hip.\\nLower your right arm and lift your left arm up toward the ceiling.\\nTurn your gaze in any direction or you can do gentle neck rotations looking up and down.\\nRemain in this pose for 1-2 minutes, as tolerated.\\nRepeat on opposite side.\\n\\n\\n\\n5. Child’s pose\\nChild’s pose is the most popular and an extremely beneficial yoga pose practiced in all types of yoga! In child’s pose, your neck, back, and shoulders are lengthened, creating space between the vertebrae, similar to standing forward bend. This relieves tension and helps realign your neck and spine. \\nPlacing your arms out in front of you (versus by your sides) gives your shoulders a good stretch as well. You can also place a block or bolster under your head or hips if that is more comfortable. Hold this pose as long as is desired but at least 1-2 minutes.\\nI hope you find these poses as helpful as I do for relieving neck and shoulder pain! A full yin yoga class is a great option to truly get relief in these areas. We carry so much tension in our neck and shoulders from bad posture, sitting at a computer or desk, or from other types of exercise. I invite you to try one of the many classes and \\nworkshops\\n at MyYogaTeacher!\\n\n\\nNot a MyYogaTeacher member? Whether you’re interested in teaching yoga, starting yoga, or growing in your yoga journey, MyYogaTeacher is a great place to do it!\\nWhen you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\ngrab two free 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n!\n⁠Check out our latest article on \\n5 Yin Yoga Poses to Loosen Your Hips\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-05-31T22:21:04.879358+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Your Chance to Win a Free Yoga Teacher Training Course With MyYogaTeacher is Here!","coverUrl":"b3kn5dnc8izagiuyq4gh.jpg","slug":"my-yoga-teacher-photo-contest","content":{"text":"In honor of International Yoga Day,\\nMyYogaTeacher is announcing our first ever Fun Pic Contest!\\nWe want to see your fun side! Because yoga doesn’t always have to be serious. Sometimes laughing at ourselves and doing silly things is just the medicine we need to make our day brighter…and healthier!\\nThat being said, you also have an opportunity to positively impact lots of other people’s lives by joining in on this yoga pose, picture-snapping challenge. Maybe you make someone smile. Maybe your picture encourages someone to start taking yoga classes or try a new yoga pose! Good energy spreads, and positive energy is a huge part of the MyYogaTeacher community.\\n1st Prize: Win a FREE Teacher Training Course with MyYogaTeacher (valued over $1,490) \\n\\nHonorable Mentions: Ten participants will win a free MyYogaTeacher T-shirt!\\n\\nFun Yoga Pose Contest Rules\\nYoga poses should be unique in some way (i.e. in a fun location, with your animals, with a partner, or your own twist on your favorite pose).\\nPicture can be taken by you as a selfie or taken by someone else.\\nPost your picture on \\nFacebook\\n or \\nInstagram\\n and tag @myyogateacher\\nWe encourage you to post as many pictures as you’d like, but each picture must be tagged to be considered.\\nIn order to qualify for prizes, images must be posted and tagged before 11:59PM on June 20, 2022.\\nImages must be original and owned by you.\\nWinners will be announced on June 24th!\\nNeed some examples?\\nSince we haven’t done this before, we’re going to drop a few examples of some fun yoga pose pics our teachers submitted to help you out! You’re welcome to recreate them yourself or simply use them as inspiration to come up with your own!\\n\\n\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-05-31T18:49:09.281964+00:00","author":{"name":"Anirudh","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Is Yoga a Religion? Why You Can Practice Yoga No Matter What Your Beliefs Are","coverUrl":"siur4olckankjljl4str.jpg","slug":"is-yoga-a-religion","content":{"text":"Yes, we’re going there. Why on earth would we decide to approach the very controversial topic of religion and yoga? \\nBecause we will forever maintain that yoga is for everyone, no matter what you believe in! The MyYogaTeacher team from top to bottom is passionate about the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of yoga, and we don’t want \\nanyone\\n to feel like they can’t practice yoga because of their religious beliefs.\\nAs a matter of fact, part of a yogic life is respecting others’ personal beliefs and accepting them where they are in those beliefs.\\nThat’s why I wanted to talk about how yoga is \\nnot\\n a religion and why you can practice yoga no matter what (or who) you believe!\\nHere at MyYogaTeacher, we have members from all walks of life, religions, and all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities! MyYogaTeacher offers 1:1 classes with authentic yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India! And if you haven’t experienced virtual private yoga classes yet, MyYogaTeacher makes 1:1 classes affordable and accessible! PLUS, with your membership, you get:\\nRadiance! More energy, peace of mind, and better health & fitness\\n42+ daily group yoga classes, 100% live!\\nDiscounted yoga workshops, all live and interactive!\\nMaking new like-minded friends from around the world\\n\\nGrab your 2-week free trial and check out your membership options here!\\n\\nLet’s dig in!\\n\\nYoga isn’t an organized religion\\nWhile many yogis (not just Hindus or Buddhists) use their yoga practice to grow in their spirituality and/or relationship with God, it does not mean yoga is a religion. No one is worshiping yoga or praying to yoga, or using yoga as a means to get to heaven. \\nYogis \\ndo\\n, however, use yoga and meditation to better connect with (or reconnect with) their religious beliefs. This is because yoga and meditation help you strip away those things in your life that do not promote your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Things that get in the way of healthy forms of spirituality.\\nYoga is a \\nphilosophy\\n. A philosophy that promotes good health and a harmonious existence.\\n\\n\\nThere are no religious requirements in yoga\\nWhile there are many forms and styles of yoga, some that incorporate chanting even, everything within the practice is optional. You are still a yogi if you don’t say “Namaste” with prayer hands at the end of your practice. You’re still a yogi if you choose not to chant. And you’re still a yogi if you don’t participate in nonphysical forms of meditation.\\nYoga has no religious requirements to be able to practice it! \\nThere are no requirements to believe in a god or to perform any religious rituals. But it can help you deepen your existent faith.\\nYou don’t need to be Buddhist or practice Taoism to practice martial arts, right? Neither do you need to believe in any form of religion to practice yoga!\\n\\n\nYou are free to practice (or not) any religion in yoga\\nWhen you practice yoga, you are free to interpret God in a way that you believe to be true – Allah, Jesus Christ, Vishnu, Mother Nature. You are also free to not believe in God at all. Additionally, physical movements (yoga poses) are not religious unless they are accompanied by a faith-based intention.\\nThis means you get to attach whatever religion you choose to your yoga practice! Or no religion at all.\\nCelebrating Halloween does not make you Wiccan. Practicing yoga does not make you a Hindu. However, if your intention on Halloween is to practice the Samhain ritual, then that is a faith-based intention that corresponds with your beliefs, making \\nyour\\n celebration of Halloween religious. \\nIf you choose to practice yoga as a means to pray to and draw nearer to the (Christian) God, that is a faith-based intention as well. It corresponds with your beliefs and makes your yoga practice a component of your religion.\\n\\n\\nYoga is spiritual, which is much different from religious\\nBy definition, the word “religion” means a personal set or institutionalized system of religious beliefs and/or practices. This is vastly different from the word “spirituality,” which denotes an experience of something larger than yourself…living life in a way that is sacred and reverent. \\nSpirituality is an inward journey. Religion is external.\\nBy and far, yoga (ancient and modern) is renowned for being a spiritual practice. While it is derived from several religions – Buddhism, Hindu, and Jainism – it does not contradict any religious belief systems.\\nWhat you make your yoga practice is what your practice becomes. Whether that’s spiritual or not.\\nHopefully, this information helps you better understand yoga and how it can be incorporated into your life no matter what your beliefs are! There is so much freedom in having the opportunity to grow in your spirituality \\nand\\n religious beliefs if you choose or to practice yoga and not practice a religion at all.\\nThe MyYogaTeacher community is full of expert, experienced yoga instructors from India because we feel deeply in upholding the authentic, traditional yoga experience while also weaving in modern day practices.\\nNot a MyYogaTeacher member? Whether you’re interested in teaching yoga, starting yoga, or growing in your yoga journey, MyYogaTeacher is a great place to do it!\\nWhen you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\n!\\ngrab two free 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-05-18T23:45:13.027845+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"5 Yoga Poses for Older Women: Yoga for Women Over 50","coverUrl":"shfqitaozmzufddc6ift.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-women-over-50","content":{"text":"Yoga is for every body. And that’s just one of the wonderful things about it! Another wonderful thing is there are\\n specific\\n yoga poses for women, men, children, disabled people, seniors. \\nA yoga practice can be tailored to meet the varying and specific individual needs of a person or of a collective group of people. Here, I’ll be addressing the physical, mental, and emotional needs of women over the age of 50 with yoga poses that are particularly beneficial to them.\\nHi! My name is Vaneeta! I teach a\\n Yoga for Women\\n group class at MyYogaTeacher. Women are the source of life and energy on the planet. And a woman advances through many phases of life from motherhood to \\nmenopause\\n. Women who are entering the stage of life that is after menopause have specific needs that can be addressed with yoga!\\nNot a MyYogaTeacher member? Whether you’re interested in teaching yoga, starting yoga, or growing in your yoga journey, MyYogaTeacher is a great place to do it!\\nWhen you sign up for a 1:1 membership with us you get:\n\\n102 expert\\n, highly qualified yoga instructors to choose from\\nThe ability to switch instructors\\n or take classes with only your faves\\nAccess to unlimited group classes\\n, taught \\nlive\\nPersonalized instruction\\n and work out, diet, and lifestyle plans\\nTo be a member of a HUGE community\\n of happy yogis from around the world\\nYoga teachers who become friends\\n, who truly care about you!\\nIf you haven’t checked us out already, \\ngrab two free 1:1 sessions with your 2-week free trial here\\n!\\nI hope you’ll try some of these yoga poses for women over 50 and then join my class on MyYogaTeacher for more!\\nOne key to doing yoga at an older age is using props that help you remain stable, safe, and aligned. I recommend using blocks and/or a chair along with your mat.\\n\\n\\n\\n1. Cat and Cow Pose\\nCat and Cow pose is great for anyone at any age, but it’s a great way for women to begin warming up their back and abdominal muscles in a way that is gradual and stable. Supporting your weight on all fours is also a great way to keep arm and chest muscles (that maybe don’t get used as much as we age) strong and conditioned. Women over 50 tend to start experiencing stiffness and reduced mobility in their backs, so cat and cow pose is perfect for helping with those issues as well!\\nAdditionally, because cat and cow pose is designed to sync with  your breath, it is a great way to cleanse emotionally. Since changes in your body can cause emotional distress, particularly in older women, this yoga pose helps women release those emotions before moving forward with more challenging poses.\\n\\n\\n\\n2. Downward Facing Dog\\nOtherwise known as “Down Dog,” this yoga pose is great for older women because it:\\nStretches out the calves, hamstrings, and back \\nBuilds strength in the arms and chest \\nIncreases flexibility in the shoulders\\nBoosts circulation of oxygen and nutrients to otherwise contracting muscles\\nShoulder joints tend to wear out as women age, which makes them susceptible to injuring their shoulders. Building strength in the arms and chest helps protect those increasingly fragile shoulder joints. \\nEmotionally, down dog instills a sense of empowerment and increases feelings of confidence and accomplishment, two things women over 50 tend to struggle with when they notice the changes in their bodies.\\nAdditionally, once a women passes through menopause, muscles tend to tighten and contract due to reduction in hormones and hormone production. Downward facing dog is a perfect yoga pose for women over 50 because it keeps their leg and back muscles lengthened and promotes good circulation!\\n\\n\n3. Modified Cobbler’s Pose\\nAs women age, it is common for them to encounter knee problems and knee pain, making some yoga poses difficult. However, many yoga poses that increase flexibility and circulation to the hip flexors and hip joints require bent knees. \\nPerforming cobbler’s pose on a block or bolster where your hips are higher than your knees helps decrease the pressure on your knees while still reaping the gentle benefits of hip stretching. You may also choose to put blocks underneath your knees or move your feet further away from your body so that the angle of bend in your knees isn’t as sharp.\\nEither way, this pose is proof that yoga for women over 50 is doable, even if you’re experiencing physical challenges and physiological changes.\\n\\n\n4. Modified Tree Pose\\nBalancing postures are a common theme in many forms of yoga. They help yogis learn how to focus better, increase concentration, and (importantly for older women) strengthen the tiny muscles in our feet and ankles.\\nOlder women may begin to experience balance issues as they age. This is common and normal!\\nThe more you work to strengthen the muscles in your feet and ankles, the less likely you will be to lose your balance! Additionally, yoga for women helps you navigate the mental changes you may experience by helping with memory, focus, and concentration.\\nUse a chair, wall, or other stable object if needed. You may also place your non-standing foot on your calf or even at your ankle until you are comfortable moving it further up.\\n\\n\\n5. Child’s Pose\\nEveryone loves child’s pose! It’s a great stretch for your back, arms, neck, and even hips and glutes. Older women may want to rest their forehead on a block and/or place a blanket underneath their hips to alleviate any discomfort.\\nTaking some much needed time in child’s pose allows women to reflect on how their body feels and release any negative thoughts about the changes that may be occurring in their body as they age.\\nI would love to have you join us in the Yoga for \\nSenior\\n class, where I not only teach a yoga class specifically catered to women’s needs but talk about common issues women face as they transition into and out of different phases of life! also Check out our latest \\nWellness\\n class for seniors!\\nMyYogaTeacher offers 1:1 classes with authentic yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India! And if you haven’t experienced virtual private yoga classes yet, MyYogaTeacher makes 1:1 classes affordable and accessible! PLUS, with your membership, you get:\\nRadiance! More energy, peace of mind, and better health & fitness\\n42+ daily group yoga classes, 100% live!\\nDiscounted yoga workshops, all live and interactive!\\nMaking new like-minded friends from around the world\\n\\nGrab your 2-week free trial and check out your membership options here!\\n\\nNamaste!"},"createdAt":"2022-05-11T19:29:46.900088+00:00","author":{"name":"Vineeta","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Celebrate International Yoga Day 2022 With MyYogaTeacher - FREE Sessions for All!","coverUrl":"bm9mwiipzdhlfxubz7ug.jpg","slug":"international-yoga-day-2022","content":{"text":"The MyYogaTeacher team is so excited to announce that we’re celebrating International Yoga Day by offering some very special FREE sessions!\\n(Keep reading to learn more about them and sign up!)\\nThe first International Yoga Day was celebrated around the world on June 21, 2015. After the idea was presented by Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, International Yoga Day was made into a formal proposal and adopted by the UN.\\nIt was an exciting day! Over 35,000 people celebrated the first International Yoga Day!\\nMyYogaTeacher strives to continue positively impact the lives of as many people as humanly possible. We do that through yoga and meditation classes, workshops, and teacher training programs. \\nThat is why we invite you to celebrate International Yoga Day 2022 with MyYogaTeacher for FREE!\\nWe’ve put together a series of interesting sessions for International Yoga Day that will allow you to explore different forms of yoga. Our sessions will allow you to connect with practitioners and experts. \\nInternational Yoga Day Event Schedule!\\nMembers and nonmembers can join expert yoga teachers and special guests as they guide you through these special International Yoga Day sessions! \\nJust click the link for each session to sign up!\\n\\nTuesday, June 21\\nWednesday, June 22\\nThursday, June 23\\nFriday, June 24\\n\\n108 Sun Salutations with Bharath Ram\\n\\n6- 8 AM, PST\n9- 11 AM, EST\\n\\nA Yin Experience for the Whole Body with Mrinali\\n\\n6- 7:30 AM, PST\n9- 10:30 AM, EST\\n\\nYoga Therapy Makes the Grade - and the Grade is A+ with Dr. Fishman\\n\\n6 AM, PST\n9 AM, EST\\n\\nIyengar Yoga Session and Q&A with Sri H.S. Arun\\n\\n5- 6:30 AM, PST\n8 -9:30 AM, EST\\n\\nDivine Delight with Yogashree\\n\\n5- 5:30 PM, PST\n8- 8:30  PM, EST\\n\\n\\n\\nYoga, the Key to Resilient Selfcare in COVID Times with Dr. Ananda\\n\\n6 PM, PST\n9 PM, EST\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n108 Sun Salutations with Bharath Ram\\n, Tuesday, June 21\\nFeel invigorated and uplifted after you start your day with this powerful yoga practice! Suitable for all fitness levels, Bharath’s International Yoga Day session will promote detoxification of your body and end with some yogic breathwork (pranayama).\\n\\nDivine Delight with Yogashree\\n, Tuesday, June 21\\nScientific studies have proven that chanting reduces stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms and increases focus and positive mood. Join this session to experience the rhythmic, healing power of chanting! This practice will end with a beautiful classical song rendition. \\n\\nA Yin Experience for the Whole Body\\n, Wednesday, June 22\\nJoin Mrinali for this wonderful, gentle yin yoga practice designed to help you reconnect with your body, mind, and spirit so you can lead a more harmonious and peaceful day! You’ll use the stillness to rediscover sensations and feelings that get masked by the busy-ness of your days.\\n\\nYoga Therapy Makes the Grade – and the Grade is A+\\n, Thursday, June 23\\nJoin MyYogaTeacher’s newest board member and Medical Director of Manhattan Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Dr. Loren Fishman,\\n in this informative session on how to review a yogi’s progress in treating scoliosis, rotator cuff issues, osteoporosis, and weight management! This session is for yoga practitioners and yoga teachers and will end with a live Q&A with Dr. Fishman.\\n\\nYoga: The Key to Resilient Selfcare in COVID Times\\n, Thursday, June 23\\nDiscover how to break free from negative conditioned responses and inherent tendencies in this incredible session with Dr. Ananda, all about how to refocus on your health and wellness. \\n\\nIyengar Yoga Session and Q&A With Sri H.S. Arun\\n, Friday, June 24\\nGo through a series of yoga poses (asanas) in this Iyengar yoga session that will create different positive sensations in various parts of your body. At the end of this invigorating session, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions about Iyengar yoga and the different aspects of the practice.\\n\\n\\n\\n“Yoga embodies the unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature.” - Prime Minister Narendra Modi\\n\n\\nThese virtual events are free and offer you a wide range of sessions to pick from.\\n \\nOne day you could be experiencing a meditation session and another day you could be listening to a yoga guru share their experience and knowledge of yoga with you. Most of these sessions will also allow you to ask questions at the end of the session, which can be a great way for you to enhance your understanding of your practice and also connect with the subject matter expert.\\n\nJoin us for this incredible event!\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2022-05-03T22:26:26.102263+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"5 Reasons Couples Should Do Yoga Together","coverUrl":"zbirsieovqwbzfavztoh.jpg","slug":"couples-yoga","content":{"text":"It’s not new news that relationships of any kind can be challenging. Sometimes in good ways and sometimes bad, but either way, we grow and learn.\\nFriendships, relationships with parents, siblings, coworkers. Even the very strongest bonds between humans can face obstacles. But our relationships with husbands, wives, domestic partners, boyfriends, or girlfriends often involve more unique challenges than any other type of relationship.\\nRomantic bonds are very special bonds. These relationships require a significant amount of attention and work to be and stay healthy.\\nThere are many types of activities which promote healthy romantic relationship growth and maintenance, and today we’re going to address one of our faves! You guessed it! Yoga. \\nBecause your yoga journey is (or should be) a uniquely personal experience, we feel that couples yoga is perfect for those who are longing to not only grow in their yoga practice together but also become more bonded to one another.\\nRomantic couples yoga builds trust, connection, intimacy, compassion, empathy, and still fosters better physical, mental, and emotional health on an individual basis.\\nIf you’ve never tried a couples yoga class before, \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n is a perfect place to start! We offer private yoga classes with authentic, expert, traditional yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India! You and your partner can experience personalized attention, individual corrections, and a fun, unique yoga class with instructors that you love and trust and who truly care about you and your partner.\\n\\nGet your 2-week free trial here\\n and also get unlimited access to over 50+ different group yoga classes! You can get your yoga in from anywhere in the world there’s WiFi!\\nFollowing are the reasons why we feel couples should do yoga together : \\n\\n\\n\\n1. Yoga is an opportunity to spend time together.\\nIn this busy, chaotic world, couples prioritize their time together less and less. Notice, we didn’t say they \\nhave less time\\n to spend together. Because that’s simply not true.\\nWe make time for what we truly care about the most. \\nMaking your relationship a priority over almost everything else in your life besides your own selfcare and basic needs is the best way to grow and thrive as a couple. You are still very much individual people. But after that, you’re a pair!\\nYoga is the perfect opportunity for \\ncouples\\n to spend time together, prevents distancing, and helps them learn how to better give and take.\\nYoga for couples create shared moments where they can come together and leave the world behind, create memories, and enjoy their relationship, if only for a brief time in their day.\\n\\n\\n\\n2. Yoga fosters a physical connection.\\nIn a world where we are often met with coldness – blank stares, scowling faces, insincere handshakes, office partitions, and unhappy environments – any chance we get to physically and/or emotionally connect with the warmth and love of our romantic partner is one we should take full advantage of!\\nYoga for romantic couples is a perfect way to connect (or reconnect) physically with your partner.\\nYour skin is your largest organ. When you receive pleasant touches, your brain releases a hormone called oxytocin, which not only lowers feelings of stress, anxiety, and fear but actually helps you build an even stronger emotional bond to your partner.\\nSince touch is an integral part of couples yoga, it makes sense that a regular couples yoga practice will surely strengthen your bond with your romantic partner!\\n\\n\\n\\n3. Couples yoga reduces stress and anxiety.\\nOne of the primary benefits of yoga is stress reduction and relief from anxiety and depression symptoms. \\nAs we’ve discussed, relationships can be stressful. Compromises, disagreements, societal pressures. Being in a romantic relationship requires a certain level of responsibility, which can also be stressful. \\nOn top of that, many people allow the stressors of their work life seep into their personal lives. It’s hard to compartmentalize work life and home life sometimes.\\nExcessive stress and anxiety, if unmanaged, definitely has a negative impact on any relationship, but especially the one with your partner. Couples yoga not only releases oxytocin, a feel good chemical (often called the “love hormone”), yoga allows your body to release other “happiness” hormones.\\nEndorphins, dopamine, and serotonin are all released into the bloodstream during and after your yoga practice. \\nThe connection that comes from doing yoga together plus the mutual release of all of these amazing chemicals helps couples destress, releases anxiety, and allows them to face the world with more peace.\\nThey stay grounded together and lean into each others’ strengths in times of trouble!\\n\\n\\n\\n4. Yoga for couples creates sexual wellbeing and intimacy.\\nIt should come as no surprise that stress and anxiety reduction makes room in your relationship for more intimacy. \\nHowever, couples who are distant, disengaged, out of sync, and have busy lives also usually struggle with maintaining or creating the intimacy and sexual wellbeing many need in their romantic relationships. Additionally, if one or both partners isn’t fit, flexible, or toned, that can affect their self confidence in the bedroom as well as how well they interact physically.\\nCouples yoga (practiced privately) can also include massage, meditation, and mutually beneficial poses that spark intimacy.\\nIt also helps that yoga can be done at home in an area of the house that’s comfortable for you and your partner. Feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally safe is important to creating a healthy sex life, and so if intimacy is your goal, it’s best to practice couples yoga in a place where you both feel very comfortable!\\n\\n\\n\\n5. Couples yoga helps build trust and emotional support.\\nTrust is one of the primary keys to making any relationship work but is especially important to have with your partner. \\nWhen we are romantically involved with another human, we open ourselves up in ways that make us vulnerable. We trust that person to treat us with care, respect, and love when we show them who we truly are.\\nIn this type of partnership, we rely heavily on the emotional support of the other person.\\nRomantic couples yoga requires you to rely partially or entirely on your partner, depending on what pose or poses you’re practicing. The types of poses practiced in couples yoga are often different from those performed in other forms of yoga.\\nIn this process of “letting go,” you will find you and your partner will cling to each other more. The result of this is you and your partner learn more about each other. Strengths, weaknesses, talents, and limitations. \\nNot just physically, but emotionally. \\nWith that knowledge, you both get to create an even deeper bond that allows you both to grow in your practice, your relationship, and as humans in ways you never imagined!\\nAll couples go through ups and downs in their relationship. This is normal! The goal is to have tools to navigate those down times in a way that is not only healthy but brings you closer together. \\nSometimes, you both may just need to do something fun, new, or exciting to make it through those challenging times. Other times, you may need to use couples yoga to reconnect, harmonize, calm down, or build up that much needed trust and emotional support!\\nMyYogaTeacher supports yogis in all walks of life, all ages, all fitness levels. Our yoga teachers always have your wants, needs, and goals in mind during your 1-on-1 and group sessions. \\nWhether you’ve spent your entire life practicing yoga or you haven’t made it to your first forward bend yet, we’d love to see your beautiful face on the mat at MyYogaTeacher! \\nIf you haven’t checked out our affordable 1:1 membership plans,\\n you can sign up for your 2-week free trial and get a look at what’s available to you here!\\n\\nJoin the community of members who are really enjoying the perks of 1:1 instruction at MyYogaTeacher!\\n“Doing yoga 1:1 I get to practice with one teacher who knows what I need and can track progress.” - Erin, MYT member since October 2019\\n“Making a correction with 1:1 yoga is way better than any corrections that are ever made in a group class.” - Michael, MYT member since October 2019\\n“There is more focus on your alignment and you get more personal attention with 1:1. You make progress a lot quicker because the teacher is able to fully focus on you and change the techniques based on your body type and need.” - Kashmira, MYT member since November 2019\\n\\nLearn more and sign up here!\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-12-23T17:57:28.845262+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"6 Benefits of Private Yoga for Beginner Yogis","coverUrl":"fy4uzszeeumvdaiwrwvp.jpg","slug":"private-yoga-for-beginners","content":{"text":"Whether you’re going to the gym for the first time or the millionth, working out around a lot of people can be intimidating and uncomfortable for many people. As a matter of fact, upwards of 40% of the population of the United States doesn’t go to the gym for those two reasons.\\nFor new yogis or those who want to start their yoga journey, even a virtual group setting can pose problems. \\nThe fear of being judged seems to be the primary one. But we also tend to compare ourselves to others or have concerns about natural human tendencies happening in front of other people (like extreme sweating or flatulence). We’re worried about how we look, how we smell, whether we’re keeping up, doing the poses correctly.\\nFalling out of poses that others have mastered is also a common concern for beginner yogis.\\nHere at MyYogaTeacher, we want everyone, every \\nbody\\n, to feel and be safe practicing yoga! That’s why we always highly recommend private yoga classes, or what we call 1-on-1’s, for beginner yogis, with authentic, expert yoga instructors.\\nIf you haven’t experienced virtual private yoga classes yet, MyYogaTeacher makes 1:1 classes affordable and accessible! PLUS, with your membership, you get:\\nRadiance! More energy, peace of mind, and better health & fitness\\n42+ daily group yoga classes, 100% live!\\nDiscounted yoga workshops, all live and interactive!\\nMaking new like-minded friends from around the world\\n\\nGrab your 2-week free trial and check out your membership options here!\\n\\nRead on to find out why we’re so passionate about virtual private yoga classes for beginners!\\n\\n\\n\\n1. You get to build your new yoga practice in a safer environment with online private yoga taught live.\\nIf you’re brand new to yoga or haven’t started yet (but are considering it), you might find even the thought of group yoga classes daunting. \\nYou may struggle to keep up in a yoga class with more advanced yogis. Not only is this unsafe, it’s bad practice. Spending time trying to keep up may mean you’re not practicing proper alignment, using the wrong muscles, or not taking advantage of the meditative aspect of yoga. \\nHowever\\n, with a private yoga instructor, your class is tailored to \\nyou\\n! \\nIt is imperative that you learn the basics of yoga correctly. Otherwise, you’re at an increased risk of injury. Private, 1-on-1 instruction is exactly what beginner yogis need to develop a strong foundation from which to build their practice!\\nNo pre-recorded nonsense. Live instruction means real-time corrections and interactions so you're not practicing poses wrong from the start!\\n\\n\\n\\n2. Virtual private yoga taught live means you skip the intimidation, fear, and discomfort of group classes.\\nWhile even experienced yogis often find group classes uncomfortable, we understand that new yogis – or those who want to \\nbegin\\n yoga – may find a group setting particularly scary.\\nYoga is designed to relieve stress, not create it!\\nWhen humans feel free to be themselves, to make mistakes, and to focus on their self-care and health, we aren’t worried about what others are doing, how we look to them. And we aren’t focused on keeping up. \\nOnline private yoga allows yogis the opportunity to truly be themselves. Free.\\n \\nWhen we’re free of intimidation, fear, and self-consciousness, we have room to grow exponentially as humans \\nand\\n as yogis!\\nPlus, virtual yoga taught live means you get to ask your yoga instructor questions and get personalized answers!\\n\\n\\n\\n3. Online private yoga classes, eating plans, and meditation tailored specifically to you.\\n\nJust like fingerprints, everyone’s needs are different. Ever gotten frustrated with trial-and-erroring your way through various fitness programs, dietary choices, or nutritional supplements to see what works for you and what doesn’t?\\nYeah, most people, yogi or not, can relate to this!\\nWith virtual private, 1-on-1 yoga instruction, you don’t just get a yoga class. You get an expert and a friend. Someone with more than just yoga teaching experience but knowledge of how the body works, how \\ndifferent\\n bodies work and what the human body needs to survive and thrive.\\nWith MyYogaTeacher, you also get instruction rooted in ancient traditions that have helped people heal, grow, and thrive for a thousand plus years! Because our yoga teachers come from the birthplace of yoga, India, and are traditionally trained!\\nWith MyYogaTeacher you get to pick from bunches of yoga instructors. Find one that you gel with and that you feel comfortable opening up to! \\nThen the two of you can tailor your practice to your goals.\\nNothing \\npropels your health, your life, forward better or faster than individualized attention! \\n\\n\\n\\n4. Private yoga reduces stress and anxiety without causing more stress and anxiety.\\nYoga is commonly practiced to reduce or eliminate anxiety and help yogis manage stress. But what if your yoga practice \\ncauses\\n you stress and anxiety?\\nManeuvering through traffic to get to your gym or yoga studio, dressing for the occasion, making sure you have all your yoga gear, bringing a change of clothes (if you’re coming from work). Oh, let’s not forget the amount of time all of those extra steps take.\\nPlus, some people are triggered by large groups of people, which makes group yoga counterproductive to combat anxiety.\\nOnline 1-on-1 yoga eliminates the need to do anything after work but come home. Or, you can practice from anywhere in the world you want that has wi-fi! The stress of traveling, people, prepping for class is virtually non-existent! (haha! See what we did there? \\nVirtually\\n nonexistent?)\\nWith that in mind…\\n\\n\\n\\n5. Virtual 1-on-1 yoga means yoga on \\nyour\\n time.\\nOne of the primary reasons people skip the gym (or their yoga practice) is due to scheduling conflicts.\\nAt gyms, most group yoga classes are only offered very early in the morning or later in the evening. Who wants to get home from work, cook, eat, take care of family needs and \\nthen\\n \\ngo back out to do a yoga class?!\\nIf that’s you, kudos! We’re proud of you! \\nBut most people want to have the opportunity to work out when it’s convenient for them. With virtual private yoga classes, you get to schedule your workouts, health, and fitness around your schedule!\\nWhat works for one person may not work for another. That’s why connecting with a private yoga teacher or studio that offers private yoga classes is important for beginners. Beginner yogis often don’t possess the patience that comes with time and growth.\\nIf giving up due to inconvenience, time constraints, or stress is an option, it’s likely a novice yogi will take it – or not start a yoga practice at all! Which makes us sad!\\n\\n\\n\\n6. Private yoga is perfect for people with injuries, health issues, or unique challenges.\\nA common reason new yogis quit or someone never starts their yoga journey is due to previous injuries or chronic health conditions.\\nThey lack the confidence that yoga will benefit them or simply don’t have the know-how to adapt a yoga practice to their unique challenges. But as we’ve said before, we believe yoga is for everyone! \\nHaving access to a personal yoga instructor helps people with varying degrees of disabilities set goals and participate in a consistent, regular yoga routine that will improve their health and mobility, no matter what the challenges are!\\n\\nWhether you’ve spent your entire life practicing yoga or you haven’t made it to your first forward bend yet, we’d love to see your beautiful face on the mat at MyYogaTeacher! \\nIf you haven’t checked out our affordable 1:1 membership plans,\\n you can sign up for your 2-week free trial and get a look at what’s available to you here!\\n\\nJoin the \\nGentle yoga\\n group class for beginner exclusivley at MyYogaTeacher!\\n“Doing yoga 1:1 I get to practice with one teacher who knows what I need and can track progress.” - Erin, MYT member since October 2019\\n“Making a correction with 1:1 yoga is way better than any corrections that are ever made in a group class.” - Michael, MYT member since October 2019\\n“There is more focus on your alignment and you get more personal attention with 1:1. You make progress a lot quicker because the teacher is able to fully focus on you and change the techniques based on your body type and need.” - Kashmira, MYT member since November 2019\\n\\nLearn more and sign up here!\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-12-15T20:11:14.873149+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga For Your Complexion: Reduce Acne, Pigmentation, and Dull Skin With These Moves","coverUrl":"cynqi55mnqwrnemn7n2a.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-your-skin","content":{"text":"Let’s be clear. \\nSome\\n forms of skin pigmentation are due to genetics and hereditary factors. And wrinkles are a natural sign of aging. There is absolutely nothing wrong (and everything beautiful) with characteristics of your skin that come with time or are a part of you from birth!\\nThat’s not what we’ll be talking about here.\\nWhat about acne? What about changes in complexion and skin pigmentation that don’t come from those things mentioned above?\\nThe causes of dull skin tone, acne, and other complexion issues may vary. They’ll be discussed below, but you also want solutions, help for skin issues.\\nYoga is an amazing source of renewal and health for your complexion! \\nFace yoga\\n is also a thing. Let’s talk about how yoga helps your complexion and produces glowing, healthy skin.\\nNot familiar with face yoga? Check out my \\nFace Yoga class\\n on MyYogaTeacher! We welcome any and all who are looking to tighten, tone, and improve their complexion. And if you’re not familiar with MyYogaTeacher yet, \\nget your 2-week free trial here\\n and join in on any of the 35+ group classes offered. There is literally something for everyone and so many amazing yoga teachers!\\nReasons for dull skin, acne, and pigmentation\\nWhile yoga improves your complexion, it doesn’t cure all the things you feel are wrong with your skin. Does yoga reduce fine lines and wrinkles? Absolutely! Does it help even out skin tone and improve acne issues? Of course.\\nBut addressing the root cause of your skin issues is an important step to improving your skin. Take a look as some of the causes of dull skin, acne, and pigmentation below:\\n\\n>> Dehydration\\n - Not drinking enough water affects your skin in more ways than one!\\n>> Sun damage\\n - Wearing a daily sunscreen helps prevent this and protect your delicate face skin.\\n>> Hormone changes\\n - Pregnancy, contraceptives, processed foods, and natural aging are all causes of hormone changes that can affect your skin.\\n>> Inflammation\\n - Harsh chemicals, acne, psoriasis, and exposure to toxins in the air can all contribute to skin pigmentation and other skin issues.\\n>> Pollution\\n - Free radicals in the environment damages collagen and stimulate pigment production over time.\\n>> Diet\\n - Lack of nutrients (vitamins and minerals) contributes to unhealthy skin.\\n>> Smoking\\n - The nicotine from smoking constricts blood vessels, reducing the amount of oxygen to the skin, causing fine lines and wrinkles.\\nWe could go on, but these are the most common reasons for skin problems. Yoga for skin and face will help your body release toxins and bring vital nutrients to the surface of your skin, but it certainly helps to also drink plenty of water, wear sunscreen and moisturizer, and eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.\\nHow yoga benefits your skin\\nIt has been said that what’s going on inside your body shows up on your face – literally. Stress, tension, bad eating habits, dehydration, trauma, mental health issues, not enough sleep. All of those things are reflected through the delicate skin tissues.\\nWhen your overall health is good, your face tends to show it!\\nA regular yoga practice (whether it’s face yoga or not) is a great way to consistently improve and maintain a healthy, glowing complexion.\\nYoga removes skin impurities\\nThe buildup of heat in the body from many forms of yoga causes the body to sweat, which removes impurities from the body and skin.\\nSweat releases a natural antibody called dermcidin that fights bacteria. \\nBecause impurities are a primary source of acne, yoga reduces acne via sweat and internal toxin release\\nYoga heals damaged skin\\nYogic breathing increases the amount of oxygen received by the body and is essential in skin cell regeneration.\\nWhen the blood contains high oxygen levels, it provides vital nutrients to the surface of the skin, preventing and even reversing the damaging effects of free radicals and sun exposure.\\nYoga increases skin elasticity\\nFace yoga, in particular, firms and tones the muscles under the skin, which reduces fine lines and wrinkles\\nYoga also helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, all of which can cause us to frown, scowl, or have many other facial expressions that contribute to fine lines and wrinkles. A regular yoga practice can prevent us from making facial expressions that decrease the skin’s elasticity.\\nYoga regulates hormone production\\nAn over or underproduction of various hormones is a common cause of pigmentation, dull skin, and acne. Causes are often due to stress, anxiety, pregnancy, natural changes in the body, and processed foods.\\nA regular yoga and meditation practice has been scientifically proven to regulate hormone levels over time, thereby improving or even eliminating some of the causes of skin issues.\\nYoga is historically an avenue to holistic health. If you’re tired of trying all the latest and greatest products (natural or not) for your skin, yoga may just be the thing you’re missing! Be patient, though. Nothing gets better overnight. Give your practice some time.\\nYoga poses for glowing skin\\nTry these yoga moves for your skin below to get started on improving your complexion. Warm up your body first by doing a few sun salutation sequences. If you’re not familiar with those, \\nhere’s an article on what they are and how to do them\\n!\\n1. Yoga Mudrasana (Yogic Seal)\\nStay for a minute or two in this pose, breathing normally, and you’ll feel your face become flush with fresh oxygen!\\n\\n\\n\\n2. Vakrasana (Half Seated Spinal Twist)\\nTwisting poses are a great way to help your internal organs release toxins, increase blood flow, and reduce stress, which stabilizes your hormones. Do this pose on each side and hold for 10 deep breaths.\\n\\n\\n\\n3. Matsyasana (Fish Pose)\\nThis pose stimulates your thyroid gland, which regulates hormones. Imbalance hormones can cause acne and dull skin. Fish pose also encourages deep breaths, which brings more oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the surface of the skin. Hold for 10 breaths.\\n\\n\\n\\n4. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)\\nSimilar to upward facing dog pose, cobra pose opens up the chest, allowing more air to enter the lungs with each breath. It also stimulates the thyroid gland and strengthen and tones the neck and face muscles.\\n\\n\\n\\n5. Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)\\nYou may already be familiar with this pose, especially if you did a sun salutation sequence before trying these! Inversion poses like this one are anti-gravity and anti-aging poses that also bring oxygen and nutrients specifically to your face and scalp. Stay here for at least 5 breaths and let your head dangle gently, or even sway side to side.\\n\\n\\n\n\nI hope you’ve found this article helpful! Whether you need more guidance on how to use \\nyoga \\nto improve your complexion or you’re an experienced yogi looking to transform your complexion, I’d love to have you try my\\n Face Yoga class\\n on MyYogaTeacher! All are welcome there!\\n\\nAnd if you haven’t yet checked out the MyYogaTeacher platform, \\nI invite you to grab your 2-week free trial here.\\n No credit card required! You can take a few or as many yoga classes as you’d like for free during your trial period. Take advantage of the many different types of yoga classes taught by highly experienced yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India!\\nHope to see you there!"},"createdAt":"2021-11-10T14:11:17.594796+00:00","author":{"name":"Kanika","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","restorative"]},{"title":"Crush Your Goals! How Yoga and Meditation Help You Stay Accountable","coverUrl":"boiuj0ewiscmamtghxwm.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-goal-setting","content":{"text":"It’s never too late to start working on or complete your goals!\\nWhether it is January 1 or December 31, here at MyYogaTeacher, we believe every single baby step towards your goals is important, but when you start walking towards them isn’t. And there’s always time enough to start and finish because life isn’t truly defined by dates.\\nNumerous studies have shown that a consistent yoga and meditation practice improves your life. We get a lot of feedback from our members that definitely verifies that!\\nBut do yoga and meditation actually help you stay accountable to your fitness, career, and life goals? The answer is yes! Absolutely.\\nThat’s exactly what we’re going to be discussing here today!\\nIf you need help crushing your goals today or any other time of the year and already know or feel like yoga and meditation can help you accomplish them, we invite you to try MyYoga Teacher! MYT offers over 35 classes of different varieties, all taught by experienced, expert yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India. \\nScoop up your 2-week free trial here and check it out!\\n\\nNow, take a look at how yoga and meditation help you stay accountable and crush your goals!\\n\\n\\nYoga and meditation help you set goals\\nAlmost every yoga practice begins with the instructor encouraging you to set an intention for your practice. During your practice, you meditate on that intention or intentions.\\nIf you practice yoga on your own – without an instructor – you probably already do this. But did you know that setting intentions is a good practice in goal setting?\\nSetting an intention is setting up the framework for your thoughts and energy during your yoga class. It keeps your mind focused and your thoughts directed toward that goal and helps you to break larger goals down into smaller, more manageable (or less overwhelming) ones.\\nMeditation helps us tame our thoughts and focus them on the present moment. \\nAlso, studies show that people who take the time to assess their goals and create smaller goals that lead up to accomplishing a larger goal stay on track more often than those who have one large, vague goal in mind.\\nYoga helps you become self-aware.\\nSomething important to note is we tend to not always know or realize what our goals even are because we are not in tune with what our body, mind, and spirit needs.\\nInstead of being present in each moment, we are consumed with the past and the future. So much so that we often miss out on a lot of life! Yoga teaches us how to be more mindful of what our own needs are, whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional. \\nHaving self-awareness helps us learn not only what goals we want to achieve but also what we need to do to achieve them. \\nFor example, you may learn through a yoga class that your hips and hamstrings are very tight because you sit at a desk a lot of the day. Maybe you don’t notice that until you take the class. You notice how much better your back feels after your yoga class and realize that your recent back pain is connected to your tight hamstrings and hip flexors.\\nNow, you make a point of taking yoga classes that specifically work those areas because it relieves your back pain. Less pain means you are able to focus more on living your life and doing your work. Less pain means lower blood pressure too, which is good for your heart!\\nThere are many nonphysical ways yoga helps us become self-aware too. All of the ways, though, help us create, keep, and crush our goals!\\n\\n\\nYoga is energizing.\\nOne of the primary reasons people set goals for themselves and don’t follow through with them is because they’re exhausted.\\nAfter work, they’re too tired to cook a healthy meal or exercise. In the morning, they’re too tired to get up early and go for that walk or run. Or, exercise makes them feel \\nmore\\n tired after those initial endorphins wear off.\\nMaybe they are mentally and emotionally tired. That can be just as draining, if not more so, than being physically tired.\\nThe good news is that it doesn’t take much yoga to give you an energy boost!\\nTaking even 5-10 minutes out of your day to do some yoga, or even practicing a few minutes several times throughout the day, releases those feel good chemicals that give you the boost of energy you may need to follow through with your goals.\\nOf note, inversion yoga poses can literally shift your perspective. The increased oxygen to your brain is also energizing!\\nYoga and meditation build confidence.\\nYoga builds confidence that transfers to many other areas of your life.\\nWhen you make progress in your yoga practice, you get a boost of confidence. That boost pushes you to make even more progress. Maybe you get pumped to try that advanced yoga pose you’ve been wanting to do. Or maybe you feel ready to try that intermediate or advanced yoga class.\\nConfidence is contagious! It magically spreads to other areas of your life. Perhaps you’ve had a goal to make changes to your mental health or change careers or start a nonprofit or volunteer at one.\\nGoals. The confidence you gained from finally landing crow pose may translate into the motivation you need to accomplish other goals in your life.\\nWe should also remember that yoga \\nis\\n a form of meditation. A regular practice of meditation can literally transform our mindset and how our brain works so that we naturally begin to make strides in our internal and external growth.\\nIt’s never too late to crush your goals! If you are looking for way to set, achieve, or stay accountable to your goals, we invite you to check out the large variety of group yoga classes on MyYogaTeacher! Our experienced, expert yoga instructors truly do care about helping you crush your goals and live your best physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy life!\\n\\nGet your 2-week free trial here and try it out!\\n No credit card required.\\n\n\\nNamaste!"},"createdAt":"2021-11-02T18:50:58.139721+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","fitness"]},{"title":"Holistic Healing for Turbulent Times: How Yoga Can Save Our Schools","coverUrl":"zek5di6ispr3v4p5bbkb.jpg","slug":"yoga-in-schools","content":{"text":"Approximately 7% of children between the ages of 3-17 suffer from anxiety. Depression affects about 5% of American children and adolescents.\\nDuring the ages when kids are supposed to be being...well, kids, they are, instead, inundated with societal pressures, bullying, the unending pressures of school and standardized testing, and the constant push to do all the things that will make them competitive in the college application process or in the job market.\\nThat’s not even taking into account their home life stressors. \\nIt’s no wonder children and adolescents are increasingly breaking rules, acting out, and not coping well with their life in or out of school.\\nThese days being a kid is complicated at best.\\nBringing a regular yoga practice into schools would not only improve the mental, physical, and emotional health of the students, it could also prevent or stop bullying, drug use, and deviant behavior.\\nLet’s take a look at exactly how yoga can save our schools and what exactly it does to help make everyone’s life better. \\n\\n\\nYoga helps at-risk, depressed, and suicidal children.\\nIt should come as no surprise that marginalized, poverty-stricken children are at higher risk of anxiety, depression, suicide, drug use, and crime than other demographics. \\nThese children are often not equipped to handle the pressures that come with their lack of support. They also aren’t usually given the tools to cope with the challenges in their lives. And so begins their decline in health.\\nBringing yoga into the classroom gives students coping mechanisms to better handle stressful situations, teaches them how to self-soothe in a healthy way, and can prevent the thoughts that lead up to negative behaviors and health.\\nHere are just a few ways research shows yoga helps kids battle anxiety and depression:\\nYoga releases the same “feel-good” chemicals in children as it does in adults.\\nPracticing yoga teaches kids how to regulate their emotions.\\nYogic breathing techniques help kids manage their anxiety better or eliminate it.\\nYoga improves self-esteem and promotes body confidence.\\nYoga and meditation is a tool kids can use anywhere at almost any time.\\nThe bigger picture is not only the fact that yoga helps kids feel better, cope better, regulate their emotions, and reduces the risk of depression, suicide, drug use, and crime.\\nThese effects create a ripple effect.\\nHappier students mean happier teachers. It means more learning, more productive members of society. Lower suicide rates would mean a relief for emergency medical services, police departments and fire departments. Reduce the likelihood of drug use, and our entire society benefits, not just the child.\\nYoga is powerful. Meditation is powerful. And they can be used to save lives or, at the very least, be used as tools in conjunction with other forms of support to help kids be and do better.\\n\\n\\nYoga helps children focus better and improves memory.\\nIf you haven’t read our post on \\n5 Proven Ways Meditation Positively Affects Brain Behavior\\n, you can click that link and go check it out.\\nResearch has increasingly shown that yoga improves cognitive performance in children and adults alike. This is huge, especially for kids who struggle with focus, concentration, and memory. Children with ADD and ADHD particularly struggle with these things.\\nHowever, children who don’t get enough sleep, aren’t well fed, are abused or neglected, or are homeless are also sure to suffer from lack of focus and retention.\\nThere are a multitude of reasons a child or adolescent struggles with cognitive impairments. Whatever the reason, yoga improves focus and memory in children and adolescents.\\nYoga teaches children how to concentrate on the movement of their body, their breath, and how to get those two things to work together seamlessly. It also teaches them how to calm their central nervous system, let go of things in their lives they can’t change and focus on things they can, and eases tension that may prevent them from learning.\\nThe more tools schools give children to help them learn, grow, and thrive, the better off the child is and the better off society (and the school) is!\\n\\n\\nYoga helps kids get and stay physically fit.\\nIn today’s world, children aren’t sent outside to play until the street lights come on. They don’t ride their bikes all over town, and many no longer participate in sports or physical extracurricular activities.\\nScreen time prevails. \\nPhones, computers, gaming consoles, tv’s. Kids are obsessed with social media and YouTube. And, while screens \\ncan\\n be a healthy outlet, they are turning into kids’ \\nonly\\n outlet.\\nScreen time only got worse with the rise of the pandemic. It was a means to communicate, connect, and stay sane for children and adults. \\nBringing yoga into the schools provides an excellent source of fun physical activity. Many children don’t get the proper amount of exercise. Not to mention, sitting at desks all day, focusing, staying still and paying attention is not easy or healthy for long periods of time.\\nKids need to move their bodies!\\nYoga is a physical activity suitable for all children and adolescents of all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities. Fostering their health and fitness leads to adults who care more about their health. This not only prevents illness and disease but alleviates some of the stress on our healthcare systems.\\nMyYogaTeacher supports the inclusion of yoga whenever and wherever possible. While we hope that, one day, yoga will become the norm in classrooms across the country, we understand that progress takes time. In the meantime, if you and your family are interested in trying out, starting, or continuing a regular yoga practice, check out MyYogaTeacher! We offer 35+ group classes taught by expert yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India. And we truly care about your continued health and wellbeing!\\n\\nGet your 2-week free trial here! \\nNo credit card required!\\nNamaste.\\n\n"},"createdAt":"2021-10-27T23:31:42.683507+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Cat Yoga: 5 Ways Including A Cat in Your Yoga Practice Benefits Your Mental Health","coverUrl":"jrbariwsee7h8jjwqv1m.jpg","slug":"cat-yoga-benefits","content":{"text":"Don’t laugh! We’re for real.\\nIf you’re not a cat person, are allergic to cats, or have a traumatic experience with felines, you can skip this article altogether. We totally understand!\\nHowever, whether you love cats or not, we’ve discovered some really interesting stuff about how including cats in your yoga practice benefits your mental and emotional health. Plus, cats themselves are way more therapeutic than people give them credit for!\\nWhile animal yoga – like goat yoga and horse yoga – seems to be a hot trend, we’re wary of buying into novelties where the actual practice of yoga is overshadowed by animals that may or may not cause injury.\\nAs a matter of fact, cat yoga isn’t just good for you. It’s good for your cat too!\\nHere’s what we’ve discovered about this up and coming trend and how cat yoga is beneficial for you both.\\n\\n\\n1. Cats positively affect your psychological health\\nAccording to \\nHealthline\\n, cat owners already tend to have lower stress levels, lower resting heart rates, and are happier. Cats are also naturally calming, which carries over to their human counterparts.\\nThat being said, cats also enjoy bonding with their owners just as much as the owners do with them. And bonding with animals is notoriously good for mental health.\\nWhy?\\nSeveral reasons. Animals don’t judge us, talk down to us or talk negatively about us. They generally only require basic needs. And obviously, physical touching, petting, and snuggling releases feel good chemicals in both cat and human.  Also, cats tend to be very independent creatures, which makes them low maintenance.\\nCats, in particular, also offer a natural source of healing in their purr. Purring releases endorphins in the cat, and studies have shown that the frequency of a cat’s purr actually contributes to physical healing in humans.\\nNow, combine the benefits of owning a cat with an activity like yoga (which also improves psychological health), and you get a double dose of endorphins! Plus, you and your cat get the benefits that come from physical activity.\\n2. Cats prioritize self-care.\\nWhile many animals are very efficient at self-care, cats are especially in tune with their basic needs. They can also be a good reminder for us to prioritize our self-care.\\nWe’ve discussed a cat’s purr, but did you know that the frequency of their purr contributes to the growth and repair of their bones and muscles? Super cool! They also lick their fur not just to clean themselves, but to regulate body temperature and distribute the oils in their skin.\\nWe’re not saying you should start purring or stop showering, but the way cats move and stretch is also a part of their selfcare. \\nAnd that’s something they can remind us to do that we’re capable of! Plus, if you hadn’t noticed, there are at least several yoga poses who’s name is derived from cats.\\nYoga is definitely a form of self care and, as it turns out, is even more beneficial to your physical, mental, and emotional health when you incorporate your furbaby friends!\\n3. Cat yoga gets you out of your comfort zone.\\nSometimes, what affects our mental health the most isn’t the stressful situations (or days), the anxiety-ridden moments, or the emotional rollercoaster of life.\\nIt’s the mundane.\\nExcessive boredom or repeated, boring tasks negatively affect the brain. \\nStudies show\\n that people who have high levels of boredom or don’t step out of their comfort zone and change up their daily routine suffer from higher levels of depression and anxiety.\\nAs a matter of fact, boredom is actually detectable in brain activity on an EEG.\\nHere at MyYogaTeacher, we have a hard time ever getting bored with our yoga routine because there is such a huge variety of classes offered by so many different, amazing instructors. But we also don’t mind saying that cat yoga would definitely be outside of our comfort zone...in a good way!\\nUnlike other forms of animal yoga, cat yoga is still very safe, joyful, and fun!\\n\\n\\n4. Cats naturally fit into a yoga practice.\\nCats are constantly practicing yoga! \\nThey are not only intuitive comforters, cats are top-notch yogis. And they love stretching and moving in ways that we mere humans (for the most part) can’t.\\nBecause yoga is an exercise that focuses on self awareness and bringing harmony to your inner and outer self, it makes sense that incorporating your already extremely self aware and flexible furry friends into your yoga practice will come naturally. \\nIf you’ve already practiced yoga around your cat, you may have noticed that he or she sticks around during your practice...maybe in ways that you don’t want, but still. Your furry friend is there.\\nThat’s because cats intuitively recognize the calming effects yoga has on humans. They also recognize the movements. \\nCats are very intelligent animals. You may think involving your feline friend in your yoga practice will be stressful, but the truth is, the exact opposite is true!\\n5. Cats and yoga encourage us to slow down.\\nCats are experts at meditation. It’s true!\\nThey are very good at being mindful, and they tend to really enjoy life. Domestic cats can usually be found sitting or lying around watching the world go by, taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells \\nor\\n they’re playing, stretching, or running around.\\nTry meditating with your cat. You’ll probably find that your feline friend sits or lays right next to you as you spend time taming your thoughts.\\nCats are also great at regulating their breath!\\nIf you haven’t heard it from us already, breath is life. And yogic breathing is excellent for physical, mental, and emotional wellness. It reduces anxiety and depression, invigorates the mind and spirit, and literally brings life back to your body and soul.\\nCats are very adept at breathing deeply and smoothly. And you’ll find that if you gently lay your hand on your kitty while you’re meditating, you’ll breathe right along with them. \\nSlowing down is an important part of mental wellness. Incorporating cat yoga into your routine will bring awareness to the very important practice of slowing down.\\n\\n\\nWhile we don’t offer cat yoga at MyYogaTeacher, we do offer over 35+ different types of yoga classes that are not only challenging, but fun! \\nGet your 2-week free trial here\\n if you haven’t already tried us out and discover the benefits of yoga!\\nSee you there!\\n\n\n"},"createdAt":"2021-10-20T17:52:16.501962+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","mental_health"]},{"title":"How to Use Yoga to Prevent or Reverse Heart Disease","coverUrl":"huttsdaswff4dyzlb8i0.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-heart-health","content":{"text":"Did you know that, in the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death amongst adult men, women, and most racial and ethnic groups?\\nStudies show that one person dies every 36 seconds due to heart disease.\\nThe truth is, for most people, heart disease in all its forms is preventable by adopting a healthy eating lifestyle, moderate exercise, and better forms of self-care. And gone are the days when vigorous exercise accompanied by jacked up heart rates are the only types of physical activity that help prevent or reverse heart disease.\\nYoga is good for your heart too.\\nIncreasingly, doctors (particularly cardiologists) are recognizing that the benefits of yoga for your heart are very real.\\nBecause globally, heart disease kills upwards of 17 million people a year worldwide, I wanted to create a yoga class for heart health on MyYogaTeacher! The class is called \\nHeart Diseases – How to Reverse or Avoid Them With Yoga\\n.\\nIf you’re not a member of MyYogaTeacher yet, you should definitely check it out! \\nWhen you sign up for your 2-week free trial, you get access to every single group class MYT has to offer\\n! There are over 35 varying types of classes taught by amazing instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India.\\nIn the meantime, let’s talk about how yoga for heart health can help prevent or reverse heart disease.\\nUse yoga to boost heart health\\nIt’s common knowledge that fried foods, food high in sugar, and excessively eating food high in fat and bad cholesterol, and \\nnot \\neating enough clean, whole foods is bad for your heart.\\nResearch has also shown over and over again the effects of unmanaged high blood pressure, high cortisol levels, and high glucose levels on our heart.\\nInflammation in the body also causes heart disease. And inflammation comes from excessive amounts of sugar, salt, cortisol, and cholesterol.\\nYou know what else studies are repeatedly showing?\\nThat yoga helps prevent and even reverse heart disease. It helps combat the damage we do to our bodies when we eat terribly and don’t move our bodies enough. Yoga literally boosts heart health.\\nCheck this out. Yoga:\\n>> Reduces cortisol levels that accompany stress and bad eating habits\\n>> Decreases blood pressure\\n>> Improves cholesterol levels\\n>> Reduces inflammation in the whole body\\nAll of which reduces your chances of having a stroke, heart attack, or coronary artery disease.\\nNot that we’re encouraging you to start or continue eating an unhealthy diet or that emotional, mindless, and stress eating are ok for your body. But when you’re not eating well, you’re super stressed, or having a generally bad day, yoga protects your heart. \\nYoga helps you manage your weight\\nWhether you need to lose weight or not, yoga for your heart helps you lose or maintain your weight. \\nWe’re not knocking vigorous, heart-pounding-in-your-chest, sweating bullets forms of exercise. We’re just saying not only is it not necessary if you don’t want to do it or like to do it, it’s not always safe for everyone.\\nSome people \\nneed\\n a gentler form of exercise that’s safe but still strengthens, tones, promotes flexibility, and helps them manage their weight.\\nWeight loss and management is important to heart health. Excess weight, particularly around the midsection, is dangerously unhealthy. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease because fat collects on and around vital organs, including your heart. \\nYoga for heart health is a perfect way to address weight gain, weight management, and overall physical fitness. There are many types of yoga, such as hatha yoga, ashtanga yoga, and power yoga, that do increase your heart rate and are quite vigorous without being hard on your body.\\nPrevent or reverse the effects of heart disease with a consistent regular yoga practice!\\nYoga as a stress management tool\\nI think it’s safe to say that worldwide stress levels have increased over the past 1.5 years, but even before COVID, stress was becoming its own sort of pandemic. Particularly in the Western part of the world.\\nLet’s look at how stress affects your heart.\\nStressful situations can lead to smoking, overeating, or other unhealthy habits, all of which are bad for your heart.\\nStress responses release adrenaline and cortisol which trigger inflammation in the body and around the heart.\\nStress restricts the blood flow around the heart due to the constriction of blood vessels.\\nStress contributes to high blood pressure, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.\\nStress literally lowers the \\ngood\\n cholesterol in your body.\\nOver time, continued mismanagement of stress in your life can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, and a whole host of other heart conditions.\\nOn the other hand, yoga is notorious for reducing stress levels and helping people \\nkeep\\n their stress levels down. This not only promotes better mental and emotional health, yoga improves heart health and your entire body. Here’s how. By:\\n>> Increasing levels of feel good chemicals like serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins.\\n>> Bringing more self awareness to how you’re feeling, why, and how to better manage stressful situations\\n>> Dilating blood vessels, which improves circulation to your heart and organs.\\n>> Improving oxygen levels, which calms your central nervous system.\\n>> Helping you become more present and grounded, which promotes calmness.\\nNot to mention, worry, anxiety, and depression often follow a cardiac event. If you’ve already suffered from a heart related problem or already have some form of heart disease that causes you stress and worry, a regular yoga practice is a good avenue for you!\\nOur hearts are the most vital organ in our body! It works continuously from before we’re even born until the day we die. Nonstop. Day and night. It’s not a muscle we really think about until it doesn’t work right. We need to take care of it.\\nA consistent, regular yoga practice can prevent heart disease that isn’t genetic or hereditary. Yoga really can reverse the effects of heart disease too. \\nYou just have to show up!\\nI’d love to have you in my class, \\nHeart Disease – How to Avoid/Reverse Them With Yoga\\n. In our sessions, you’ll learn how to avoid or manage things like heart attacks, strokes, angina, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease.\\nIf you’re not a member of MyYogaTeacher yet, I encourage you to \\ngrab your 2-week free trial here and check it out\\n! No credit card required. Just sign up and come. We are a community of people from all walks of life, all different backgrounds, and you’ll meet people from other parts of the world. All while creating a harmonious mind, body, and spirit!\\nJoin us!\\n\n"},"createdAt":"2021-10-14T20:25:54.087175+00:00","author":{"name":"Ravin","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["fitness","yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga for Runners: How Yoga Helps Runners Perform Better","coverUrl":"dgbpmcwawhsmhokutnzw.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-runners","content":{"text":"Runners are a whole community of people. They are focused, consistent, resilient, and committed to their craft.\\nThey also tend to succumb to a whole host of physical issues specific to runners. Kind of like how tennis players often get tennis elbow (aka tendonitis) or sprained ankles from their constant change of direction, runners get shin splints, runner’s knee, plantar fasciitis, and their own set of ankle injuries.\\nIt’s no surprise to us that yoga for runners is a thing and that runners can seriously benefit from a regular yoga practice.\\nBut yoga might be a new concept to a lot of runners out there.\\nNot necessarily new in the sense they’ve never heard of it, but new in the way they’ve never thought about trying it out as a part of their training and recovery.\\nSo we wanted to discuss how yoga helps runners perform better, prevents injury, and helps their body recover.\\nIf you haven’t checked out MyYogaTeacher yet, we’d love to have you! With a continuously grown variety of classes, we’re confident that there’s a perfect class or two...or three out there for you! \\nYou can get your 2-week free trial here and take as many or as few as you want!\\n\\nYoga for core strength\\nWe’ve talked about it. You’ve talked about it. Virtually every trainer in every possible sport has talked about it. \\nCore strength.\\nAnd what is one huge benefit of yoga? A stronger core, of course!\\nFor runners, having a strong core means better torso stability when they’re running. Core strength allows a runner’s hips, pelvis, and lower back to work together seamlessly. Smoother operation of those areas means less lower back pain and fewer lower back injuries. Having a stronger core also means runners recover from missteps or loss in balance better, which may also help to prevent ankle and foot injuries!\\nPower yoga and vinyasa yoga are awesome choices for runners who are looking to improve their core strength and underused muscles.\\nBreathwork for runners: Yogic breathing\\nRunners are very focused on getting plenty of oxygen when they run. It’s a good thing, right? Right.\\nOne of the benefits of yoga for runners is that their lung function improves! Yogic breathing not only teaches runners how to breathe better, more steadily, and with more control while they’re running, it actually increases their lung capacity and strengthens the breathing muscles.\\nAnd since all yoga practices include some form of breathwork, runners benefit from yoga in an organic way.\\nYoga for runners: Flexibility\\nWe’ve mentioned this briefly in another article you’re welcome to check out titled \\nYoga for Athletes: 5 Reasons Yoga Should Be Included in Athletic Training.\\n\\nFlexibility for runners is important for keeping their overused muscles stretched out. Runners notoriously have tight hamstrings, hips, glutes, and quads. Tightness in these areas, in the long term, can cause postural problems, back pain, foot pain, and a rotated pelvis.\\nThis is where taking a yoga class for runners specifically helps them. Becoming more flexible will help their majorly used muscle groups recover while also helping to prevent injury during their runs and in their future.\\nYoga helps runners recover\\nOne of the most underused training tools in existence is...time. Recovery time, that is.\\nRecreational and hardcore athletes alike don’t spend enough time letting their bodies recover, much less use yoga as a recovery tool.\\nThe truth is yoga is the perfect recovery activity for runners. While a yoga class for runners is particularly helpful, any yoga class that involves passive stretching, such as yin yoga, will help runners release tension and relieve soreness in their muscles.\\nStretching also restores range of motion so runners can perform better after yoga.\\nBetter balance for runners\\nBalance for runners is important, particularly for trail runners, who often don’t run on an even or paved surface. Losing balance is an easy way to sprain or break ankles, incur foot injuries, and even fall, causing other injuries as well.\\nRunners who practice yoga reap more benefits than just the obvious ones. Balancing poses strengthen all the tiny muscles in the ankles and feet, which helps runners maintain their balance on uneven surfaces or regain it with more ease if they do lose it.\\nYoga poses such as tree pose, crescent lunge, extended hand-to-big-toe pose, eagle pose, high lunge, and chair pose are great yoga poses for runners to practice to help with balance.\\nPerfect yoga poses for runners\\nIf you’re a runner, we get that you may be busy or not all that comfortable participating in a yoga class (yet). So we want you to have some specific yoga poses for runners to  use before and/or after your daily run. \\nButterfly pose\\n\\n\\n\n\\nHalf pigeon pose\\n\\n\\n\n\\nHappy baby pose\\n\\n\\n\n\\nDownward facing dog pose\\n\\n\\n\n\\nLizard pose\\n\\n\\n\n\\nForward fold\\n\\n\\n\n\\nToes pose\\n\\n\n\\nQuad stretch\\n\\nWe recommend holding each pose for 1-5 minutes on each side, and be sure to come out of each pose slowly. Only stretch so far as you don’t suffer. A bit of discomfort is ok, but if there is serious pain, back off on how far you’re stretching or release the stretch completely. You will feel the difference in your muscles immediately after this series of yoga poses for runners!\\nAre you a runner or a walker? We’d love to see you on the mat here at \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n! There are many classes offered that will improve your performance, help your body recover, and help you prevent injuries common for runners. Not to mention all the other benefits that everyone gets from practicing yoga! \\nGet your free 2-week trial membership here\\n and try any of the amazing group yoga classes taught by expert, highly experienced yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India. \\nSee you there!\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-10-06T16:42:11.672793+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["fitness","yoga"]},{"title":"7 New Yoga Trends Popping Up Around the Globe","coverUrl":"pokb9sz9t7gzg5hbbs9v.jpg","slug":"new-yoga-trends","content":{"text":"Here at My Yoga Teacher, we’re never bored by yoga. There’s always something new to learn, a yoga pose we haven’t mastered yet or meditation practices that can get even better.\\nHowever, we understand that some yogis struggle to find the yoga practice that’s a right fit for them, leaving them piecing together various parts of different yoga classes to create one that works.\\nWhile we offer \\nmany\\n types of yoga classes, it has come to our attention that there are some fun new types of yoga popping up all over the place! And that’s exciting! Instructors everywhere are modernizing a thousands year old practice to fit the needs of yogis everywhere.\\nAnd the more people participating in yoga, the more people are reaping the benefits of it. \\nBefore we get started, we want to stress that yoga isn’t just an exercise. It’s an \\nexperience\\n. One that creates happier, healthier, better adjusted, kinder humans. If you can’t find or participate in some of the newest, creative forms of yoga discussed here, we always welcome you to test drive My Yoga Teacher!\\n[CTA-TRENDS]\\n1. Yoga for Men (aka Broga)\\nDon’t laugh. Broga is a real thing! And we think it’s awesome.\\nTraditionally, yoga has a feminine vibe and is practiced by women, by far, more than men. Even though the ancient roots of yoga are derived from sages who were almost certainly men, ladies have flocked to this ancient practice for decades now.\\nWhile Broga or yoga for men is a fitness-based yoga program designed just for men, it truly is open to all. It is a dynamic yoga session combined with \\nHIIT\\n training that focuses on all the major muscle groups that men tend to want to strengthen.\\nIt’s typically an intense and distinctly masculine yoga practice designed to attract more men to yoga!\\n\\n\\n2. Yoga for runners (aka Roga)\\nThis is another hybrid form of yoga designed specifically for runners.\\nRunners encounter their own set of challenges when it comes to fitness. Besides hitting a brick wall when it comes to motivation, runners deal with health struggles such as shin splints, stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, blisters, and incontinence.\\nThey also use mostly the same muscles over and over again. Which means they are left open to other types of injuries due to under or over use of various muscle groups.\\nYoga for runners, or Roga, helps runners strengthen and tone their underused muscles safely while increasing flexibility all around. The mindfulness aspect of yoga for runners helps them be more aware of their body’s needs when they run.\\n\\n\\n3. SUP yoga \\nStand up paddle board yoga is probably the newest form of yoga we’ll talk about here! We haven’t tried it, but it definitely looks fun...and challenging.\\nIf you’re a paddle boarder or even a surfer, this new yoga trend is definitely one to check out.\\nBecause paddle boarding and surfing require you to change positions and almost constantly adjust your feet and balance with micromovements, SUP yoga includes a lot of core work. Both paddle boarding and surfing are excellent forms of exercise and are challenging in their own right. \\nSUP yoga helps yogis (who also participate in these types of activities) build strength, flexibility, and balance to be able to more confidently make the adjustments needed to successfully stay on a paddle or surfboard.\\n\\n\\n4. Slackline yoga\\nEver walked on a tightrope? Slack rope? Yeah, us either. But that’s almost exactly what this form of yoga entails.\\nSlackline yoga is particularly for those who are already advanced yogis. Yogis who are looking to challenge themselves even more than they already have or do. Even simple poses prove very challenging in slackline yoga.\\nIn this type of yoga practice, you’ll focus on practicing yoga poses on a 1-inch wide piece of fabric, often an aerial yoga silk or some other form of webbing. The main goal of slackline yoga is to help yogis regulate stress responses and connect with their calmer inner self. No matter what kind of situation they may be in.\\n\\n\\n5. Aerial yoga\\nSpeaking of yoga silks, they are essential to aerial yoga. While this form of yoga has been around for a while, it’s still new to a lot of people. Plus, aerial yoga studios are popping up everywhere as more adventurous yogis are looking for a yoga style that’s more...fun!\\nNot to mention, aerial yoga swings are super accessible for people who want to try aerial yoga out at home.\\nIn aerial yoga, you’ll do the same yoga poses you do on a mat, just in the air. Sounds fun, right? \\nWhile aerial yoga may not be the best for yogis who have disabilities, injuries, or our senior yogis, it \\nis\\n great for yogis of varying fitness levels and sizes. \\nIf you try this form of yoga out somewhere, be prepared to increase your lung function for sure! It’s definitely a work out!\\n\\n\\n6. Yoga for mental fitness\\nMost people think of yoga as a means to build strength, flexibility, and get toned or as an active recovery for other forms of exercise.\\nBut with all the stress in the world recently – a pandemic, wildfires, floods, politics, and social injustice – yoga is a convenient and accessible solution to anxiety, depression, trauma, and other forms of stress.\\nMental fitness yoga is just that. Yoga practiced for the sole purpose of restoring and/or healing your mental health. \\nMany people are jumping into a yoga practice with a focus on mental health for this very reason, but truly, \\nall\\n forms of yoga improve mental health. It even improves your outlook on life in general, including perceptions of aging. Read \\nhere\\n how instructor Kanika Sud, who teaches Yoga for Seniors, believes yoga can transform commonly held beliefs about getting older. Through yogic breathing, self awareness, and meditation, yoga for mental fitness is helpful (and available) for every single human on this planet.\\n7. Yoga capsules\\nWhile this isn’t a specific \\nform\\n of yoga per se, we wanted to include it because something we hear a lot of is that people don’t have enough time for yoga.\\nThe great thing to remember about yoga is that you don’t have to practice for long periods of time in order to reap the rewards of a yoga practice! For people who are super busy, yoga capsules could be their best option for getting their yoga on.\\nYoga capsules are small chunks of various yoga practices that only take 5-15 minutes each. You can practice at different times of day, whenever it’s convenient for you. Taking just short amounts of time to meditate, stretch, and calm your central nervous system will make a huge (positive) impact on your day!\\n\\nAs always, My Yoga Teacher is here to help you start or continue your yoga practice! We’ve made it convenient to take live classes at almost any time of day (or night). \\nGrab your 2-week free trial here\\n and experience one or all of the various types of yoga taught by our highly qualified, expert yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India!\\n\n"},"createdAt":"2021-09-27T17:10:20.685863+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"How Yoga Helps Alzheimer’s Disease Patients Live a Better Life","coverUrl":"v5aad52ayhuvpwcv68dn.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-alzheimers","content":{"text":"There are a lot of things in this world that are incurable. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s disease is one of them. \\nIf you’ve ever known someone with this horrible disease, you’ll understand how hard it is to sit by and watch as that person’s mental, physical, and emotional health decline. After all, there is only so much anyone can do to help, right?\\nCaregivers also suffer tremendously, even medical staff caregivers who are trained to work with Alzheimer’s patients. \\nHere at My Yoga Teacher, we believe yoga helps everyone.\\nIf you’ve read other articles of ours, you’ve probably heard that before. That’s because it’s true. \\nYoga for Alzheimer’s disease patients is a perfect way to keep their mind active. It helps keep their body from deteriorating so rapidly, and it improves their quality of life.\\nWe’re sure some of our MYT members have experience with someone in their life having this horrible disease. \\nSo we wanted to talk about how yoga can help!\\nMeditation for Alzheimer’s patients\\nMeditation has a reputation for improving cognitive function in people from all walks of life. Science says so.\\nBut how does meditation help Alzheimer’s patients when the very things they struggle with – memory and focus – are such an integral part of most meditative practices?\\nFirst and foremost, we should mention that, according to research, your lifestyle and stress levels are the two biggest contributing factors of Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also a proven fact that meditation helps lower stress levels and improve lifestyle.\\nAlzheimer’s patients benefit from meditation because it:\n\\nReduces their stress levels. Alzheimer’s patients get very stressed at different stages of their disease progression. Also, caregivers’ stress impacts both the caregiver and the patient. Meditation can be vital to helping with these issues!\\nReduces cortisol levels and inflammation, which is a result of high stress levels and causes other illnesses and disease in the body.\\nImproves focus, concentration, and cognition. Meditation helps Alzheimer’s patients hold onto as much memory and brain function as they can for as long as they can.\\nIncreases blood flow to the brain, which helps general brain function and memory. Meditation also engages different parts of the brain, which helps it form new connections.\\nMany researchers have concluded that meditation for Alzheimer’s patients is proven to slow the progression of this terrible disease! Not only that, but the benefits of meditation for Alzheimer’s patients far exceed just helping them with their disease. It can drastically improve their life.\\nBenefits of Yoga for Alzheimer’s Patients\\nThere are many different types of yoga classes for Alzheimer’s patients. That’s because almost all forms of yoga help restore cognitive function. Not just for these patients but for anyone who suffers from dementia, traumatic brain injury, or any other disease that affects the cognitive abilities of the brain.\\nWe won’t go over specific yoga poses for dementia here, but we will talk about all the benefits of yoga for Alzheimer’s patients and some specific types of yoga that are best for them.\\nSo, besides the fact that almost every yoga class ends (or \\nshould \\nend) with a short or long meditation, meditation is an inclusive and integral part of the yoga practice itself.\\nAutomatic bonus to practicing yoga, right?!\\nHere are some other ways yoga benefits Alzheimer’s patients:\\n1. Similar to meditation, yoga sequences help people suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s make better connections due to improved neuroplasticity in the brain.\\nYoga helps Alzheimer’s patients combat and prevent the physical deterioration of their bodies that is a direct result of their disease, which helps them live longer, healthier, happier lives.\\nYoga is an activity that patients and caregivers can do together, reducing the stress of the caregiver \\nand\\n the patient. Plus, doing yoga together promotes bonding and trust between patient and caregiver.\\nYoga improves mood, awareness, focus, concentration, and generally gives an overall feeling of happiness. All benefits that Alzheimer’s patients specifically can use!\\nWhen we learn new skills, our brain’s ability to rebuild connections increases due to neuroplasticity.\\nNeuroplasticity is, in layman's terms, the ability for the brain to rewire itself. Without this specific ability, the brain would be unable to develop from infancy through adulthood. \\nYoga and meditation may, in fact, be an integral part of reversing early onset Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. And we at My Yoga Teacher want you to have access to as much yoga and meditation as your heart desires. If you haven’t checked us out yet, \\nget your 2-week free trial here \\nand experience the huge variety of yoga classes offered on our platform, taught by expert and highly experienced yoga teachers from the birthplace of yoga, India!\\nIn the meantime, let’s explore some specific types of yoga most helpful for Alzheimer’s patients.\\nBest Types of Yoga for Alzheimer’s Patients\\nWhile My Yoga Teacher doesn’t offer a yoga class for Alzheimer’s patients \\nyet\\n, we do offer several other yoga classes that fit the bill! As a matter of fact, these types of yoga classes are perfect for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, seniors, and people who have problems in their knees and hips.\\nLet’s take a look!\\nChair Yoga\\nChair yoga is perfect for people who have dementia, problems with stability, arthritis, or injuries. If you’re interested in an in-depth look at how chair yoga can benefit you or a loved one, check out an article one of our instructors wrote about it! You can find \\nChair Yoga: Accessible, Gentle, and Great for Every Body here!\\n\\nYin Yoga\\nYin yoga is a restorative, passive form of yoga that includes holding poses and stretches for longer periods of time. It’s a slow, meditative practice well suited for people with Alzheimer’s dementia, injuries, older athletes, or people who generally have a lot of stiffness.\\nHatha Yoga\\nHatha yoga is what most people think of when they think of yoga. How fast each class goes is up to the instructor, but you will find that most hatha yoga classes are active, but fairly slow paced. Hatha yoga is not considered a restorative form of yoga but is great for seniors who are still active and somewhat physically fit.\\nThere are just so many ways yoga and meditation benefit Alzheimer’s patients! Better mood, better sleep, improved memory, awareness, balance, physical health. \\nYoga provides this population of people in particular with a better quality of life.\\nWhile scientists haven’t found a way yet to cure this terrible disease, we can at least make life easier for those who have it by introducing them to yoga and meditation and encouraging them to begin or continue a regular yoga practice!\\nWe’d love to see you or your loved one on the mat! Our instructors truly do care about the wellbeing of their students. They aren’t just instructors. They’re friends. We encourage you to \\ngrab your 2-week free trial of My Yoga Teacher here \\nand see for yourself!\\nNamaste.\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-09-23T15:48:17.194387+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","mental_health"]},{"title":"5 Yoga Moves For Post Nasal Drip Relief","coverUrl":"alulueimz6jojr7vmxrs.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-postnasal-drip","content":{"text":"You’ve probably experienced post nasal drip.\\nEven if you didn’t know what it was, most everyone can relate to the discomfort that comes from excessive sinus drainage and sinus problems. \\nThe sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, the cough. That wooshing sound you may hear in your ears that seems to match the beat of your heart. And of course, who can miss the drippy nose and disrupted sense of smell?\\nYep. That’s post nasal congestion...dripping down post nasal drip into lungs and even stomach.\\nPost nasal drip can be a problem for a number of reasons, which we’ll discuss, but there is something you can do about it without reverting to over-the-counter or prescription medications.\\nYou guessed it! Yoga! Yoga and \\nyogic breathing\\n is great for relief of post nasal drip\n\\nThis is why I really wanted to start my class, \\nTherapeutic Yoga for Asthma and Sinus\\n on My Yoga Teacher! Because sinus drainage and breathing issues are a problem for so many people for so many reasons, and yoga can help.\\n[CTA-NASAL]\\nLet’s talk about how yoga helps with post nasal drip and sinus issues.\\nWhere does post nasal drip come from?\\nBelieve it or not, you don’t have to be sick to have post nasal drip. Sinus drainage is constantly happening in your body. Sometimes, though, your body produces too much mucus and the result of that is post nasal drip that causes problems.\\nIf you’re experiencing issues such as a consistent sore throat (that can be just as painful or more so than Strep throat), swollen and sore lymph nodes under your chin and in your neck, a persistent, nagging cough, constant runny nose, or any combination of these, you probably have post nasal drip.\\nHere are a few reasons your body may be producing too much mucus, resulting in your discomfort.\\n>> Sinus infections\\n>> Allergies\\n>> Common Cold\\n>> Cold temperatures\\n>> Dry air\\n>> Hormonal changes\\n>> Certain foods\\n>> Chemical irritants\\nThese are the most common reasons for excessive sinus drainage. The good news is that yoga for post nasal drainage is an actual thing, and a reality in my class on \\nMy Yoga Teacher\\n!\\n5 Yoga poses to relieve post nasal drainage\\nWe cover all of these in my class, but I want you to have some yoga poses in your holistic “medicine cabinet” to help you when you’re in a crunch and can’t take a full yoga class! \\nYoga poses that help with sinus drainage are typically like the ones below. They give you a gentle inversion, increase lung capacity, and help drain the lymphatic system.\\n1. Downward Facing Dog\\nPoses that require you to be upside down help release built-up sinus pressure and improve the flow of lymphatic fluid. \\n\\n\\n\n2. Bridge Pose\\nBridge pose opens up your chest and throat and helps relieve sinus pressure and allergies. If needed, you can place a block under your hips.\\n\\n\\n\n3. Fish Pose\\nThis is an extension of bridge pose, as it increases that stretch in the chest, opens the throat even more, and releases that fluid build up in your sinuses.\\n\\n\\n\n4. Camel Pose\\nThis is another pose you can practice to get relief from nasal congestion due to any number of things. Camel pose, similar to bridge and fish pose, is a bit chest opener. With the gentle backward drop of your head, it also relieves sinus congestion.\\n\\n\\n\\n5. Child's Pose\\nThe importance of child’s pose for this article is to stress that the forehead make it to the floor or ground. This is a very gentle inversion and gently rocking your forehead side to side on the floor will release pressure and fluid build up.\\n\\n\nWhile yoga for sinus drainage discomfort is helpful, yoga isn’t the only way to help cure post nasal drip swollen lymph nodes and sinus problems.\\n\\nYogic breathing for post nasal drip and sinus issues\\nThis may sound counterintuitive, but breath work helps alleviate post nasal drip swollen lymph nodes and sinus drainage.\\nIf you’re all stuffed up, I get that the last thing you want to think about is trying to take a deep breath through your nose, but \\nalternate nostril breathing\\n is the best thing for you!\\nWe’ve talked about \\nalternate nostril breathing\\n (also called Nadi Shodhana) before in \\nHow Yogic Breathing Helps Asthmatics\\n, but I definitely want to mention it again since this specific form of yogic breathing helps relieve sinus congestion and post nasal drip!\\nIf you need a refresher on how it works, here are some simple steps. Have a tissue handy though! You’ll need it.\\n>> Sit comfortably and fully upright. Place your first and second fingers of your dominant hand on your forehead.\\n>> Gently place your thumb on your right nostril and your ring finger on your left nostril (if you’re right handed, the opposite if you’re left handed)\\n>> Close the nostril that your thumb is on and inhale slowly and deeply through the opposite nostril.\\n>> Hold your breath for a count of 10 and close the nostril your ring finger is resting on and release the one your thumb is closing to slowly release the breath.\\n>> Inhale through the nostril you just released your last breath from and repeat this process.\\nBe sure to breathe into your belly, also known as belly breathing. Repeat this for as long as you can, preferably 5 minutes or longer. When you’re finished, release both nostrils and take a few deep breaths before returning to normal breathing.\\nThis yogic breathing for sinus drainage takes some patience and some practice, but stick with it and you’ll be breathing better in no time!\\nIf you need some guidance on how to use yoga to help relieve post nasal congestion and sinus pressure, we’d love to have you in my class, \\nTherapeutic Yoga for Asthma and Sinus\\n! We practice breathing and poses, including the ones above, that help strengthen the lungs, cleanse your lymphatic system, and reduce or eliminate sinus pressure and congestion!\\nMy Yoga Teacher is the perfect platform for busy people. A large variety of classes are available to our members, taught live at various times of day and night by expert yoga instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India! "},"createdAt":"2021-09-17T17:35:56.307081+00:00","author":{"name":"Neelmani","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","yoga_poses"]},{"title":"Migraine Sufferer? Try These 7 Poses That Relieve Migraine Pain","coverUrl":"irvzcafmlyvm1ru6wqxk.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-migraines","content":{"text":"If you’ve ever had a migraine, you’ll understand why it’s such a hot topic in the holistic health world. \\nGrab your 2-week free trial here and join us on the mat!\\n\\nEveryone’s looking for a remedy that is less expensive, less invasive, and comes with few or no side effects. Did you know that almost every single medication doctors prescribe to treat migraines was created specifically to treat something else?\\nSeizures, high blood pressure, heart problems. That’s what migraine drugs were created for. The fact that those drugs may often help with migraine pain came about as happenstance.\\nWe haven’t even gotten around to talking about other procedures to help with migraines, such as injections in the head, Botox injections, and even surgery.\\nNo wonder people are on the hunt for more natural remedies for migraines!\\nHere at My Yoga Teacher, we believe in the power of yoga to heal and help with all kinds of ailments, diseases, and pains.\\nThat’s why we wanted to give you some tried and true, easy yoga poses for migraine relief.\\nAnd if you haven’t checked out My Yoga Teacher yet, \\nhead on over and get your 2-week free trial here!\\n No credit card required. You’ll have access to tons of group yoga classes of all varieties, taught by experienced yoga teachers from India!\\n1. Child's Pose\\nChild’s pose not only stretches out the upper and lower back and shoulders, by placing your forehead on the floor, you’ll be activating pressure points that can help relieve migraine pain. If your migraine is derived from tension, that stretch from tailbone to fingertips will release those muscles and provide much needed relief!\\n>> Bring your big toes together, touching.\\n>> Walk your knees out wider than your hips, or the width of your mat.\\n>> Walk your fingertips forward on your mat and release your torso down to the floor between your knees or on your knees, depending on your level of flexibility.\\n>> Let your forehead rest on the floor or mat and rock your head gently side to side to activate those pressure points.\\n\\n\\n2. Cat-Cow Pose\\nThis pose boosts circulation while also relieving tension in your upper and lower back, as well as your neck, all areas where migraines can stem from. The increased circulation contributes to more blood flow and oxygen to the brain, helping to relieve migraine pain.\\n>> Start in neutral tabletop position, wrists, elbows, and shoulders all stacked evenly atop one another. Hips directly over your knees.\\n>> Inhale deeply and lift from your hips, drop your belly, as you slightly arch your back. Raise your head and gaze upwards.\\n>> On your exhale, slowly and smoothly move out of the arched back, through neutral spine. Tuck your chin to chest, tailbone under.\\n\\n\\n3. Downward Facing Dog\\nDownward facing dog pose is considered an inversion pose because your heart is above your head. This causes a reversal of blood flow and, hence, a rush of oxygenated blood to your brain.\\nFun fact:\\n Did you know that blood vessel constriction caused by excessive release of certain hormones contributes to the cause of migraine headaches? That’s why yoga poses that increase blood flow to the brain are helpful!\\n>> In tabletop position, tuck toes under and lift hips up and back, dropping your heels down towards your mat.\\n>> Press hands firmly onto mat and align your head between your arms.\\n>> Release your torso back towards your thighs.\\n\\n\\n4. Bridge Pose\\nBridge pose may not seem like the pose to do when you have a migraine, but it’s actually really beneficial for migraine relief. Another big reason for migraines is tension in your neck and shoulders. We all tend to hold tension in these areas, but especially if we work at a desk or do a lot of sitting!\\n>> Lie on your back, feet flat on the floor, knees up, arms down by your sides\\n>> Inhale and lift your hips up towards the ceiling.\\n>> Make a space between your chin and your chest and press the back of your head down onto the mat.\\n\\n\\n5. Ragdoll Pose (Forward Bend)\\nThis is also considered an inversion pose and reduces tension in the neck and body, decompresses the cervical spine, and allows for better circulation to the head and scalp. Ragdoll pose is like getting a hug from gravity! Everything gets a bit of release, which may be just what your head needs to feel better.\\n>> Spread feet hips’ distance apart (or wider if you’re comfortable with that), and hinge forward at the waist.\\n>> Drop your hands to the floor or you can hug opposite elbows. The crown of your head should be down towards the floor, dangling gently.\\n>> You may hang and let this pose be static, or you can gently sway from side to side.\\n\\n\\n6. Legs Up A Wall\\nWhile technically not an inversion pose, resting your legs up against a wall (or in mid air with a block underneath your hips) still allows the blood to flow more towards your head. This is an incredibly restorative pose. Plus the more blood flowing to your brain, the less pain from your migraine you’re likely to have.\\n>> Lie on your back and rest your legs up against a wall so they are perpendicular to your torso.\\n>> Flex your feet and toes so that they are parallel to your torso. Let your arms lay gently out by your sides.\\n\\n\\n7. Corpse Pose\\nEveryone loves corpse pose! Also called, Savasana, corpse pose is a restorative pose, a pose of relaxation and release of tension through breath and intention. After a long, hard day or a hard workout, Savasana is a perfect way to calm your nervous system and restore your body, which can also relieve migraine headache pain.\\n>> Lie flat on your back on your mat, or place a bolster or blanket under your knees if that’s more comfortable. Arms resting at your sides.\\n>> Let your eyes close as you begin focusing on your breath. Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply.\\n>> Stay here for at least 5 minutes.\\n\\n\\nWe really hope you find some migraine relief with these yoga poses! Pain is...well, a pain! And it stops you from feeling and being your best self. Yoga can help. A regular yoga practice may actually help prevent migraines from even happening.\\nWe invite you to try any or all of the 35+ different classes offered on My Yoga Teacher! The group classes are taught live by instructors who truly care about your wellbeing and who can advise you on how to live your best, healthiest life! \\nGrab your 2-week free trial here and join us on the mat!\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-09-15T18:56:49.699743+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","anxiety","pain_management"]},{"title":"Healing for First Responders: How Yoga Helps Them Navigate Life Better","coverUrl":"ohsommfkjvr9qdvpagmc.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-first-responders","content":{"text":"First responders deserve all the awards and accolades we could possibly give them.\\nIf we took all the trophies from all the Oscars combined and gave them to first responders, it wouldn’t even begin to represent the respect, love, and support they deserve. And it certainly wouldn’t make up for how often these amazing superhumans are taken for granted.\\nFirefighters, 911 dispatchers, EMT’s, paramedics, and law enforcement officers. They’re all on the frontlines for us. Every day.\\nAn estimated 30% of first responders develop behavioral health conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression, compared to 20% for the general population.\\nThe mental health resources needed to help first responders process the trauma they see and experience on a daily basis are almost nonexistent.\\nThis is why a regular yoga practice is so important for these superheroes. \\nIf you haven’t checked out one of our recent posts on \\nHow Yoga Saves Lives\\n, you may want to read about our thoughts on the healthcare worker crisis in America and across the world right now.\\nBecause for first responders to keep doing what they do best, they need resources to help them navigate their life better, similar to healthcare workers.\\nHere’s how yoga can help these specific helpers!\\nYoga helps first responders handle personal turmoil better.\\nThe on-the-job experiences of first responders is largely responsible for their personal turmoil.\\nAs discussed previously, firefighters, EMS personnel, dispatchers, and police officers are all highly susceptible to PTSD, anxiety, depression, and are more likely to have substance abuse problems or commit suicide.\\nAs such, first responders may exhibit erratic behaviors, sudden onset of rage. They may startle more easily than civilians. They may be subject to more nightmares, sleep disturbances, and they may not be able to control their emotions well in their personal lives.\\nYoga for first responders is medicine for their weary souls.\\nHere are some facts about yoga that make it a perfect resource and tool for first responders:\\nIt only takes 3 minutes\\n of mindful breath work to calm the nervous system down after a triggering event, which makes it a perfect tool for first responders to use on the go or when they’re short on time.\\nYoga teaches you how to breathe\\n in a way that helps your body stop the production of cortisol and adrenaline, two things that are very unhealthy in large doses but prevalent in first responders.\\nYoga and meditation has been proven\\n to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and symptoms of PTSD.\\nStretching with awareness\\n relieves not only physical tension in the body but emotional and mental tension.\\nA first responder’s job often affects their personal life, their relationships with others, and their connection to their inner self. Because first responders tend to compartmentalize their work life and what they see and experience on the job (versus processing it), all of that trauma often overwhelms them.\\nWe definitely recommend regular meditation and breathwork for this group of amazing humans.\\nYoga helps first responders with the physical side effects of their job.\\nAs we’ve discussed in previous posts, this particular group of people use their bodies \\na lot\\n. They are sitting, standing, crawling, running, twisting, lifting, squatting. Often while carrying heavy equipment. \\nTheir job puts a lot of strain on their joints, muscles, and frame.\\nFirefighters, in particular, tend to suffer injury from their job, often in ways people don’t see. Like in their lungs.\\nWhile they do wear masks, firefighters are obviously exposed to smoke and air particle debris more than any other type of first responder, and definitely more than a civilian.\\nA regular yoga practice not only helps first responders stretch, strengthen, and tone their muscles so their bodies can move in all the ways they need it to, the breathwork included in almost every yoga practice helps improve lung function.\\nBecause yoga is so versatile and adaptable, breathwork and meditation (and even some yoga poses) can be done lying down in bed!\\nIn as little as 10 minutes, you can bring more awareness, calm, and harmony to your inner and outer self so that you can function better throughout the day. This kind of convenience  is a huge deal for first responders!\\nStarting out their day in a healthy state of mind with a body that is limber prevents mental and physical injury, whether they’re at work or not. Yoga is just an amazing way to start your day and a regular practice for first responders helps them process their world in a healthier way.\\nWhich means better relationships with others and more inner peace. \\nRegular mindful breathwork also:\\nIncreases stamina\\nImproves shortness of breath\\nBuilds endurance\\nIncreases muscle strength\\nImproves digestion\\nThe healthier first responders can keep their bodies, the better! \\nWhy first responders should seriously consider a regular yoga practice\\nThis sounds like it should be a blog post all it’s own. But we definitely wanted to stress the importance of a regular yoga practice for first responders.\\nAnd many times there are misconceptions about yoga that lead people to believe that it won’t work for them, or rather that yoga “isn’t for them.” \\nThe truth is, yoga is for everyone, but \\nespecially \\nfor people in high risk, adrenaline pumping jobs like first responders. So here are 5 reasons why they should seriously consider integrating a regular yoga practice into their routine.\\nYoga helps people make better gut decisions in intense situations where there may not be a lot of time to consider the pros and cons. Yogis rely on their all-knowing intuition more.\\nYoga increases people’s ability to focus and problem-solve, two important aspects of a first responder’s life!\\nBreathwork and meditation is simple and effective. It can even be performed in between calls, in a car or truck, and makes a huge difference in your mental health.\\nYoga is multifunctional. It doesn’t just strengthen, lengthen, and tone your body. It helps prevent injury, builds resilience, enhances mental and physical performance, and reduces stress.\\nPeople who practice yoga actually experience positive biological changes such as reduced markers for disease, reduced overall inflammation, and reversal of the onset of diseases.\\nHere at MyYogaTeacher, we offer a huge variety of of yoga classes and \\nworkshops\\n for people from all walks of life, all shapes, sizes, and abilities. Not only that, but all our classes are taught live and virtually (and at all times of day and night) so you can experience them from wherever in the world you may be!\\nAdditionally, our classes are taught by experienced expert instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India. And they all truly care about your health and wellbeing. If you haven’t jumped on the My Yoga Teacher bandwagon yet, we would love to have you! \\nGet your 2-week free trial here and join us!\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-09-10T16:37:50.582066+00:00","author":{"name":"will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","fitness","anxiety","mental_health"]},{"title":"Is Yoga Really for Everyone? The Rise of Adaptive Yoga","coverUrl":"ipte1rudiwbacuhs68wr.jpg","slug":"adaptive-yoga","content":{"text":"Here at My Yoga Teacher, we truly do believe that yoga is for everyone. Every body. No matter the shape, size, fitness level.\\nBut what about people with disabilities? Debilitating illnesses like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, or cancer?\\nHow can these people, who may not have full use of their limbs, do yoga?\\nOur answer is, there’s a yoga for that.\\nWhen we say everyone can do yoga, we mean it. And when we say yoga benefits everyone, that’s the truth.\\nAt My Yoga Teacher, we offer over 35 different types of yoga class, even chair yoga, which is a form of adaptive yoga we’ll be talking about here! If you haven’t checked out the amazing classes My Yoga Teacher offers, taught by expert instructors from the birthplace of yoga, India, \\nwe invite you to grab your 2-week free trial here! No credit card needed.\\n\\nIn the meantime, let’s talk about the rise of adaptive yoga for people who may not think (or feel) like yoga is for them.\n⁠\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nWhat is adaptive yoga?\\nAdaptive yoga is a form of yoga that adapts the movements to a person’s physical abilities. While there are almost always excellent modifications to every yoga pose, there are still many people who aren’t able to benefit from yoga due to physical limitations.\\nIt makes yoga accessible to all, whether seated, standing, or down on the floor.\\nThis is why more and more yoga studios are creating adaptive yoga classes!\\nCommon props for adaptive yoga are chairs, straps, bolsters, blankets, blocks, and even walls. These props are also used for many other types of yoga, but are imperative for people who want to practice yoga but are wheelchair bound, have prostheses, or suffer from debilitating diseases or illnesses such as MS or cerebral palsy.\\nInstructors of adaptive yoga also realize that the poses aren’t everything. Breathing exercises and meditation remain an important part of any yoga practice, including this one!\\nThe effects of yoga on special populations\\nDid you know that 1 in 4 people in the United States lives with a disability that majorly impacts their life?\\nIf you are one of those people, we are here for you! If you’re not, we want to bring awareness to the topic of how yoga can positively impact special populations.\\nBecause people with disabilities (physical or otherwise) are vastly underserved in the United States – and probably the world as a whole – it’s imperative that we make sure they have the opportunity to experience the benefits of yoga. These populations are even more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, muscle atrophy, heart and lung disease, and compromised immune systems.\\nAdaptive yoga allows disabled people of all ages, shapes, and sizes to experience benefits such as:\\nRelief from anxiety\\nImproved symptoms of depression\\nMore strength in mobile muscle groups\\nBetter mobility\\nImproved heart and lung function\\nImproved immune health\\nThis population wants the same things as anyone else! To feel and be healthier, mentally, physically, and emotionally.\\nAdaptive yoga poses for the disabled\\nOne of the most popular forms of adaptive yoga is chair yoga. The chair is not only used as a prop for many forms of yoga, it’s often what keeps people with disabilities mobile and independent.\\nAlso known as “wheelchair yoga,” chair yoga isn’t just for people in wheelchairs! It’s designed for anyone who struggles with practicing yoga standing up.\\nHere are some yoga poses that work well for people who need to sit or are unable to stand due to a disability:\\nCat-Cow Stretch\\nTraditionally, this pose is practiced on hands and knees on a yoga mat. If you’re familiar with this pose, you’ll be able to easily implement it into your life while sitting as well!\\nCat and cow pose is also beneficial for people who sit for long periods of time at a desk or who sit a lot in general for work.\\nIf you’re unfamiliar with cat-cow stretch, have a look at the images below or join any of the classes on MYT! We also offer Chair Yoga for those who struggle with disabilities or injuries, so come check it out!\\n\\n\\nChair Forward Bend\\nJust like Standing Forward Bend, this pose still stretches the lower back muscles, glutes, and hip flexors. While you won’t get the hamstring stretch that you would normally get with Standing Forward Bend, there are other adaptive yoga poses that we cover in class that do!\\nChair Forward Bend also improves circulation and awakens the senses like the traditional version does as well.\\n\\n\\nExtended Side Angle Pose\\nIs there anything better than a good side stretch in the morning?\\nBelieve it or not, extended side angle pose is very adaptable to various different disabilities. The image below is just one way you can modify this pose. And it feels oh so good to stretch out that rib cage and open the lungs when you spend a  lot of time sitting or lying down.\\n\\n\\nChair Pigeon Pose\\nPeople confined to wheelchairs, beds, or sit a lot in general, often have problems with tightness in their hips and lower back. \\nThat’s why pigeon pose is a great chair pose! \\nA note for paraplegics: You may want to recruit some assistance bringing your legs and feet into position for this pose. Remember, those muscles, tendons and ligaments still need to be stretched!\\n\\n\\nSitting Spinal Twist\\nMany times, people who are chair or bed bound have digestive problems, trouble moving their bowels, and spinal issues. Twisting postures are great for alleviating tight back muscles and for getting the digestive system moving!\\nPlus, spinal twists can be done with no assistance at all. Just be sure to listen to your body and not push it further than it wants to go.\\n\\n\\nSingle Leg Stretch\\nThis adaptive yoga pose can be done lying on your back or sitting in a chair. It’s best done using a strap. For those who have little or no feeling in their legs, this pose is an important stretch to help maintain muscles, which can easily atrophy if left immobile for long periods of time.\\nSingle Leg Stretches also release tension in the lower back, hips, and hamstrings!\\n\\n\\nThere are many other adaptive yoga poses for people with disabilities. There are even yoga classes that help strengthen, tone, and lengthen the muscles for yogis who suffer from debilitating illnesses.\\nSpecial populations need just as many, if not more, tools to help them cope with the effects of their illness or injury. Every aspect of their daily life can be affected by their disability, causing physical, emotional, and mental harm.\\nAdaptive yoga is an excellent tool for those people to alleviate the stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional upheaval that comes from their disability.\\nWe hope you’ll join us at My Yoga Teacher for one of the many classes offered for people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ability levels! If you haven’t checked us out yet, \\nget your 2-week free trial here\\n and join us on the mat, from a chair, or wherever you are able!\\nNamaste."},"createdAt":"2021-09-08T20:29:06.220722+00:00","author":{"name":"will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","fitness"]},{"title":"Yoga for Athletes: 5 Reasons Yoga Should Be Included in Athletic Training","coverUrl":"ruza40jnmaushxt5bsrb.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-athletes","content":{"text":"Did you know that it is pretty common for athletic trainers to require their athletes to take ballet classes as a part of their training?\\nIt’s true. Football players, particularly, can often be found in a ballet studio on the regular. Why?\n\nBecause ballet is a rigorous, no impact exercise that lengthens, strengthens, tones, and helps athletes with balance, spacial awareness, and injury prevention. Sound familiar?\\nIt should! Yoga improves all of those areas and more! \\nWhat athletes \\naren’t\\n getting from ballet class that they would get from yoga is stress reduction, pain relief, and a mindfulness practice. Professional athletes really benefit from having appropriate ways to manage the stresses of their job. They are under immense pressure to perform well at every game and to constantly be pushing themselves to better their abilities.\\nHere at My Yoga Teacher, we want everyone to feel comfortable pursuing their dreams, even if that means pushing your body to extremes. If you haven’t checked us out yet, you definitely should! \\nYou can click here to get your free 2-week trial membership and try out the 35+ different classes we offer!\\n\\nWe just want people in all walks of life to have the tools necessary to find balance in their lives, harmony with their inner and outer selves...\\nwhile\\n pursuing their dreams.\\nAnd we have some thoughts on how yoga benefits athletes!\\n1. Yoga aids in muscle recovery.\\nIt’s no secret that athletes have sore muscles. When they’re not participating in their sport, they’re training for it. \\nAthletes use (and overuse) their muscles. While nutrition plays a huge role in muscle recovery, restorative yoga does too. Together, nutrition and restorative yoga  help athletes with tight, sore, aching muscles find relief without the use of over-the-counter or prescription medications, something that is often abused by athletes.\\nYoga also works quickly to help muscles recover. One yoga session can provide instant relief. Restorative yoga optimizes recovery by:\\nRelieving tension in the muscles\\nImproving circulation\\nIncreasing blood flow to vital organs\\nImproving lung capacity\\nBoosts immunity\\nIt’s not uncommon for athletes to get sick. They’re around a lot of people and often performing in extreme weather conditions. Yoga is one way to help keep athletes well and restore their bodies so they can keep doing what they do best!\\nWhich leads us to…\\n2. Yoga prevents injuries\\nMany athletes work the same muscles every day, or almost every day. This means that “smaller,” supporting muscles don’t get the same amount of strengthening, toning, and stretching as the major muscles an athlete uses to perform their sport.\\nThe main reasons athletes incur injuries are due to:\\nStress on their joints from quick twisting motions\\nNot properly warming up\\nImbalanced training that works some muscles over others\\nOveruse of muscles\\nTight overworked muscles that lose flexibility over time\\nA regular yoga practice means athletes work \\nall\\n their muscles, evenly. Even slower paced yoga, like yin yoga or Hatha yoga, stretches muscles that don’t consistently get stretched.\\nIn sports like tennis, baseball, and golf, particularly, yoga brings more balanced training. Any sport that uses only one or two major muscle groups means the athlete is more prone to injury in other areas of the body.\\nConsistently practicing yoga is an excellent way to prevent injuries in all athletes.\\n3. Yoga reduces athletic stress\\nPart of an athlete’s job is training. Every day. When working out is a primary part of your job, it can create stress instead of relieving it.\\nBecause athletes are already under a lot of stress when they compete, stress due to training and the general pressures of being an athlete (especially a professional athlete) causes the release of cortisol.\\nChronically high levels of cortisol cause the muscles in the body to break down, deteriorate, and decrease immune function. All of which can cause injuries and illness.\\nNot to mention all the other ways elevated cortisol levels are bad for your body.\\nLearning deep breathing and meditation techniques are almost always a part of a regular yoga practice. Athletes benefit from yoga being a part of their athletic training in more ways than just physical.\\nThe mental and emotional stress of being an athlete affects their focus, as well as their professional and private lives.\\nA regular yoga practice is scientifically proven to reduce stress, decrease anxiety and depression, improve mental focus, release feel good chemicals, and help yogis be more present in their lives.\\nAthletes need yoga to perform their jobs better.\\n4. Yoga improves athletes’ sleeping patterns\\nHave you ever worked out late at night? Or even early evening? \\nWorking out releases endorphins, amongst other feel good chemicals, which perk you up. Sometimes that energy is short lived, but sometimes it’s not. And that can interrupt or even prevent a good night’s sleep.\\nAthletes often struggle with irregular sleeping patterns. Professional athletes often perform later in the day or evening and then take part in after game parties or public relations events.\\nYoga literally trains the body to relax. Studies show that long-time practitioners of yoga experience better sleep quality and sleep patterns. It increases melatonin production, the chemical that helps you fall asleep, and helps calm the central nervous system through mindfulness and breathing exercises.\\nThree types of yoga best for sleep?\\nHatha yoga - This type of yoga involves gentle asanas and lots of breath work that focuses on a longer inhalation, holding the breath, and then exhaling.\\nYin yoga - Yin yoga is mostly a passive practice that focuses on stretching and releasing deep connective tissues, fascia, and bones. Breathing is usually steady and slow and passive poses are held for longer periods of time.\\nYoga Nidra - This is a yogic sleep, done lying down (of course!) and focuses on getting the body into a meditative state somewhere between sleep and awake.\\nIf you’ve never tried these forms of yoga before, My Yoga Teacher offers all three at various different times of day! Not to mention, our classes are live and virtual so you get the real time attention of an expert yoga instructor from the comfort of your home (or whatever space you’re comfortable in)!\\n5. Yoga improves core strength\\nIt may seem obvious that athletes such as football players, boxers, wrestlers, gymnasts, and dancers regularly work their core muscles. For them (and other types of athletes), core muscles are imperative to their performance.\\nHowever, that doesn’t mean those athletes are training their core in a comprehensive way. It could be they’re doing the same core exercises every day or working certain ones more than others.\\nAnd there are lots of different kinds of athletes who probably don’t focus on their core, like golfers, bowlers, basketball players, softball/baseball players, and skiers to name a few.\\nThis doesn’t mean they don’t \\nneed\\n their core. This just means core strength isn’t a focus in order to perform their sport.\\nStrong core muscles are really important for any kind of movement. They prevent back and other skeletal injuries and help stabilize muscles and joints. Most types of yoga include a well-rounded strengthening and stretching of all the core muscles. \\nAthletes benefit from yoga in many ways, but core strength is probably one of the most important because it prevents injuries!\\nAnd that’s something worth talking about.\\nWe would love to see you on the mat in any of the classes offered at My Yoga Teacher, whether you’re an athlete or not! \\nGrab your 2-week free trial here\\n and experience all the classes we have to offer taught by highly experienced, expert yoga teachers from the birthplace of yoga, India!\\nNamaste."},"createdAt":"2021-08-31T14:57:41.787062+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["fitness","yoga"]},{"title":"How to Create Your Own Group Class on MyYogaTeacher","coverUrl":null,"slug":"How-to-Create-Your-Own-Group-Class-on-MyYogaTeacher","content":{"text":"You can now create your own online yoga studio - the classes you want, at the times & days you want, open for the entire community to enjoy! \\nYou might be wondering - how does this work?\\n\\n\\nWell, we call this new feature \\n'Community Created Classes'.\\n You \\nsuggest a type of yoga class, class difficulty level, class description, the time of day, and the day of the week\\n. (You can do this by clicking the \"+\" button on the bottom of the group class list screen)\\nFor example: you can create 'Slow Flow Vinyasa', for beginners, on Mondays at 9AM. Make sure to add a good description so the teachers and other students know what the class is about.\\nFrom there, MyYogaTeacher starts looking for the best teacher to lead your class. If we're able to match a great teacher for your class with the time and day you ask for - \\nwe'll publish the class live on the group class list\\n.\\nYou can invite your friends and family. You can even reach out to the entire MYT community via the chat!\\nThe class will go live for a test period of 4-weeks. As long as the class gets enough attendance, we'll continue it as a regular group class. So it will get a consistent spot on the class list. \\n(If your class doesn't get enough attendance, I recommend you \\nset it up as a Private group class with our Yoga with Friends feature here\\n.)\\nAnd there you have it, \\na class of your own creation – live, for your friends, family, and MYT community to enjoy!\\nIf you have any questions\\n, feel free to reach out to care@myyogateacher.com \\nAnd, if you haven't signed up for MyYogaTeacher yet, you can \\nclick here to get a 14-day free trial!\\n\\nNow let's all yoga together in YOUR personal online yoga studio with live interactive classes!"},"createdAt":"2021-08-24T17:43:00.875655+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"7 Yoga Poses That Positively Impact Your Thyroid Function","coverUrl":"nvq7ezupqfiekkejdf3y.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-thyroid","content":{"text":"Did you know that approximately 20 million Americans suffer with thyroid disorders? Women more than men.\\nThere is probably not a cell in your body that isn’t affected by your thyroid, a little butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your throat. Though it may be little, it is definitely fierce!\\nThe thyroid gland produces hormones that control metabolism (that thing people are always saying makes them fat), muscle and digestive function, bone maintenance, and brain development.\\nThat’s a lot!\\nWhich is exactly why we want to talk about ways therapeutic yoga can help people who suffer from problems with an underactive or overactive thyroid.\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nIn the meantime, I’ll show you some yoga poses that positively impact your thyroid function!\\n1. Shoulder Stand\\nOne of the key benefits of practicing shoulder stand is it brings increased blood flow to the thyroid. Researchers believe circulation to the thyroid gland (or lack of) can play a huge role in whether it is working properly or not.\\nNot to mention, inversion poses increase blood flow to the heart and brain as well!\\nBe mindful of how you feel in this pose, and do not turn your head from side to side. Head and neck should remain in neutral position to prevent injury.\\n\\n\\n2. Plow Pose\\nSimilar to shoulder stand, plow pose stimulates the thyroid and increases circulation to that area of the neck. However, yogis who are overweight or have larger breasts may find this pose too difficult or may struggle to breathe properly. If this happens, slowly lower out of the pose and do a modified version with your feet simply propped up against a wall with a pillow or bolster under your head.\\nIn the modified version, your legs should be straight up with your bottom touching the base of the wall.\\n\\n\\n3. Fish Pose\\nFish pose is an excellent pose for beginners and helps stretch out the muscles of the neck and the thyroid gland, allowing blood to circulate to and through it more easily.\\nThis pose can also be practiced with or without blocks, as seen in the images below! For yogis who do not have a lot of flexibility in their back and shoulders, blocks will make this pose more comfortable and passive versus active.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n4. Bridge Pose\\nBridge pose is also helpful for stretching out the neck muscles and improving circulation to the thyroid gland. Additionally, this pose is effective in relieving headaches and treating asthma!\\nSimilarly to other poses mentioned above, be mindful of your head and neck placement in this pose. It is not advisable to turn your head while performing bridge pose. Also, if you’re unable to reach your heels, simply reach as far as you are comfortably able to or clasp your hands together underneath you.\\n\\n\\n5. Cobra Pose\\nThis pose is an excellent way to stretch your throat, abdominal muscles, quads, and lower back! Almost any pose that opens up the throat and brings better circulation to the thyroid gland and surrounding tissues is helpful for relieving symptoms of hypo- or hyperthyroidism.\\nIf you’re not familiar with some or all of these poses, be sure to check out my class, Therapeutic Yoga for Thyroid on My Yoga Teacher!\\n\\n\\n6. Upward Bow Pose\\nWhile this pose may be too difficult for beginner yogis, it can be modified and is very beneficial for the thyroid and pituitary glands. It also strengthens the arms, shoulders, and abdominal muscles. This pose not only lengthens the neck muscles around the thyroid but also allows for better circulation to that area.\\n\\n\\n7. Supported Headstand Pose\\nSupported headstand pose is an advanced move, so if you’re unfamiliar with it, maybe skip this one. However, if you’re able to safely perform this pose, it is incredibly helpful! It acts directly on the thyroid gland. \\nThis pose helps bring blood flow to the heart as well as stimulating the brain’s pituitary and pineal glands.\\nSupported headstand pose should not be performed without prior yoga experience and should be performed under the supervision of an experienced teacher for the first time.\\n\\n\\nSigns you may have a problem with your thyroid\\nWhile there are many signs of thyroid dysfunction that can look like symptoms of other things, I thought I’d give you some surefire signs that you might want to see your doctor and have your thyroid tested!\\nSo here you go:\\nUnexplained weight loss or weight gain (or finding it hard to lose or gain weight)\\nExtreme fatigue not related to lack or sleep/rest\\nMemory problems\\nHair loss\\nConstipation\\nDepression\\nFeeling colder than usual\\nIf any of these are troubling you, please reach out to your doctor! And remember that yoga is an excellent complement to traditional medicine for thyroid issues.\\nIf you haven’t checked out My Yoga Teacher yet, I hope you’ll \\ngrab your 2-week free trial\\n and try out as many of the 35+ different group yoga classes they offer! Including mine! It’s such an amazing network of yogis from all walks of life, all fitness levels. And most of the yoga instructors are experienced experts from the birthplace of yoga, India!\\nJoin us on the mat!"},"createdAt":"2021-08-18T18:18:01.031661+00:00","author":{"name":"Neelmani","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","restorative"]},{"title":"Yoga For Diabetics: How Yoga Helps Cure and Prevent Type II Diabetes","coverUrl":"uwnz0l1sgdmmxmggwzjd.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-diabetics","content":{"text":"While Type I diabetes is often not preventable (and mostly due to genetics or environmental factors), Type II diabetes is running rampant in America. \\nAs a matter of fact, 90-95% of people with diabetes have Type II.\\nType II diabetes is preventable and even curable! And yoga is a natural and holistic way to do just that. \\nBecause diabetes is the cause of secondary health issues like neuropathy, infections, immune problems, kidney issues, eye damage, and heart disease, I wanted to make sure all people had access to therapeutic yoga designed specifically for diabetics.\\nThat’s why I started teaching a \\nTherapeutic Yoga for Diabetes class\\n on MyYogaTeacher! If you haven’t become an MYT member yet, I encourage you to\\n take advantage of their 2-week free trial.\\n You’ll have access to my class and 35+ other classes, one of which will surely meet your needs!\\nIn the meantime, I felt it was important to discuss exactly how yoga helps cure and prevent this terrible disease.\\n1. Yoga encourages behavioral changes\\nEven though yoga is an ancient practice, it is just now starting to be recognized worldwide as a practical and applicable treatment for many types of illnesses, including Type II Diabetes.\\nWhile yoga is traditionally seen as a spiritual practice of enlightenment, it is, just as importantly, a practice of health management. Studies show that the mind-body connection that results from a regular yoga practice is directly linked to improved dietary lifestyles and medication compliance.\\nYoga provides plenty of opportunities for self-awareness, reflection, and behavioral changes.\\nAlso, the meditation aspect of therapeutic yoga for diabetics reduces mindless eating practices that occur when we’re stressed out, burnt out, or emotional. This is called mindful eating.\\nStopping the cycles of emotional and binge eating is a huge part of healthy lifestyle changes, but especially crucial for Type II diabetics!\\nMindful eating is proven to help people increase their intake of fruits and vegetables and take more notice of actual hunger cues versus eating out of boredom or stress. \\nA consistent yoga practice also improves discipline. Being more disciplined often carries over into other parts of life! Disciplined eaters focus more on food nutrition (eating to fuel your body) and less on random eating.\\nAnd because yoga meets you where you are, it’s an easy exercise for anyone to start at any age! Which means you are more likely to keep practicing it. Weight loss can be an effective treatment for Type II Diabetes. Yoga definitely helps with that!\\n2. Yoga creates positive psychological changes.\\nEarlier, I mentioned stress eating, boredom eating, and emotional eating. All of which are often harmful to your health.\\nIf you haven’t read some of our other articles about how yoga affects your mental health, you might want to check out \\n“Five Ways Meditation Can Start Improving Your Life Right Now”\\n  or \\n“How Yoga Helps You Handle Trying Times in the New Year.”\\n\\nBoth of those are great!\\nBut for now, I can give you some ways yoga specifically helps Type II diabetics manage their mental health better, which helps prevent those harmful eating patterns while also benefiting your glucose levels!\\nYoga for diabetics includes meditation, which reduces stress, relaxes muscles, and relieves tension, several things that specifically help diabetics feel better.\\nHormones and chemicals such as serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin are released into the body during yoga, which alters your mood in a positive way, preventing emotional eating.\\nThe consistent practice of yoga is shown to cause physical changes to the brain, which have psychological side effects like more mental stability, the ability to handle stress better, and faster reactions to stimuli.\\nYoga \\nis\\n meditation. It’s not just a physical exercise. It’s a spiritual practice! But it doesn’t have to be related to religion. \\nMany people are hesitant to start a yoga practice because they’ve been led to believe it’s religion-based. I feel it’s important for everyone to understand that yoga \\nis\\n spiritual in the sense that it helps you become self-aware and more aware of the world around you. It teaches us how to bring harmony to our inner and outer world, how to be more compassionate, kind, and loving to ourselves \\nand\\n others.\\nAnd all of those things help us feel better mentally and physically! Which leads us to the last way that yoga helps diabetics.\\n3. Yoga promotes physiological changes.\\nWhat are physiological changes? Changes in the normal function of the human body. In this case, a regular therapeutic yoga practice for diabetics creates a whole multitude of positive changes in the body!\\nLet’s go over some of them:\\nYoga helps lower body weight and increases exercise tolerance (which means exercise gets easier faster and you can tolerate more sooner).\\nYoga literally reduces triglycerides and free fatty acids in your blood, which reduces your bad cholesterol and improves heart health.\\nA regular yoga practice improves immunity and reduces inflammation – two huge factors that diabetics struggle with.\\nTherapeutic yoga for diabetics (specifically) increases insulin secretion and decreases insulin resistance! This means fewer insulin shots and less money spent on insulin for diabetics.\\nYoga improves cardiac function and reduces the risk of cardiac events, one of the primary causes of sudden death in diabetic patients.\\nRegular yoga practice improves glycemic control without increasing your body weight. In fact, as discussed earlier, you’re likely to \\nlose\\n weight!\\nWithout going into all the technical, scientific jargon, suffice it to say that yoga changes your body at a cellular level. And because of that, the improvements listed above are, quite literally, \\ngood\\n side effects!\\nPlus, who \\ndoesn’t\\n want to lose weight, improve cholesterol levels, have better immunity, less inflammation, and a healthier heart?!\\nEveryone can benefit from yoga, but especially diabetics. Type II Diabetes is controllable, preventable, and curable. Without medication, even. But definitely consult your doctor before stopping any prescribed medications!\\nAre you diabetic? I’d love the opportunity to help you feel better, healthier, and more energetic! Check out my class, \\nTherapeutic Yoga for Diabetes\\n on myYogaTeacher. All are welcome there. \\nAnd if you haven’t grabbed your 2-week free trial of myYogaTeacher yet, you can do that here!\\n\\nI hope to see you there!"},"createdAt":"2021-08-11T17:18:45.258817+00:00","author":{"name":"Neelmani","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","restorative"]},{"title":"How Yoga Works With Modern Medicine: Medical Yoga Therapy","coverUrl":"jtsbxwjcix1u5emuxe0l.jpg","slug":"yoga-as-medicine","content":{"text":"Modern science is slowly, but surely embracing so many things from ancient Eastern culture. More and more therapists are using yoga as a tool for psychotherapy, a “prescription” for mental health problems.\\nBut what about conventional medicine? \\nCan general practitioners use yoga as a prescription for some illnesses instead of leaning solely on medications?\\nThe correct mix of modern technology and ancient medicine could be just what the conventional medicine world needs to be untouchable!\\nTurns out yoga has been proven to heal all kinds of ailments, which technically makes it an exercise, meditation, \\nand\\n a \\nmedicine\\n. Here at MyYogaTeacher, we think that’s pretty cool and wanted to explore how the modern medicine and yoga worlds are starting to collide.\\nOne of the benefits of being a myYogaTeacher member is that you get to experience all kinds of yoga classes, even ones designed to help treat or prevent medical problems, taught by highly trained and experienced expert instructors. \\nIf you haven’t checked it out yet, click here to enjoy your 2-week free trial!\\n\\nWhat is medical yoga therapy?\\nAccording to the National Institute of Health, medical yoga is defined as “the use of yoga practices for the prevention and treatment of medical conditions.” \\nYoga clearly has therapeutic benefits when it comes to helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and a whole host of other mental illnesses. In many cases, a regular yoga practice can end those debilitating issues completely.\\nThe physical side effects of yoga are what truly makes this ancient practice a “modern miracle” for patients suffering from various medical conditions.\\nStudies show that medical yoga therapy improves (and helps control) glucose levels, musculoskeletal ailments, and helps keep the cardiovascular system in check.\\nMedical therapy yoga includes all the aspects of yoga that one may expect from any other yoga practice: asanas, breath work, meditation. But it is much more comprehensive than that.\\nYoga as a prescription\\nYoga doesn’t just treat and prevent illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, menstrual disorders, heart disease, and hormone imbalances. \\nIt helps people create a state of well being, where they can understand the underlying cause of their conditions. When they can understand it themselves, they are more capable of being proactive in preventing the recurrence of their illness or the development of new ones.\\nThis is huge in the world of modern medicine! \\nMedical yoga therapy is an individualized (and holistic) approach to medicine. This means it doesn’t just incorporate the actual practice of yoga, breathwork and meditation. It involves a patient’s family, work environment, support network, and culture in the treatment plan.\\nYoga alone may not be the best prescription. It’s up to a person’s doctor to decide if other treatments are necessary in conjunction with medical yoga therapy. And we are in no way recommending you abandon your doctor’s treatment plan without speaking with them first. \\nHowever, it is not an unlikely scenario that patients who are at risk of developing certain medical conditions could be prescribed yoga to prevent said conditions from occurring! \\nThis would help people avoid more intense (and costly) medical interventions!\\nWhile we are a long way from doctors prescribing yoga as a medicine over pills, there is room to believe that it’s a possibility in the future.\\nHow medical yoga therapy works\\nThe question many people ask about all of this is “how.”\\nHow can something as simple as yoga actually cure and prevent physical medical problems?! \\nFirst, we’d like to give you a good idea of types of conditions yoga can help with:\\nDiabetes - Yoga reduces fasting insulin levels, which normalizes the insulin-to-glucose ratio. It also increases circulation, which improves nerve damage caused by the disease.\\nHypertension - The various breathing techniques practiced in yoga, along with meditation, alleviates stress, tension, and physical pain in various areas of the body, all of which can be a primary cause of high blood pressure.\\nHeart disease - Yoga is a useful lifestyle intervention for people who suffer from high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, and helps decrease waist circumference. \\nArthritis - The improved strength and flexibility that are associated with yoga also help relieve symptoms of arthritis and chronic back pain, knee pain, and neck pain.\\nThere are many medical conditions that are improved by a consistent yoga practice, but the above illnesses are especially receptive to medical yoga therapy.\\nOn top of that, yoga is an exercise that literally \\nanyone\\n can do!\\nWe know we’ve said it before, but we can’t iterate it enough. Yoga is good for everyone, whether you’re practicing for medical reasons or not. Any size, shape, or age. And it’s incredibly accessible.\\nYoga balances the autonomic nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. \\nThroughout your day, your body is responding to the outside stimuli it experiences, whether you realize it or not. Stress, a not so healthy diet, pain (physical, mental, or emotional), disease, illness. All of these things stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, the “fight or flight” mode your body has to protect itself against all the bad things it encounters.\\nWhen one practices yoga, the parasympathetic nervous system (the “rest and digest” system) is activated, lowering blood pressure, releasing endorphins. Your blood vessels dilate, which means better circulation, more nutrients to your organs. \\nHere are some other benefits of a regular yoga practice:\\nIncreased release of hormones such as GABA, serotonin, and dopamine, all hormones that prevent and cure depression and anxiety.\\nIncreased levels of melatonin, the naturally occurring chemical in your body that helps you sleep\\nIncreased levels of oxytocin, the chemical in your body that helps you feel connected, feel seen and heard.\\nIncreased levels of leptin and adiponectin, chemicals that work to alleviate inflammation in the body.\\nYoga means better health. Better immunity.\\nThere are no bad side effects, like you may have with prescription or OTC medications.\\nThe science is there. Yoga can actually save lives. \\nYoga and aging\\nWe thought this topic deserved a section all to itself. The science demonstrates that yoga increases your lifespan.\\nAccording to the National Institute of Health, studies show that regular yoga practice stabilizes, and even lengthens, telomeres. What are those?\\nWe thought you’d never ask. Telomeres are small, repetitive chromosomal sequences found at the end of chromosomes that protect the chromosome from dying. They prevent cell death. The older we get, the shorter the telomeres get. The structural integrity of our chromosomes decreases.\\nThis process is one of the causes of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer, macular degeneration, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, amongst others.\\nPretty impressive that yoga can play such a significant role in our wellbeing and longevity!\\nHere at myYogaTeacher, we are passionate about advocating for the betterment of people. We want to help you feel better, be healthier, and support you on your journey to harmony with your inner and outer world.\\nIf you’re still on the fence about becoming a MYT member, we invite you to \\ngrab your free 2-week trial here\\n and take advantage of the 35+ classes we offer with experienced, expert instructors you can trust. \\nWe can’t wait to see you on the mat!"},"createdAt":"2021-08-06T21:38:11.077476+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["therapy","yoga"]},{"title":"5 Reasons MyYogaTeacher is Perfect For Busy Executives","coverUrl":"bp47nvrubaxaief6xxic.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-busy-people","content":{"text":"Here at myYogaTeacher, we totally understand how busy people get. Your life is so full! Full of work, family, friends, and...well, \\nliving\\n.\\nMaybe it’s also full of stress, time constraints, and burn out.\\nIt can be difficult to carve out that much needed (and always deserved) time for yourself for self-care and exercise. Especially if you’re a busy executive in charge of managing a big business with lots of teams of people depending on you.\\nOne of the great things about yoga is it’s for everyone. And a yoga practice can easily fit into anyone’s big, busy, stressful life! \\nAs a matter of fact, we think yoga is the absolute \\nperfect\\n selfcare solution for white-collar workers just like you.\\nAnd we’ll tell you why!\\n1. First thing’s first! Yoga is \\nthe best\\n for stress relief.\\nStress is definitely not just a white-collar worker’s problem. But executives in all industries do undergo a significant amount of mental and emotional stress.\\nOne of the leading causes of belly fat in men and women is consistently high cortisol levels, the body’s solution to consistently high stress levels! And belly fat is the most dangerous of any other fat on the body.\\nA consistent yoga practice is proven to provide effective stress relief. Yes, scientifically proven. \\nThe combination of meditation, breathing, and movements in yoga lowers blood pressure, cortisol levels, and helps yogis bring more harmony to their inner and outer selves. \\nIt also helps people become (and stay) more aware and present in their lives. The more awareness we have of ourselves, the better able we are to manage our stress!\\n2. Yoga is perfect for executives with busy schedules\\nNot to brag, but myYogaTeacher has plenty of really, really busy corporate working yogis as members. \n\nWhy? Well, we could go on and on, but one of the main reasons we hear is because it’s easy to find a class to suit their needs at almost any time of day. AND they can do yoga almost anywhere with little to no equipment.\\nMyYogaTeacher has classes offered by our amazing, expert yoga instructors even as late as midnight! Nothing like yoga to help you get a good night’s rest! Don’t believe us? \\nGrab your 2-week free trial and see for yourself!\\n\\nEither way, being too busy doesn’t have to be the reason you don’t practice yoga. \\nMore importantly, we care about your well-being, about the health and wellness of people in general. Like truly care. And we know without a doubt that a consistent and regular yoga practice will make a positive impact on your life.\\n3. Yoga prevents burnout\\nThe positive effects of yoga are not short term. Yoga is considered one of the best ways to prevent burnout and to keep it from happening.\\n\nStudies have shown that besides relieving stress, \\ndis\\ntress, and mental and emotional issues related to work, life, or work-life balance (or lack of), a regular yoga practice helps people – like executive workers – stop burnout in its tracks.\\nWhy? Mostly because yogis develop a better sense of awareness of what their physical, mental, and emotional needs are and begin to understand that their work and life suffers when those needs are not met.\\nOne of the primary causes of burnout is lack of sleep or rest (yes, they’re two different things). \\nStress, anxiety, overstimulation, overwhelm, caffeine, bad eating habits, and not drinking enough water can all contribute to sleep problems.\\nYoga is a highly effective solution to sleep issues because it addresses the root cause of those problems.\\nPlus, myYogaTeacher offers 35+ classes, many that are designed specifically to address things like anxiety, depression, and sleep problems.\\n4. A yoga practice is easy to maintain and keep doing.\\nEver started an exercise program with all the intentions of getting in shape, feeling better, and changing your life only to give it up some days, weeks, or months later?\\nIt’s such a defeating feeling. \\nWhatever the reason was for quitting, the core problem was that the exercise program wasn’t sustainable \\nfor you\\n.  And that is completely ok!\\nMaybe it was too hard too fast. Maybe it didn’t give you modifications you need to help with past injuries you’ve had. Maybe it was too easy. Or boring or upbeat or time-consuming. Maybe success within the program didn’t seem attainable.\\nYoga’s not like that. \\nFeel like taking it easy? There’s a yoga class for that. Want a longer, more rigorous workout? Yep, there’s a class for that too. There’s a form of yoga for almost every single person on this planet. \\nChair yoga, bed yoga, yoga with props, yoga without props, yin yoga, hatha yoga, yoga for stress relief, yoga for hormone imbalances. Here at MYT, we’ve got a yoga class for almost anything you could possibly want or need. \\nAnd if you can’t find it? We offer 1:1 sessions to our members as well!\\nYoga is sustainable, motivating, and helps you maintain your momentum! (Once again, another perfect exercise solution for busy corporate workers!)\\n5. Yoga requires little to no equipment or space or travel time\\nThe fact that yoga can be done anywhere with little or no equipment is a really big deal for busy people. For all people!\\nYes, a yoga mat is obviously helpful, but it’s not an absolute necessity! Plus, there are all kinds of travel yoga mats that can be discreetly tucked away and taken with you wherever you’re going.\\nYou don’t need any kind of special clothing to do yoga and you don’t even need to travel anywhere (unless you just want to that is)!\\nIt’s just so...\\nconvenient\\n. \\nYou can’t beat a form of exercise that is sustainable, safe, easy to maintain, doable at any time of day or night, prevents boredom, and can literally be practiced by any human being. Right?\\nNot to mention there is \\nso much\\n science behind this ancient practice demonstrating that it consistently cures a whole host of medical problems!\\nWe’d really love to have you join us at myYogaTeacher! Whether you’re a busy big wig executive or not, you are welcome here. Our instructors are amazing at supporting all their yogi students in any way possible on their health journey. Not just their yoga one. Because they truly do care about bringing wellness to the masses!\\n\\nGo ahead and grab your 2-week free trial of myYogaTeacher and check out the huge variety of classes available\\n. We know there is one just for you!\\nNamaste. "},"createdAt":"2021-07-22T19:15:25.152643+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What Are Sun Salutations? Start Your Day Right With These Moves","coverUrl":"ljd9egtasslviqhw4lqm.jpg","slug":"what-are-sun-salutations","content":{"text":"It’s a simple question that we get asked a lot as yoga instructors.\\nWhat is a Sun Salutation and why is it important? After all, this simple series of asanas is included in almost every single yoga practice from beginner to advanced.\\nObviously, there’s something important about it, right?\\nThe answer is yes.\\nIn my yoga class on myYogaTeacher, \\nBeginner’s Guide to Sun Salutations\\n, yogis learn all about this wonderful series of yoga poses and how impactful they are to a regular yoga practice and your day!\\nNot an MYT member yet? You should definitely check it out! \\nSign up for your free 2-week trial\\n and get access to 35+ different group yoga classes every single day, at all times of day!\\nIn the meantime, let’s talk about this traditional series of poses and how they help you start your day – and yoga practice – right!\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nWhat are Sun Salutations?\\nThe Sun Salutation is a practice involving a flow of 8 different yoga poses linked together in a graceful sequence.\\nBecause the sequence moves the body in all different directions, sun salutations help clear the energy centers of the body and heat it up so all the muscles and joints are ready for deeper poses. \\nSun salutations are also invigorating as a stand alone sequence! If you don’t have a lot of time for a full yoga practice, 5 minutes of sun salutations is a surefire way to rev up your body, boost immunity, and stretch out tight muscles.\\nThe 8 basic poses of a Sun Salutation sequence\\nTadasana (Mountain Pose)\\n\\n\\n Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)\\n\\n\\nUttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)\\n\\n\\n Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge) \\n\\n\\nPlank Pose\\n\\n\\nChaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose)\\n\\n\\n Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose)\\n\\n\\nAdho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nThe movement from posture to posture is accompanied by an inhale or exhale. You’ll experience this in my Beginner’s Guide to Sun Salutations class. It’s really fairly simple, and there are plenty of ways to modify the poses to meet your fitness level!\\nBenefits of Sun Salutations\\nI briefly discussed some of the reasons we incorporate these poses into a yoga practice, but here’s a more in depth explanation of the benefits of sun salutations!\\nBody and mind preparation\\nFirst, I want to talk about how the sun salutation sequence can be a stand alone practice to start your day. Many people (even avid yogis) don’t want to wake up before the crack of dawn and spend thirty minutes to an hour doing yoga.\\nIf yoga feels like a burden, then you won’t do it. And we definitely don’t want you to feel this way about your yoga practice!\\nYou don’t need to practice yoga for a long time to prepare your mind and body for the day. The sun salutation flow is an excellent way to get in even 5-10 minutes of yoga in the mornings. And the best part is, once you memorize this easy sequence you:\\nDon’t need a computer, phone, or tv\\nDon’t need any voice guidance\\nCan do it almost anywhere\\nDon’t necessarily need a yoga mat or props\\nYou can still reap the benefits of yoga with this flow. It awakens your mind, your muscles. It gets your breath going and revives you mentally, physically, and emotionally. And you can perform these moves throughout your day if you need a little pep in your step during that afternoon slump.\\nIf you’re starting this flow in the morning, you might want to modify the first couple of rounds to allow your body time to loosen up!\\nSun salutations build internal heat\\nSo another great benefit of sun salutations is their ability to quickly warm up your muscles, ligaments, and tendons in preparation for bigger, deeper yoga poses.\\nJumping straight into deep, engaged postures is not beneficial.\\nSun salutations give our body time to rev up, kind of like a car before a big race! These poses allow for the release of synovial fluid, which lubricates your joints. They also require you to engage your core, which is an important aspect of almost all yoga poses. \\nJust as importantly as releasing lubricating fluid for your joints and warming up your core, sun salutations gently stretch out tight or sore muscles. This prevents injury when practicing those deeper poses I mentioned.\\nSun salutations clear energy pathways\\nMaybe this is a little woo for you, but the energy centers in your body are a real thing!\\nIf you’re not familiar with your chakras, here’s a brief description of all of them:\\nRoot chakra - responsible for your sense of security and stability, located at the base of your spine\\nSacral chakra - located just below your belly button, responsible for sexual and creative energy and your emotions\\nSolar plexus chakra - located in your stomach region, responsible for confidence, self-esteem, and helps you feel in control of your life\\nHeart chakra - all about your ability to love and show compassion and empathy\\nThroat chakra - helps you communicate verbally, express yourself\\nThird eye chakra - located on the forehead between the eyes, linked to your intuition and imagination\\nCrown chakra - located on the top of your head and represents your connection to self, others, and the universe/divine\\nEvery asana from the sun salutation flow touches on one of these energy centers! And clear chakras promote stress relief, clear mind, increased focus, more creativity, more feelings of security and safety, and being more in touch with your emotions, feeling more compassionate.\\nWho wouldn’t want to feel this way?!\\nCombined with your breath, the sun salutation sequence will bring so much life to your...well, life!\\nIf you haven’t taken the jump into the wonderful world that is myYogaTeacher yet, I’d love to have you check out one of the several yoga classes I teach, \\nBeginner’s Guide to Sun Salutations!\\n\\nNot sure yet? That’s ok! \\nMyYogaTeacher offers a free 2-week trial! You can sign up for it here, completely risk free!\\n\\nI’d love to see you on the mat!"},"createdAt":"2021-07-17T13:38:03.578839+00:00","author":{"name":"Priyanka","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","yoga_poses"]},{"title":"What Is Iyengar Yoga: Improve Body Alignment With Long Poses & Props","coverUrl":"jc4h9m76ft8o8k6zvblq.jpg","slug":"what-is-iyengar-yoga","content":{"text":"What Is Iyengar Yoga?\\nIyengar yoga is the practice of pranayama and asanas that's combined to emphasize body alignment, planned sequencing and timing, and the use of props like blocks, straps, bolsters, and benches to support the body.\\n\\nAll types of yoga work through physical postures, meditation, and pranayama to bring balance to the body, mind, and spirit. And Iyengar yoga is no different.\\nIyengar yoga uses precise body alignment supported by various props to give practitioners confidence and courage. It's a methodical yoga practice that is accessible and beneficial to just about anyone, regardless of age, fitness level, or health issues.\\nIyengar, unlike Vinyasa, focuses on poses that are held for an extended time instead of flowing through each pose quickly. In fact, there's no flow to Iyengar yoga. Instead, practitioners hold each pose for a length of time, focusing on perfecting alignment.\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nOrigins of Iyengar Yoga\\nThe term \"Iyengar yoga\" is what students of B.K.S. Iyengar began calling his style of yoga in the 1970s to differentiate it from the \\nother styles of yoga\\n.\\nIyengar was born in India in December 1918 and learned yoga from his brother-in-law, T. Krishnamacharya to improve his health. Iyengar started teaching yoga himself in 1936 but it wasn't until 1975 that the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute was founded in Pune, India. This was the precursor to the founding of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in 1982, in London.\\nCertified Iyengar Yoga Teachers must complete rigorous training to earn the right to describe their instruction as Iyengar Yoga.\\nBenefits of Iyengar Yoga\\nIyengar yoga, like all styles of yoga, offers several benefits. Here are a few of the predominant benefits you can expect:\\nImproved Alignment\\nIyengar yoga prioritizes proper alignment over moving deeper into a pose. This emphasis on alignment helps practitioners relieve pain, adjusts the spine, and improves muscle and joint health.\\nIncreased Body Awareness\\nThis style of yoga is particularly beneficial with it comes to increasing body awareness, or proprioception. Thanks to the focus on precise alignment and breathing, practitioners are able to better understand how their bodies take up and move in space in a more accurate way.\\nOverall Healing\\nIyengar yoga goes beyond postures. This practice extends into living in a yogic way, meaning living a life that's free from self-harm and harm to others. There's an expectation that practitioners will study and live yoga philosophy and the eight limbs of yoga.\\nWhat to Expect in an Iyengar Class\\n\\nIyengar yoga\\n focuses on three things:\\nAlignment:\\n Props are used to help practitioners get into poses while supporting their bodies and respecting their bodies' boundaries. The emphasis on alignment is intended to help practitioners achieve balance between the mind, body, and spirit without putting their bodies in stressful positions or putting themselves at risk.\\nSequencing:\\n While Iyengar classes don't have a set series that is followed for every class (like Ashtanga does), each class will follow a sequence chosen by the instructor to lead practitioners through a safe progression.\\nTiming:\\n Iyengar prioritizes alignment and stability over flow. This means that the poses will be held for a longer amount of time than you may be used to if you've only ever practiced Vinyasa or power yoga.\\nIyengar Yoga Poses: A Quick Sequence You Can Do at Home\\nThis Iyengar yoga series comes from the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York:\\nStart in Tadasana and warm up by moving between Tadasana and Urdhva Hastasana three times.\\nFrom Tadasana, move into Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana, interlocking your fingers above your head. Repeat this movement, alternating the interlocking pattern of your fingers.\\nMove into Vrksasana. Alternate sides and repeat.\\nMove into Utthita Trikonasana. Alternate sides and repeat.\\nMove into Utthita Parsvakonasana. Alternate sides and repeat.\\nMove into Parsvottanasana. Alternate sides and repeat.\\nMove into Prasarita Padottanasana. Repeat.\\nMove into Adho Mukha Svanasana. Repeat.\\nMove into Urdhva Prasarita Padasana. Stay here for five minutes.\\nEach of these poses should be held for up to a minute or longer. If you're pressed for time, prioritize repetitions over holding the poses for time.\\nDifferences Between Iyengar and Vinyasa Yoga\\nHere are the key differences between Iyengar yoga and \\nVinyasa yoga\\n:\\nIn Iyengar, postures are held longer. Vinyasa yoga links breath to movement and practitioners flow through poses quickly. Poses in Iyengar are held for up to a minute before practitioners transition (instead of flowing) to the next posture.\\nIyengar emphasizes alignment whereas Vinyasa practitioners are encouraged to be curious and explore the practice on their own.\\nIyengar classes tend to set aside time to discuss \\nyoga philosophy\\n and cues tend to be given in Sanskrit. This isn't as common in a Vinyasa class.\\nIn Iyengar, sequences are put together with the intent of preparing practitioners for each progressive pose.\\nDifferences Between Iyengar and Ashtanga Yoga\\nHere are the key differences between Iyengar and \\nAshtanga\\n:\\nAshtanga connects movement with Ujjayi breath and is meant to increase the heart rate and make practitioners sweat.\\nAshtanga uses a set series of poses that don't vary, no matter who is leading the class.\\nAshtanga focuses on cleansing and purifying whereas Iyengar focuses on alignment.\\nStart Your Iyengar Yoga Practice With myYogaTeacher\\nAnyone can practice Iyengar. Thanks to the focus on alignment and the use of props, it's perfect for those of us who want to start practicing yoga but might have physical limitations. Of course, that doesn't mean Iyengar is easy. You'll probably still break a sweat and start feeling the burn in your muscles.\\nIf you're interested in starting your Iyengar practice, we invite you to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n. With myYogaTeacher, you'll get access to 40+ live online classes every single day, each led by highly experienced Indian teachers.\\nEach Iyengar Yoga class follows a unique sequence that focuses on one or two parts of the body. You'll learn to pay close attention to anatomical details and alignment of each pose as well as how to modify each pose with props like belts, blocks, pillows, and more to cultivate strength, flexibility, stability, and awareness."},"createdAt":"2021-06-30T00:55:29.016022+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What Is Yin Yoga: Long Holds, Props, and a Wealth of Benefits","coverUrl":"gnawii6allphd4zcdbyu.png","slug":"what-is-yin-yoga","content":{"text":"What Is Yin Yoga?\\nYin yoga is a very slow-paced style of yoga where poses are held for a long time — anywhere between five and twenty minutes — to target and stretch deep connective tissues like tendons, ligaments, and fascia.\\n\\nWe're all so busy and constantly connected these days. And while that may be good from a productivity standpoint, the constant buzz of modern life can cause serious problems with our physical, mental, and emotional health.\\nThe truth is, our bodies aren't meant to be in a state of constant stress with the sympathetic nervous system always on and ready to initiate that \"fight-flight-freeze\" response. As a result of constant stress, our bodies and minds become agitated, anxious, and fearful.\\nAnd so the cycle continues.\\nWe start experiencing this anxiety in our physical body as aches, pains, and tightness. This makes it so important to focus on activities that will help us calm our nervous systems and our minds.\n\n⁠And that's where Yin yoga comes in.\\n[CTA-YIN]\\nOrigins of Yin Yoga\\nYin yoga combines concepts from both Indian and Chinese practices. From India, it adapts the postures of \\nHatha yoga\\n, marrying those poses with martial arts. Western yoga teachers like Paulie Zin, Sarah Powers, and others have contributed to modern Yin practice through integrating Buddhist meditative practice and Taoist principles.\\nThe Three Tattvas of Yin Yoga: Edge, Stillness, Time\\nTattva is the reality of something, its principle nature. There are three simple tattvas for a Yin yoga practice:\\nEdge\\nYour edge is how deep you go into each pose. This is very personal and the purpose is to go to where the body naturally stops you and stay there. Over time, your edge will change, meaning you'll be able to go deeper into a pose.\\nStillness\\nOnce you find your edge, stay there (as long as you're free from pain). Resting into Yin poses helps the deep connective tissues release.\\nTime\\nPoses are held for a long time in Yin yoga. This gives you time to fully release into a pose, getting the most benefit from each pose.\\nWhat Are the Benefits of Yin Yoga?\\nYin yoga is a wonderful complement to more physically demanding styles of yoga. And, like other yoga practices, \\nYin yoga\\n has several benefits to help us stay flexible and avoid injury. Here are some of the ways Yin can benefit you:\\nLengthens Connective Tissues and Increases Flexibility\\nYin yoga is all about holding poses for a long period of time. The purpose of this is to target the fascia, deep connective tissues around the muscles. This is also beneficial to other connective tissues like ligaments and tendons that tend to lose elasticity through aging and being underused. Through Yin yoga, we can increase flexibility in those connective tissues and offer better support to our joints, reducing joint stiffness, limited mobility, and pain.\\nBoosts Circulation\\nWhile it may seem counterintuitive, holding poses for a longer period of time can improve circulation. This is because you're giving your body more time to move oxygen through the body to its muscles and organs.\\nReduces Stress and Encourages Mindfulness\\nIf you've never experienced the deep calm that comes from a Yin yoga class, you're truly missing out on something special. Yoga is documented for helping to lower stress and anxiety, and Yin yoga is particularly adept at this thanks to the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.\\nYin also encourages mindfulness through silence and stillness. As you relax into a pose and stay there for an extended period of time, your mind is given the space it needs to experience emotions that you might be pushing away.\\nWho Should Practice Yin Yoga?\\nEverybody!\\nYin yoga is a highly accessible \\ntype of yoga\\n that just about anyone can practice. Yin relies heavily on props to keep the body both stretched and supported and is a very slow-moving practice. If you come across a pose that doesn't work for your body, there are always going to be alternatives you can use instead.\\nWhat to Expect in a Yin Yoga Class\\nWhile no two studios or teachers are the same, there are a few typical features of Yin yoga that you can expect in any Yin yoga class.\\nLong Holds and Deep Stretches\\nPoses in Yin yoga can be held for two to five minutes up to 10 minutes or longer. Practitioners are encouraged to observe how the poses feel and let go, not dwelling on any particular sensation and, instead, letting the body really relax into the pose.\\nProps\\nProps are used in Yin because the length of time you hold the pose is much more important than how intense the pose is. Practitioners are encouraged to find their \"edge\" in each pose, the level of intensity that you can comfortably hold for a period of time. The props are there to help support your body at that edge without moving beyond it.\\nQuiet Time\\nYin yoga is deeply meditative. As such, most Yin classes include a lot of silence so you can listen to your breath and direct your awareness inward.\\nGentle Guidance\\nWe mentioned earlier that Yin is an accessible practice. That extends to the language that's used in Yin classes. Teachers will usually have variations available in case a pose doesn't work for your body and you'll likely be encouraged to use more props than you may think you need to support your body.\\nPractice Yin Yoga With myYogaTeacher\\nYin yoga strives to create a balance between the physical, mental, and emotional. In a world that's constantly on the move, a Yin practice can help restore balance.\\nIt focuses on the cooling energy of the body and, unlike an active practice that targets the muscles and builds strength, Yin yoga works into the connective tissue of the body to enhance flexibility.\\nThe postures in Yin yoga are held passively, often for several minutes, so the body finds a way to completely relax the muscles while in a pose. Holding poses for an extended period of time brings the mind and heart into a calm, meditative state. Check out our latest article to Loosen up Hips with \\nYin Yoga Sequence\\n\\nSounds heavenly, doesn't it?\\nIf you're interested in practicing Yin yoga with us, we'd love to see you in class! You can \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and get access to our Yin yoga classes along with 40+ other live online yoga classes every single day."},"createdAt":"2021-06-23T01:23:01.93939+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"myYogaTeacher has a New Look and Feel!","coverUrl":"deoojih5d48c5oxdqib5.jpg","slug":"myYogaTeacher-New-Look-and-Feel","content":{"text":"We've upgraded our website. \\n\\nFirst – What's the same?\\n\\nWe are who we've always been. \\nYour classes and teachers will continue to give you the best, most authentic yoga experience possible!\\n\\nThe \\nfunctionality of the website and app is all the same\\n, so you can continue to book and join classes with \\nease\\n.\\n\\nOver time, we will continue to improve the \\nfunctionality\\n and ease of the website. We usually do this based on feedback from students like you.\\n\\nWhat's New?\\n\\nThe \\nnew look and feel of the website is meant to\\n reflect our \\ncommunity values\\n and mission – to help you feel healthier and happier every day!\\n\\nThe site is lighter, happier, cleaner, less cluttered. \\n\\nRight now, you'll notice most of the changes are on the homepage \\nmyyogateacher.com\\n and our articles \\nmyyogateacher.com/articles\\n.\\n\\nBut the biggest change is...\\n\\nOur New Logo – The Banyan Tree\\n\\n\\n\\nWe invite you to join us as we reconnect with ourselves, and each other, under the banyan tree.\\n\\nMake sure to \\ntake note of the new logo (the Banyan Tree in the top pic)\\n, so you can find the app on your phone and continue to join amazing yoga classes with your MyYogaTeacher community!\\n\\nIf you don't have it already, \\nyou can download the app here\\n."},"createdAt":"2021-05-27T20:36:03.515244+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What is a Community Created Class?","coverUrl":"pselzy6nubjte1ugsfkp.jpg","slug":"what-is-community-created-class","content":{"text":"Community Created Classes are group classes created by the myYogaTeacher community. You, other students, and MYT teachers can create these classes.\\n\\nHow Does it Work?\\n\\nYou click the \"Suggest Class\" button on the class list page (on mobile it will be \"+\" in the bottom right).\\n\\nAfter that, you let us know what kind of class you want to create, the time, day of the week, experience level, and the launch date of the class.\\n\\nThen, we'll take it from there.\\n\\nmyYogaTeacher staff will try to find a teacher who is both qualified to lead the class AND has availability at that time.\\n\\nWe'll let you know if we can match your class request with a great teacher. If so, your class will go live on the launch date you specified!\\n\\nWhat Happens After the Class is Created?\\n\\nThe class will be posted to the regular group class list page. It's open to the entire MYT community to join (and anyone you invite)!\\n\\nFrom there, the class will run for a trial period of 4 consecutive weeks. If it gets enough attendance, it will become a regularly schedule group class!\\n\\nIf enough students don't join, we'll have to remove it from the class list (we do this with classes created by the Class Curation Team too).\\n\\nHow Can I Help my Community Created Class to Continue Regularly?\\n\\nCommunity Created Classes will only continue after the 4 week trail period if there is enough attendance. (We can't predict the exact number of students required because it depends on many factors) \\n\\nThe best way to get your class to continue after the 4 week trial period is to invite friends. \\n\\nYou can use the \"share\" button on the class page, or the share link in the confirmation email (sent once we match the class with a teacher). \\n\\nSending that link to friends through social media, text message / WhatsApp, or even in the myYogaTeacher group chats is a great way to make sure others know about your class and join!\\n\\nHow Much Do Community Created Classes Cost?\\n\\nIn many ways, these classes are just like group classes.\\n\\nIt costs nothing to suggest a group class (ie. Community Created Class). And the rate for Community Created Classes are the same as for regular group classes.\\n\\nHow do I Pick the Teacher for the Community Created Class?\\n\\nWe cannot ensure you get a specific teacher for a Community Created Class. If that is very important to you, you can either use the chat to ask the teacher to set up the Community Created Class themselves. Or you can schedule a \\nYoga with Friends\\n.\\n\\n\\nIf you have any other questions, you can email \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n to get a quick answer!\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-05-21T15:30:32.747854+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Hatha Yoga: What It Is and How It Balances Mind and Body","coverUrl":"aksqrww1vxtvylmg7m6e.png","slug":"what-is-hatha-yoga","content":{"text":"Hatha yoga is any style of yoga that focuses on attaining balance through pranayama (breath) and asana (body). It's an umbrella term that contains yoga styles like Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Yin, Iyengar, power yoga, and more.\\n\\nCheck out the class schedule for most yoga studios and you'll find a Hatha yoga class. It's a popular style of yoga that has a long history.\\n\\nThe term \"Hatha\" comes from the Sanskrit \\nha\\n (\"sun\") and \\nta\\n (\"moon\"). Combined with the term \"yoga,\" which comes from the word \\nyug\\n (\"union\"), Hatha yoga is the balance of the sun and moon energy that lies in all of us.\\n[CTA-HATHA]\\nWhat Is Hatha Yoga?\\nHatha yoga has long been an umbrella term for any type of yoga that combines asana (poses) and pranayama (breathing). Over time in the west, Hatha yoga has come to describe a certain type of yoga—slower-paced and more meditative.\\n\\nThis differs from something like \\nVinyasa\\n mostly in the pacing. Most Vinyasa classes feature a flow of poses at a moderate pace. Hatha yoga classes, on the other hand, tend to include more guidance and detail about how to do the poses.\\n\\nThe Origins and Evolution of Hatha Yoga\\nThe origins of Hatha yoga are a bit muddy. The oldest Hatha yoga text is the Amrtasiddhi, which dates back to 11th century India. It doesn't actually mention the term but is still considered a source for the style. Later, in the 15th century, came the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, written by Svātmārāma as a compilation of earlier Hatha Yoga texts.\\nAccording to the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, Hatha creates conditions for samādhi (\"meditative consciousness\") through:\\nAsana\\nPranayama\\nMudras (hand gestures)\\nKriyas (purification techniques)\\nMeditation\\nEthical living\\nCreating the right environment\\nWhile the earliest forms of this style of yoga are documented in the 11th century, Hatha yoga has evolved into two subtypes:\\n\\nClassical Hatha\\nClassical Hatha is thought to be the yoga detailed in the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā and is used to improve energy and direct energy flow to reach samādhi. It's more common in India but can be found in some western yoga studios. While the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā mentions that there are 84 asanas, it only describes 15 of them.\\n\\nModern Hatha\\nModern Hatha yoga focuses more on asanas. This subtype of Hatha yoga showed up in the 1920s in India and is the result of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya fusing Hatha with elements of wrestling and gymnastics. Most of what we think of as yoga in the west comes from this version of Hatha yoga.\\n\\nTo learn more about yoga philosophy, \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of MyYogaTeacher\\n and join a \\nyoga philosophy class\\n!\\n\\nThe Hatha Yoga Path\\nHatha yoga teaches us how to use our bodies and minds for self-realization. While modern Hatha yoga emphasizes \\nstrengthening and purifying the body\\n, the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā teaches us that the body is truly just an instrument.\\n\\nIf you choose to follow the Hatha yoga path, your goal will be balance and moderation in all things—eating, sleeping, movement, and emotions. Through this balance, you'll be able to move safely through the world and meet challenges from a place of physical, mental, and emotional strength and calm.\\n\\nHow Does Hatha Differ From Vinyasa?\\n\\nWhile Vinyasa falls under the umbrella of Hatha yoga, there are several key differences you're likely to find between Hatha and Vinyasa classes.\\nAsana:\\n Hatha yoga classes tend to include a combination of \\nkriyas\\n, \\nmudras\\n, \\npranayamas\\n, \\nmeditation\\n, and asanas. While Vinyasa might include these, it's also quite likely that your Vinyasa class will only include asanas.\\nTime Spent in Pose:\\n In Hatha, poses are generally held for longer (from three breaths to up to a few minutes). Again, Vinyasa classes might include poses held for longer periods of time, but you'll likely find that the poses are moved through rather than held.\\nFlow:\\n Vinyasa classes tend to focus on longer sequences on a single side followed by transitional poses to then repeat the longer sequence on the other side. Hatha classes generally have less \"flow,\" sometimes with practitioners simply stepping from one pose into the next, and the poses are often done on one side then immediately on the other side.\\nVariety:\\n \\nVinyasa yoga\\n classes sometimes incorporate movements inspired by martial arts, \\ndance\\n, and calisthenics or might include therapeutic movements and plyometrics. Hatha classes are more likely to include traditional poses.\\n[CTA-GC]\\nBenefits of Hatha Yoga\\nLike all styles of yoga, Hatha has several benefits. Yoga has been shown to lower blood pressure, help manage chronic disease, treat pain, improve mental health, and a lot more.\\n\\nFitness:\\n In a \\n2015 study\\n of Chinese adults, cardio endurance, muscle strength, endurance, and flexibility improved after just a 12-week Hatha yoga practice. Another \\n2015 study\\n showed that once a week 90-minute Hatha yoga sessions helped the subjects (older women) improve spine and hamstring flexibility.\\nBalance:\\n A \\n2014 study\\n of 34 men showed better postural control and balance after a five-month Hatha yoga practice. Participants in a \\n2016 study\\n improved core muscle strength and balance in just 21 days of hatha yoga practice.\\nMental Health:\\n A \\n2016 meta-analysis\\n of 17 studies with a total of 501 patients, showed preliminary support for Hatha yoga as a treatment for anxiety. According to a \\n2013 systematic review\\n, yoga can boost serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (\"feel good\" neurotransmitters). A \\n2017 study\\n even found that Hatha yoga can lower blood pressure and cortisol levels and increase confidence when practiced right before a stressful event or task.\\nArthritis and Fibromyalgia:\\n NCCIH found that there's some evidence to support yoga's benefits for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia.\\nBack and Neck Pain:\\n A \\n2008 review\\n found that yoga helps prevent and manage lower back pain. And, A \\n2019 meta-analysis\\n found that yoga potentially improves the range of motion in the neck to reduce the intensity of neck pain.\\nMindfulness:\\n In a \\n2018 survey\\n of 1,820 young adults, those who experienced greater mindfulness and motivation to engage in other healthy activities attributed those results to a regular yoga practice.\\nFollow the Hatha Yoga Path With MyYogaTeacher\\n\\nHatha yoga\\n is a slower, more mindful and meditative yoga practice and one of the most popular styles of yoga. It's an excellent option for a broad range of people and is especially helpful for beginners to yoga since Hatha classes tend to include more guidance that will help beginners get comfortable with unfamiliar poses.\\n\\nEach Hatha yoga class at myYogaTeacher is designed to include the integration of opposites. This means that poses contracting the body will be followed by poses that expand the body. This brings balance to the body and mind.\\n\\nWe invite you to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n so you can join us for a Hatha yoga class where you'll experience poses and breathing techniques that work together to bring you balance, flexibility, strength, clarity of mind, and relaxation.\\n\\nIn addition to Hatha yoga classes at the beginner and intermediate levels, you'll also get access to 35+ additional live online yoga classes every single day. So, even if Hatha isn't your thing, rest assured that we have a class for you—from \\nAshtanga\\n to Iyengar to Vinyasa and everything in between and beyond!"},"createdAt":"2021-05-18T23:13:52.014191+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga 101: What Is Yoga? Everything You Need to Know Before Getting Started","coverUrl":"ozfwdauigdcdmkiwkeqs.png","slug":"yoga-101-what-is-yoga","content":{"text":"What Is Yoga?\\nYoga is an approach to physical and mental health and wellbeing that has been around for thousands of years. According to Sadhguru, the word \"yoga\" means \"that which brings you to reality.\" Taken literally, the word means \"union.\" Many take this to mean a \"union of the body and mind.\" Some might add \"spirit\" to the mix.\\n\\nThe word comes from the Sanskrit root word \"yuj,\" which means \"union,\" \"integration,\" or \"wholeness.\"\\n\\nThere are more than 300 million people in the world who practice yoga, according to the Yogi Times and the Economic Times. And roughly half of that number is yoga practitioners from India, but more and more people around the world are coming to yoga for various reasons, including 36 million people in the United States who make yoga a nearly $12 billion industry in the country (Statista). In this Yoga 101 article, you'll learn more about the practice of yoga, different yoga paths and styles, and the benefits of yoga.\\n\\nTo get the best possible understanding of yoga, we encourage you to \\nsign up for a free two-week of myYogaTeacher\\n. Once inside, you'll have two weeks to try more than 35 live online yoga classes every single day from Indian teachers who have a comprehensive understanding of the entire yoga practice. We even offer a \\nYoga 101 class\\n that you'll probably enjoy if you're here reading this article!\\n\\nPaths of Yoga\\n\\n\\nYoga philosophy\\n tells us that the cause of our suffering is a disconnection from our true self. That's why Vedanta offers four yoga paths to help us reconnect with our true selves. Let's take a look at these four paths of yoga: Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, and Raja.\\n\\nBhakti Yoga (Devotion)\\nBhakti yoga is the path of yoga built on self-realization through devotion. It's typically practiced through kirtans or bhajans (devotional chants) and helps practitioners work through intense emotions by focusing on the divine being.\\nBhakti yoga is all about prayer, worship, and ritual that gets the practitioners closer to the spirit, letting the ego and desire go.\\n\\nJnana Yoga (Knowledge and Wisdom)\\nJnana comes from the Sanskrit for \"knowledge.\" This is the path of intellect and wisdom and involves the study of sacred texts as well as contemplation and self-analysis. Those practicing Jnana are seeking to break through illusion to find the true meaning of life.\\n\\nJnana yoga is called the \"science of the self,\" by Swami Sivananda and the philosophy of Vedanta teaches self-inquiry to discover your true nature.\\n\\nKarma Yoga (Selfless Service)\\nKarma means \"action.\" Through Karma yoga, we learn to be kind and compassionate without expecting anything—even kindness and compassion—in return. Karma yoga is practiced through any acts of service when you put others’ needs before your own and feel grounded during these acts.\\n\\nThis practice is \"work as worship,\" cosmic love and tolerance when we act without expectation of personal gain. It is seen as liberating, through selfless service we free ourselves from karmic bonds and find peace.\\n\\nRaja Yoga (Meditation)\\nThe fourth path of yoga we're going to talk about is Raja yoga. Raja means \"royalty\" or \"kind\" in Sanskrit and balances the three other paths (Bhakti, Jnana, and Karma) to help you find inner peace and self-awareness. While asanas and pranayamas are integral to Raja, the main practice is silent \\nmeditation\\n.\\n\\nThis type of yoga is also known as Ashtanga because the practice can be divided into \\neight limbs\\n:\\nYamas, or ethical standards: Ahimsa (non-violence), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (chastity), Aparigraha (non-attachment), and Satya (truthfulness)\\nNiyamas, or self-discipline: Saucha (purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study), Isvara Pranidhana (surrender)\\nAsana: the postures practiced in yoga\\nPranayama: breath control\\nPratyahara: internal awareness\\nDharana: concentration\\nDhyana: meditation\\nSamadhi: fulfillment, joy, ecstasy\\nStyles of Yoga\\n\\nNow that you have a better understanding of the paths of yoga, let's turn our attention to the styles of yoga that you might find in any yoga studio. Styles of yoga range quite a bit, from power yoga and other demanding classes, to gentle yoga, and more meditative classes.\\n\\nSome of the styles of yoga have a yoga lineage (like Kriya, Hatha, Ashtanga, and others), but yoga lineage has become less important to practitioners as yoga becomes more readily available to different cultures and people around the world.\\n\\nThis is by no means a complete list of the different styles of yoga. Inside \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n, you'll also find offerings like gentle yoga, chair yoga, and therapeutic yoga for things like thyroid, \\ndiabetes\\n, and more.\\n\\nKriya Yoga\\nKriya yoga is an ancient practice that includes pranayama and meditation. Swami Paramahansa Yogananda is the guru known for bringing Kriya yoga to the Western world. This style of yoga uses meditation to lead practitioners to spirituality.\\n\\nHatha Yoga\\nHatha yoga is a broad term that encompasses yoga styles using asanas (poses). \\nHatha classes\\n tend to be slower-paced and train practitioners to regulate their breath and meditate while in poses. It's truly a \"moving meditation.\"\\n\\nVinyasa Yoga\\nVinyasa yoga uses movement and breath, similar to Hatha. However, \\nVinyasa\\n tends to be a faster pace and flows through asanas rather than holding them. It's a physically demanding practice without a set structure.\\n\\nAshtanga Yoga\\nAshtanga yoga is another physically demanding style of yoga that helps increase flexibility, as well as build strength and stamina. With Ashtanga, practitioners work through the same series of poses every time.\\n\\nIyengar Yoga\\nIyengar yoga was created by B.K.S. Iyengar in the 1960s. This style of yoga focuses on precise movements and alignment. Poses are generally held for a long time and props are used to help practitioners perfect their form or get deeper into poses.\\n\\nKundalini Yoga\\n\\nKundalini yoga\\n is a spiritual and physical yoga practice designed to release the energy trapped in the lower spine. This style of yoga uses fast-paced postures and breathing, chanting, mantra, and meditation. It was introduced in the West during the 1970s by Yogi Bhajan.\\n\\nBikram Yoga\\nBikram yoga is often called \"hot yoga\" since it is practiced in a humid, heated room (105º and 40% humidity). It's named after Bikram Choudhury and includes a series of 26 postures, performed twice, in a fast flow. It's a challenging practice that improves endurance and flexibility. As more and more practitioners try to distance themselves from the style's founder, you'll find a deviation from the series of postures as well as room temperatures and humidity.\\n\\nYin Yoga\\nYin yoga focuses on seated postures held for long periods of time. It's a slower-paced style of yoga and can be quite meditative. Poses are generally held from 45 seconds to two minutes.\\n\\nPower Yoga\\nThere are several different forms of \\npower yoga\\n but it's always intense and fast-paced. It combines flexibility, strength, concentration, and breathwork into a flowing style and was originally created for athletes.\\n\\nRestorative Yoga\\nOn the opposite end of the yoga spectrum from power yoga is restorative yoga. This style of yoga focuses on body relaxation and freeing your mind. It borrows pieces from several other yoga styles. Like Iyengar, \\nrestorative yoga\\n practice encourages the use of props to encourage complete relaxation through body support. Like Yin, the poses in restorative yoga are held for a long time (though much longer than in Yin).\\n\\nBenefits of Yoga\\nSo far, we've covered the paths of yoga as well as several different styles of yoga. But you may be wondering why you'd practice yoga in the first place.\\n\\nThere have been so many scientific studies about the practice of yoga and its benefits. Those benefits range from physical to mental to emotional. Here are some of the benefits you can expect.\\nBetter posture. Yoga postures can help strengthen shoulder and back muscles. That strength then leads to better posture.\\nImproved flexibility and mobility through a combination of active movement and held stretches.\\nIncreased strength. Yoga isn't easy. Many of the poses \\nchallenge muscles\\n in the legs, shoulders, and core.\\nCardiovascular strength and endurance. Several yoga styles can improve your cardio through movement and flowing poses that increase the heart rate.\\nBetter brain function and stress management. Many styles of yoga include meditation that has been shown to calm the mind, relieve stress and tension, improve concentration, and stabilize mood. The addition of Mudras (hand positions) and Pranayama, or controlled breathing, only heightens those positive effects.\\nWrapping Up\\nBy now, you should have a much better understanding of what yoga is, the paths and styles of yoga, as well as which forms of yoga you might want to check out. To gain access to different styles of yoga, we invite you to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n where you'll find 35+ live online yoga classes of various styles every single day to choose from."},"createdAt":"2021-05-04T12:54:40.207865+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What is 'Yoga with Friends'?","coverUrl":"yoga-for-flexibility-poses-1.png","slug":"what-is-yoga-with-friends","content":{"text":"Yoga with Friends is a healthy way for you to stay connected with friends, by doing a private group yoga class online.\\n\\nEach Session Feeds Food Insecure Children\\n\\nFor each paid Yoga with Friends session, you give about 2 meals to food insecure children in India.\\n\\nWe've \\npartnered with Give India\\n, so a portion of your Yoga with Friends fee is donated on your behalf. \\nEvery time you book a class, you'll see exactly how many meals you're donating to hungry children in India.\\n\\nNote:\\n For 2-weeks, 100% of Proceeds from Yoga with Friends donated to supply Oxygen to critical COVID patients in India.\\nYou've probably seen that COVID is rampaging through India, tearing apart families, and leaving hospitals crippled by an overflow of cases. The supply of oxygen and ventilators is critically low. Too many people are dying simply because they can't get the oxygen they need. You might be looking for a way to help our brothers and sisters in India. Right now, what they need more than anything is Oxygen. For 2-weeks, starting May 3rd, 100% of the proceeds from Yoga with Friends sessions will be donated to \\nGive India's Oxygen Campaign\\n.\\n\\nSo your yoga practice will help you to live a healthier and happier life, while also making a positive impact on our global community.\\n\\nBenefits of Yoga with Friends\\n\\nIn a time of increased disconnection and discontentment, Yoga with Friends is an amazing way to take care of yourself.\\n\\nWe first created yoga with friends during the height of the COVID Pandemic in the US. We were all feeling isolated and bored of the typical zoom get-together. So we decided to create a way for people to connect with loved ones and have a healthy fun activity.\\n\\nHow to Get Started\\n\\nYou \\ncreate a free account\\n, then pick one of our 100+ expert yoga teachers. After that, just choose a time that works for you and invite your friends!\\n\\nYour first Yoga with Friends class is always free. You can \\nclick here to create an account and get started now!\\n\\n\\nStep-by-Step:\\n\\n1. Go to \\nmyYogaTeacher.com\\n and create your free account\\n2. Click the \"Book a class\" button and then select \\n\"Book Yoga with Friends\"\\n\\n3. After that use the Date & Time selector at the top to choose a good time for you\\n4. Then pick your teacher and invite your friends with the easy to share link!\\n\\nWe'll send you an email confirmation with a Zoom link to join your private group Yoga with Friends session!\\n\\nYou can \\ncheck out the FAQ here\\n to find answers to common questions. And if you still aren't sure about something, you can always email us at \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n and we'll help you get started"},"createdAt":"2021-05-02T17:46:33.942735+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"5 Ways Yoga Specifically Benefits Women","coverUrl":"dfekrugui0eu4hvygi99.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-women","content":{"text":"Nothing against men or anything, but women go through way more changes throughout their lives than men do. Physiologically, mentally, and emotionally.\\n\\nThat’s what happens when you’re the source of life energy for the whole planet. ;-)\\n\\nSeriously, though. A woman’s world can be truly taxing.\\n\\nWe advance through multiple phases of life. And sometimes we need relief from what can seem like an unending burden of just being a woman. \\n\\nAs a woman myself, and one who has already experienced many of the stages of life women go through, I wanted to offer a \\nYoga for Women class with myYogaTeacher\\n. Because yoga helps women transition through these phases with more ease, grace, and comfort.\\n\\nIf you haven’t signed up for myYogaTeacher yet, I invite you to do so! \\nYou can grab a 2-week free trial here!\\n\\n\\nThere are yoga poses that will be beneficial to women in particular, but there are also other ways yoga supports women through all of their many life changes!\\n\\n\\n1. Yoga helps with premenstrual symptoms.\\n\\nDid you know yoga is often recommended as a treatment option for PMS? That’s because scientific research has shown yoga to be an effective tool for minimizing the effects of PMS on women.\\n\\nNot only does the actual act of yoga and meditation help women relax and release the stress from physical pain, emotional and mental stress associated with pain from PMS, it literally eliminates cramps, back pain, and cleanses the lymphatic system to help regulate hormones.\\n\\nHere are some common yoga poses that help women with premenstrual symptoms:\\n\\nChild’s pose \\n- relieves strain on back, neck and shoulders.\\nCrocodile pose (aka Superman)\\n - alleviates indigestion and constipation.\\nSeated spinal twist \\n- reduces cramping and lower back pain.\\nStanding forward bend\\n - helps with depression and anxiety, relaxes whole body\\nBridge pose \\n- relieves headaches, improves blood circulation\\nCorpse pose \\n- great for releasing tension and just relaxing.\\n\\nWhen you’re having a rough time with premenstrual symptoms try some of these yoga poses for women who experience PMS regularly.\\n\\n\\n2. Yoga improves menopause symptoms.\\n\\nMenopause is inevitable. And every woman will react differently, have varying degrees of symptoms, and need various types of relief. \\n\\nThis is normal. It’s a time when abnormal is normal (to some extent). Unfortunately!\\n\\nBut did you know that women who do yoga during menopause have fewer hot flashes, regulate hormone levels better, and improve joint health?\\n Fluctuating hormones is what causes the majority of menopausal symptoms, but you can help stabilize that just by participating in a regular yoga practice.\\n\\nYoga is sort of like a natural hormone therapy versus actual hormone replacement therapy. Which has its own negative side effects.\\n\\n\\n3. Yoga helps with pregnancy and labor.\\n\\nIf you’ve ever been pregnant, you’ll understand how valuable it is to find any natural remedies for the discomforts of pregnancy and childbirth!\\n\\nPrenatal yoga for women is an excellent and safe alternative to many types of pain medications to alleviate back pain, joint discomfort, pregnancy stress, and hormonal imbalances. \\n\\nWill yoga eliminate those cravings for ice cream and pickles – eaten together? Probably not. \\n\\nBut it’ll help.\\n\\nYoga during pregnancy (and even labor) reduces stress and can relieve pelvic floor pain. \\n\\nHere are some simple prenatal poses you can do to help reduce pain and discomfort associated with pregnancy and labor:\\nWide knee child’s pose\\nCat and cow\\nStanding side stretch\\nWide legged standing forward bend\\nYoga squat\\n\\nThese poses will open the hips and relieve tension in the lower and upper back!\\n\\n\\n4. Yoga may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.\\n\\nAlmost two-thirds of Americans who have Alzheimer’s Disease are women.\\n That’s a lot of women who will suffer from this fatal disease.\\n\\nResearch studies have shown a regular yoga practice combined with meditation could delay the onset of this terrible disease. And we’re not just talking about yoga for women here. We’re talking about yoga period.\\n\\nAny type of yoga. That’s huge.\\n\\nWouldn’t you want to do anything and everything possible to delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease? I know I would.\\n\\nYoga literally improves the neural pathways in your brain! \\n\\nIf you’re looking for a place to start, \\nI invite you to try my Yoga for Women class\\n where we spend time doing different asanas every week that are beneficial for women.\\n\\n\\n5. Yoga improves your heart health.\\n\\nDid you know heart disease is still the biggest killer of women in the United States today? It kills more women than cancer, suicide, or car accidents. \\n\\nYou don’t need a yoga for women class to know that yoga is good for your heart health. \\nYoga reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. It releases endorphins.\\n Yoga helps you become more self-aware so you can address problems within your mind more quickly and easily. \\n\\nYoga brings harmony to your inner and outer world.\\n\\nSo of course, that will have positive effects on your physiological body! Your blood pressure will be lower. Your cortisol levels will be lower. You’ll emotional eat less and work out more. You’ll spend more time in nature and participating in selfcare.\\n\\nYou’ll just be a healthier human. \\nWith a healthier heart.\\n\\n\\n\\nWomen, you deserve to feel good, to take time for yourself. You deserve selfcare and a supportive community to come along beside you during the many transitions you face in life. Yoga is your path to sanity, to pain relief, to mental clarity and calm whether storms are rough or not. \\n\\nYoga brings balance to your body and soul. \\n\\nWhether you’re stressed, trying to lose weight, suffering from hormonal imbalances, or are in physical, mental, or emotional pain,\\n I invite you to come see me in my Yoga for Women Class.\\n We work together and support one another. We are a group of all ages from all walks of life, and we’d love to see you there!\\n\\nIf you’re not a myYogaTeacher member yet, please come try it out! It is a wonderful community of yogis of all abilities, and you’ll have the opportunity to try many types of yoga with many instructors and find the ones that are a good fit for you! \\nGet your 2-week free trial here and join us!\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-04-27T16:54:57.670414+00:00","author":{"name":"Vineeta","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What Is Gentle Yoga + Styles and Poses to Try","coverUrl":"gentle-yoga.png","slug":"gentle-yoga","content":{"text":"If you're injured, have limited mobility, want an easy and soothing practice, or are just a bit older and need to be careful with your movements, gentle yoga might be a great option for you. Gentle yoga is also a wonderful way to ease into yoga if you've never practiced before and are a little nervous.\\n\nI'd love to have you join me for my next \\nGentle Yoga class\\n! Sign up for a \\nfree two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and get access to 35+ live online yoga classes and workshops every day.\\n\\nWhat Is Gentle Yoga?\\nGentle yoga is a less intense, slower yoga practice. It generally includes an emphasis on stretching, meditation, pranayama, and relaxation. In a gentle yoga practice, you'll typically move at a slower, more comfortable pace that reduces stress and strain on joints and muscles.\\n\\nThe slower nature of gentle yoga makes it a perfect practice for just about anyone of any age or physical ability. It's a particularly beneficial practice for those with limited mobility, health issues, injuries, pain, or those who are worried about being fit or flexible enough for something like power yoga or Ashtanga.\\n\\nBenefits of Gentle Yoga\\nGentle yoga offers several benefits and advantages:\\nIt's accessible. Gentle yoga classes should be a safe space for beginners as well as those with injuries, limited mobility, and other concerns, and should include modifications.\\nIt's calming. Gentle yoga helps calm the nervous system so the parasympathetic nervous system can engage.\\nIt improves digestion.\\nIt decreases stress levels.\\nIt stimulates the immune system.\\nIt increases flexibility and strengthens the body.\\nTypes of Gentle Yoga\\nGentle yoga is a broad term that actually includes several different types of yoga. What each of these different types of gentle yoga has in common is that they're slow and low-impact and poses are likely to be held for a longer period of time. Here are a few different types of gentle yoga worth checking out.\\n\\nRestorative Yoga\\nIn \\nrestorative yoga\\n, poses are held for several minutes, often 10 minutes or more. Your body is supported by props like bolsters, blankets, and blocks so you can relax fully into the poses. The goal of restorative yoga is to open your muscles, mind, and nervous system.\\n\\nYin Yoga\\n\\nYin yoga\\n is often confused with restorative yoga. In Yin, you'll still be holding poses for several minutes (usually 3–5 minutes), but where restorative is passive and focused on opening your muscles, Yin tends to focus on active stretching and deep release of your muscles. It can be a mentally challenging practice.\\n\\nKripalu Yoga\\nKripalu yoga is sometimes referred to as \"meditation in motion.\" This type of gentle yoga focuses on mindfulness, pranayama, and meditation.\\n\\nSomatic Yoga\\nSomatic yoga is a way to retrain your nervous system through gentle movement. The idea is that trauma, aging, illness, habits, and stress can get our bodies trapped in samskaras (patterns) that keep our muscles from relaxing and engaging as they should. Somatic yoga is designed to help release those patterns.\\n\\nChair Yoga\\n\\nChair yoga\\n is a type of gentle yoga in which practitioners use a chair for support in most or all yoga postures. It's a great option for those with mobility issues as well as seniors.\\n\\nWho Should Try Gentle Yoga?\\nEverybody! Gentle yoga is the perfect option for:\\nBeginners\\nPeople with chronic health issues or injuries\\nPregnant people\\nSeniors\\nPeople with limited mobility, flexibility, and strength\\nHonestly, gentle yoga is great for anyone who wants a mindful, slow, meditative yoga practice.\\n\\nGentle Yoga Poses\\nThere are several yoga poses that are suitable for gentle yoga. Here are five of my favorites:\\n\\n1. Bitilasana Marjaryasana (Cat-cow pose)\\n\\nFrom your hands and knees, inhale and press your belly button towards the floor, coming into a slight backbend. On the exhale, arch your back up toward the ceiling. You can do this as slowly and for however long you want. Feel free to put a blanket under your knees if they bother you and use your knuckles or even go down to your elbows if you have wrist problems.\\n\\n2. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Supported bridge pose)\\n\\nBridge pose helps open up your hip flexors at the front of your hips. It's typically an active pose in which your glutes and legs are engaged, but with supported bridge, you only engage your muscles long enough to bring your hips into the air and place a yoga block under your sacrum.\\n\\nStart on your back with your knees bent toward the ceiling and your feet flat on the floor. Engage your glutes and press your hips toward the ceiling. Place a yoga block under your sacrum and relax down onto it. To deepen this pose, you can extend your legs and raise your arms over your head. Rest in the pose and breathe.\\n\\n3. Viparita Karani (Legs up the wall pose)\\n\\nLegs up the wall pose is a great pose for calming the nervous system. Lie down on your back with your hips close to the wall and extend your legs up, resting them on the wall. Close your eyes and relax. If you'd like, you can let your legs fall out to the side (like you're doing the splits) to target your hips and groin.\\n\\n4. Supta Matsyendrasana (Supine twist)\\n\\nSupine twists not only feel good, but they help improve digestion. Start on your back with your knees bent up toward the ceiling and your feet flat on the floor. Extend your arms out to the side at shoulder height, making a 'T' shape. Bring your knees in towards your chest and drop them over to one side, turning your head to look toward the opposite side. Relax and breathe for a few minutes before switching sides. If you'd like, you can place a pillow between your knees.\\n\\n5. Balasana (Child's pose)\\n\\nChild's pose is a restful pose that helps you open your hips as well as stretch both sides of your body. Start on your hands and knees then send your hips back to rest on your heels (or as close as they come). Stretch your arms forward and breathe. Rest your forehead or chin on the floor in front of you. If you're struggling to relax into the pose, bring your knees out wide (keeping your big toes together) and relax into the pose that way. For a deeper side stretch, you can walk your hands over to either side, keeping your lower body squared.\\n\\nWrapping Up\\nGentle yoga offers a safe, mindful, and meditative practice that is appropriate for everyone. If you're looking for a practice that will help you reconnect your mind and body, join me on myYogaTeacher for my next \\nGentle Yoga class\\n.\\n\\nAnd, don't forget to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n. You'll get access to 35+ live online yoga classes every day!\\n6006"},"createdAt":"2021-04-20T12:16:26.572562+00:00","author":{"name":"Sarita Kumari","pictureUrl":"dgymh7at5xtfcevolni4.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"sarita-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Grow and Glow: 4 Ways Yoga Helps Your Skin and Hair","coverUrl":"cknabgsso4cxb0c80ev4250xl.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-skin-and-hair","content":{"text":"You know you’re at least a tiny bit jelly of that one person who has the most amazing hair and perfect skin. Or maybe you are that person already! (Good for you!)\\n\\nFor many people, growing a thick, healthy mane of hair they’re proud of is hard. Like, really hard! Not everyone is fortunate enough to be blessed with beautiful hair and skin. Sometimes we have one but not the other, right?\\n\\nThe fact is no one’s perfect. And that’s, of course, beautiful in and of itself! \\n\\nBut we’re here to tell you a regular yoga practice helps you have healthy hair and skin. I talk more about this in my \\nYoga for Healthy Hair and Skin Class \\non myYogaTeacher, so if you’re still interested after reading this, hop on over and check it out!\\n\\nNot a MYT member? That’s ok too! \\nGrab your MyYogaTeacher 2-week free trial here\\n and get access to my class and tons of others here. \\n\\nIn the meantime, let’s go over some ways yoga promotes healthy skin and hair!\\n\\n\\n1. Breath is life\\n\\nIf you’re not a yogi or you’re a new yogi, you’ve maybe taken advantage of the fact that you breathe. Unconsciously. \\n\\nBreathing comes naturally. But the quality of your breath does not.\\n\\nWhen you’re stressed, anxious, depressed, or angry, your breathing changes. Some people hold their breath without even realizing it. You may take shorter breaths, faster or more shallow breaths. This reduces the amount of oxygen flowing through your body to your muscles and...you guessed it, your skin.\\n\\nYour skin is your body’s largest organ! Getting enough oxygen to your skin and hair follicles is important for healthy skin and hair.\\n\\nA regular yoga practice includes conscious breathwork. Deep, intentional breathing, belly breathing, is a major component of circulating more oxygen throughout your body.\\n\\nBreathwork also reduces stress, anxiety and helps calm your nervous system so that you will unconsciously breathe better!\\n\\nSpeaking  of circulation…\\n\\n\\n2. Yoga increases blood flow\\n\\nThis may seem obvious to you, especially during that fast-paced hatha yoga flow. You know when the sweat struggle is real and your muscles are on fire.\\n\\nBut there are specific yoga poses that increase blood flow to the scalp and skin. And better and more circulation of blood means more nutrients are being brought to those areas. Here are some poses I focus on in my Yoga for Healthy Hair and Skin Class:\\n\\nDownward facing dog.\\n Any time your head is below your heart, gravity draws more blood down towards your scalp.\\nCamel pose.\\n This pose is great if you’re struggling with acne because it helps balance cortisol hormones.\\nStanding forward bend.\\n Another good pose to promote healthy hair and scalp.\\nHeadstand or shoulder stand\\n. Even if you’re unable to fully do these, the modifications for them still promote healthy skin and hair since they are inversion poses\\n\\nThere are many inversion asanas that help bring more blood flow to skin and scalp, particularly facial skin, which is where many people struggle with acne.\\n\\nWe cover most of these poses in my class!\\n\\n\\n3. Better digestion, better skin and hair\\n\\nYou’ve no doubt heard about how a healthy gut biome affects your health in almost every way – brain function, immunity, organ function and heart health. But did you know that a healthy digestive cycle also improves those things?\\n\\nYour digestive system plays a huge role in healthy skin and hair as well. Your digestive tract absorbs nutrients from the food you eat, and then those nutrients are distributed to the various different tissues in your body, including your skin.\\n\\nIf your digestive system isn’t on track (pun intended ;-) ) it can’t absorb the nutrients your body needs to thrive. This means your skin and hair also suffer.\\n\\nKnow what’s particularly helpful for digestion? Yes! Yoga!\\n\\nThere are waaaaaaay more poses that exist to aid digestion than we can mention here, but here are some that are perfect for every body type and any fitness level:\\n\\nSeated or reclined twists.\\n Twisting poses are particularly useful for better digestion.\\nCobra or upward facing dog.\\n Both of these poses open up the chest and stretch out the abdomen, lengthening the digestive tract.\\nCat and cow.\\n The gentle stretch and contraction of the abdominal muscles in this active asana stimulates digestion.\\nSide stretches.\\n Asanas like triangle pose, pyramid pose, and seated side stretch are also gentle poses that assist with digestion.\\n\\nNext time you overeat or ate something that didn’t agree with you, try some of these poses and see if they help. Hold each pose for 5-10 slow belly breaths for maximum benefit.\\n\\n[CTA-GC]\\n\\n4. Meditation makes a difference\\n\\nI’ve talked before about how \\nmeditation\\n affects your mental, emotional, and physical state. But you’re probably wondering how it helps your hair grow and your skin glow, right?\\n\\nInadvertently. That’s how.\\n\\nA regular meditation practice is usually a part of a regular yoga routine. At least at myYogaTeacher it is. Yoga isn’t just about the physical. The work out. It’s about creating an inner and outer world that work together for the good of all.\\n\\nWhen we meditate regularly, we stress less, worry less. We are angry less. We are happier, calmer, and more clear-headed. We’re more at peace. And when we are this way, we take better care of ourselves.\\n\\nMeditation is a part of your yoga practice that is very, very important. Because when you feel good enough to take better care of yourself, your hair and skin will show it. Whether it’s brushing your hair more often or using hair and skin products that are better for you or work better for you. Maybe you go to the salon or you finally go see a dermatologist or holistic health practitioner about your skin problems.\\n\\nEither way, yoga helps.\\n\\n\\nIf you need help in these areas, definitely try out my \\nYoga for Healthy Hair and Skin Class on myYogaTeacher!\\n I would be honored to help you move past the things in your life that are preventing you from having healthy hair and skin or things that are contributing to your bad health in general.\\n\\nIf you’re not a member of MYT yet, don’t worry! \\nYou can go here to sign up for your 2-week free trial and get access to 35+ different classes a day!\\n Try it out. I’m sure you’ll love it.\\n\\nNamaste.\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-04-09T12:59:57.071033+00:00","author":{"name":"Rashika","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","restorative"]},{"title":"Yoga Philosophy: Exploring Patanjali's Yoga Sutras","coverUrl":"ckn82svwg5yc60b71lx48j6l9.png","slug":"yoga-philosophy-patanjali","content":{"text":"Yoga is a belief system that promotes mindfulness through a mix of movement and meditation. As yoga's popularity has grown around the world, there's been a shift in focus on yoga as simply asanas (poses and movement).\\n\nBut that's not all there is to yoga.\\n\nIn my \\nyoga philosophy class on myYogaTeacher\\n, we'll explore the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. I encourage you to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and join me! In addition to the yoga philosophy class, you'll get access to more than 35 live, online yoga classes with a variety of styles and teachers.\\n\nHere, we'll be taking a brief look at who Patanjali was, what the Yoga Sutras are, and why it's so important to know about this side of yoga.\\n\\nWho Was Patanjali?\\nPatanjali (also known as Gonardiya or Gonikaputra) was the author of the Yoga Sutras. These works first gained prominence in the 2nd century BCE and again in the 5th century CE. In addition to the Yoga Sutras, which we'll look at in this article, Patanjali is also credited as being the author, or one of the authors, of Mahabhashya, a defense of grammarian Panini against his main critic Katyayana.\\n\nWhat Are the Four Yoga Sutras?\\n\\nWritten by Patanjali, the Yoga Sutras is one of the classic yoga texts and introduced Patanjali's understanding of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. It was originally written in Sanskrit and, despite not even covering the asanas we've learned to associate with yoga, is the most popular and well-recognized techniques for training your body and expanding your mind.\\n\nThe entire book is a collection of 196 aphorisms that cover everything from art to science to the philosophy of life. It consists of four chapters:\\nSamadhi: You \\nare\\n a soul; you \\nhave\\n a body\\nSadhana: The actions you should take\\nVibhuti: The mystic powers gained through yoga practice\\nKaivalya: Self-realization\\nEach attempt to learn the meaning of the Yoga Sutras is said to bring you a step closer to true enlightenment.\\nLet's look at each of the four chapters more closely.\\n\\nSamadhi\\nThe first chapter of the Yoga Sutras is Samadhi. It includes 51 sutras and teaches you the foundation of what you need to know about yoga, obstacles to overcome, the importance of abhyasa (constant practice), and vairagya (the detachment from material experiences and worldly pleasures).\\n\\nSamadhi gets into how the mind works as well as how you can bring peace and calm to your mind with an understanding of mental activities such as:\\nPramana: Good thoughts and true knowledge\\nViparyaya: Bad thoughts and wrong understanding\\nVikalpa: Confusion\\nNidra: Sleep while the mind remains active\\nSmriti: Memory or using the senses of smell, touch, sight, taste\\n\\nPatanjali\\n tells us that we can restrict these mental activities through abhyasa and vairagya.\\n\\nSadhana\\n\\nThe second chapter of the Yoga Sutras is Sadhana. In this chapter, Patanjali introduces the principles of Ashtanga yoga, Kriya yoga, and Karma as well as the Eight Limbs of Yoga:\\nYamas: Ethical standards (Ahimsa—non-violence; Satya—truthfulness; Asteya—not stealing; Brahmacharya—celibacy or not over-indulging; and Aparigraha—lack of ego)\\nNiyamas: Self-discipline (Shaucha—purity; Santosha—contentment; Tapa—fortitude; Svadhyaya—study; Ishvara-pranidhana—devotion to God or your own higher self)\\nAsana: Yoga postures\\nPranayama: Breath control\\nPratyahara: Withdrawal\\nDharana: Concentration\\nDhyana: Single focus\\nSamadhi: Total self-collectedness\\nVibhuti\\nThe third chapter of the Yoga Sutras is Vibhuti. In this chapter, Patanjali discusses how Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi are all connected and pays particular attention to Dhyana and Samadhi.\\n\nDharana means fixing your focus on a single object. Then, focusing and concentrating your mind on the object becomes Dhyana. When the object, and only the object, fills your consciousness entirely, that's Samadhi.\\n\nYou'll notice that this sounds a lot like meditation. Many times, Dhyana is misinterpreted as \"meditation,\" but it's not exactly the meditation we're familiar with these days. Dhyana is what happens when you can't separate a sense of self from the act of meditation or really even perceive it.\\n\nDharana is actually closer to what we understand modern meditation to be. Through the practice of Dharana, we can better understand our minds, their patterns, and notice the thoughts that interrupt us.\\n\nKaivalya\\nThe final chapter of the Yoga Sutras is Kaivalya. In this chapter, Patanjali reflects on the mind's achievements and prepares you for moksha (complete liberation). This liberation comes from the separation of the soul (Purusha) from the source (Prakriti). While separation is often seen as a bad or scary thing, in this case, the soul no longer experiences the misery that comes from this connection.\\n\nWhy Bother With Yoga Philosophy?\\nNow you know a bit more about yoga philosophy and you may be wondering if it really matters? Does \\nknowing more about yoga philosophy\\n really make a difference to your practice?\\n\nThe answer, as with most things, is \"it depends.\"\\n\nHere are three key reasons I think it's important to study Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.\\nConnect to Your Yoga Roots:\\n If you practice yoga, you're part of a yoga lineage. Your yoga teacher learned from a teacher who learned from a teacher, and so on. These lineages can be traced back centuries. Studying texts like the Yoga Sutras can help you stay connected to your yoga lineage and achieve a deeper, more authentic practice.\\nFigure Out What's Holding You Back:\\n Through the Yoga Sutras, you can better understand how your thoughts hold you back and keep you from living your best, most satisfying life.\\nLet Go of Suffering:\\n While asanas have many health benefits, a complete yoga practice can do so much more for you. According to Patanjali, \\nyoga chitta vritti nirodhah\\n, \"yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.\" Through discovering and understanding that you are complete as you are, you can start to let go of your suffering.\\nBuild a Practice You Believe In With Yoga Philosophy\\nIn Western culture, yoga has been distilled into a simple practice of poses and meditation, but yoga is so much more than that.  When you learn about the roots of yoga, you can develop a more authentic practice that will not only improve your physical, mental, and emotional health but can transform your life.\\n\nI hope you enjoyed this quick look at Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Don't forget to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n to join me for the next \\nyoga philosophy class\\n or, if you're interested in what else we have to offer, check out 35+ live, online yoga classes every single day.\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-04-07T23:21:52.404353+00:00","author":{"name":"Sandeep Gupta","pictureUrl":"zla3scezkpyagrlmpzfi.png","teacherMytSlug":"sandeep-1"},"category":["yoga","yoga_teacher_training"]},{"title":"It’s More Than A Symbol: Yin and Yang in Yoga","coverUrl":"find-balance-yin-yang-yoga_770x513_.jpeg","slug":"what-is-yin-yang-yoga","content":{"text":"Not that anyone wants a history lesson, but the ancient Chinese yin and yang symbol is more than just a cool wallpaper for your computer.\\n\\nOr poster on your wall (if you were born in the 80’s).\\n\\nThe concept of yin and yang has to do with duality and how opposites are interconnected. \\n\\nFor instance, the word “yin” in Chinese philosophy is associated with all things hard, cold, wet, feminine. Negative. Even earthy. But not in a bad way. It’s in a necessary way. Even yin yoga is restorative, passive, cooling.\\n\\nThe word “yang” corresponds to all things light. It is the masculine energy that possesses heat, dryness, and combines with yin to create all things.\\n\\nIt makes sense to offer a \\nYin and Yang Yoga class\\n! I chose to create this class because combining the heat of yoga for exercise with the restoration of yoga for relaxation and stretching works well together to promote harmony with one’s inner and outer world.\\n\\nYou can check it out, along with many other types of yoga classes, at myYogaTeacher. \\nGrab your 2-week free trial and experience any or all of them!\\n\\n\\nLet’s talk more about the different parts of yin and yang yoga! We’ll start with the yin since no one says “yang yin symbol.” Or “yang and yin yoga.” \\n\\nYin yoga\\n\\nDid you know that studies show that doing yoga before bed assists with weight loss? Obviously, this practice can be done any time of the day, but before bed is also helpful!\\n\\nYin yoga, particularly, is a great practice to do before bed. It not only helps relax your body, stretch your muscles, and prepare you to sleep. It helps your body reduce its cortisol levels.\\n\\nHigh cortisol levels are associated with weight gain and many other health conditions.\\n\\nIn addition to reducing those levels, yin yoga helps cleanse your lymph nodes, which is important for keeping your immune system healthy! You can read more about how yin yoga helps with lymphatic drainage and immunity \\nhere in this blog post\\n by another expert yogi, Annelise!\\n\\nHere are some other examples of how yin yoga benefits your mind and body:\\n\\nImproves flexibility (because you’re holding each pose longer)\\nIncreases circulation \\nImproves joint mobility\\nBalances internal organs and improves chi\\nCalms the mind\\n\\nAnd it’s beneficial for every body type at any fitness level.\\n\\nWithin the yin yoga practice, the “black” part of the yin yang symbol, there is still that small circle of white. The yang is still present. It shows up as the stretch you feel in your muscles when you’re holding a pose or the little bit of heat you may experience that is left over from the heat of the yang portion of a practice.\\n\\nBut just like there is a time to rest, to eat, to look inward, to reflect, there is also a time for the opposite of those things! (Ever heard the song Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds?) There is a time for every purpose under heaven.\\n\\nAnd that is where the “yang” part of my yoga class comes in!\\n\\n\\nThe yang\\n\\nYang yoga is most commonly called hatha or ashtanga yoga. But the idea is that creating heat in your body and working your muscles in a gentle way that increases your heart rate is just as necessary as a calming, restorative yin yoga practice.\\n\\nHatha and ashtanga yoga practices focus on building strength, flexibility, and stamina. I use both of these in the yang yoga portion of my yoga class. \\n\\nAs a matter of fact, we start the class with yang yoga. This part of the practice includes dynamic asanas and a faster pace to build heat. We really work on synchronizing our breath with the movements as well, since that can be more challenging with a faster flow!\\n\\n\\nYou can see how yang yoga is the white portion of a yin yang symbol, while yin yoga is the black. But in each of these is a tiny bit of the other.\\n\\nEven in yang yoga, while you may be sweating and warm, there is a calm and consistency in your breath. A release with each pose. That is the yin.\\n\\nYou see? There is not one without the other! The centuries old concept of yin and yang is still very prevalent in our society today.\\n\\n\\nWhy yin and yang are equally important\\n\\nWhat happens if you sleep all day? Rest all day? Eat all day?\\n\\nWhat would happen if your life consisted of one extreme or the other? Poverty, wealth, daytime, night.\\n\\nThe yin and yang represent harmony. The necessity of both light and darkness. Feast and famine. Activity and rest. Calm and chaos. And they are both important to our mental, emotional, and physical health!\\n\\nWhen there is too much of one and not enough of the other, the result can be catastrophic.\\n\\nFor example, marathon runners who don’t spend enough time resting and nurturing their bodies, stretching, and relaxing tend to injure themselves more easily than those who do. Injuries that could prevent them from running forever!\\n\\nWhen there is not enough rain, forest fires occur more easily. When there are long periods of rain, suicide rates are higher. When we work too much and play too little, we burn out and quit our jobs or don’t do well at our jobs.\\n\\nThis is the importance of yin and yang. In yoga and in life!\\n\\n\\nIf you’re feeling a bit out of sync and imbalance and are interested in trying out my \\nYin and Yang Yoga class, we’d love to see you on the mat! \\n\\n\\nNot a member of myYogaTeacher yet? That’s ok! \\nYou can sign up here for your free 2-week trial here.\\n No credit card needed. You’ll get access to 35+ yoga classes taught by many wonderful, expert yoga instructors, all from the birthplace of yoga, India.\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-04-02T17:00:26.971968+00:00","author":{"name":"Nikita","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga with Friends - full launch with pricing & charity!","coverUrl":null,"slug":"yoga-with-friends-launch-announcement","content":{"text":"The soft-launch and test for Yoga with Friends is over. The pricing is going live soon.\\n\\nEveryone has loved their Yoga with Friends sessions, so now we've made it sustainable. Here's what's happening: \\n\\nCan I continue to get free Yoga with Friends sessions?\\n\\nYes! There are still tons of opportunities to get these sessions free.\\n\\n1. Every new student gets to create one free Yoga with Friends session. So anytime a friend or family member signs up for a free trial of myYogaTeacher, they can create a free yoga with friends session.\\n\\n2. Every time you invite a friend who's never taken a class with MYT into your Yoga with Friends session (and they join) — the session is completely free!\\n\\nThis is because we created Yoga with Friends to help new students get started with yoga. And, of course, to help all of us stay connected.\\n\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nHow much will Yoga with Friends sessions cost?\\n\\nGreat question!\\n\\nSo a Yoga with Friends session starts around $12.50 per person, and then goes down in price as more people join the session! (it can go as low as $5)\\n\\nWe've made it so that the teachers get compensated fairly for their extra effort, and your rate goes down as more people join. Win-win!\\n\\nANNNDDDD ....\\n\\nThe best part is...\\n\\nGood Karma Credits: Every Yoga with Friends session feeds hungry children in India!\\n\\nWe've partnered with \\nGive India\\n, a charity that provides meals to food insecure children in India. \\n\\nSo every time you take a Yoga with Friends:\\n✔️  You're getting healthier and happier\\n✔️  Connecting with friends and family\\n✔️  And giving meals to children who might not have eaten otherwise\\n\\nThe more people who join your Yoga with Friends sessions, the more meals donated on your behalf!\\n\\nOur mission is to make the world a healthier and happier place. So we feel amazing about having another opportunity to give back, and helping you to give food to those in need (while taking care of your own health and happiness too)!\\n\\nIf you have questions about any of this, please feel free to email us at care@myyogateacher.com"},"createdAt":"2021-03-30T22:52:48.369781+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What Is Ashtanga Yoga? Explaining the 8 Limbs","coverUrl":"ckmfcdrvk0p4k0c29d8c2imwz.jpg","slug":"ashtanga-yoga-eight-limbs","content":{"text":"Sometimes yoga words can be complicated. Especially if you’re a new yogi.\\n\\nComplicated words and descriptions mean people get overwhelmed and uncomfortable when they think about doing yoga. And that’s definitely not what myYogaTeacher is all about!\\n\\nYoga is a practice that incorporates philosophy, meditation, breathwork, behavioral principles, and physical exercise into one’s life. It’s a lifestyle.\\n\\nWe want everyone who comes to us, from young to old, from out of shape to fitness fanatics, to feel like our virtual yoga studio is a safe space to learn about and practice yoga. No judgement. Every question is a good question.\\n\\nThat’s why I wanted to talk to you about ashtanga yoga. What does that word mean anyway, you ask?\\n\\nI’m going to explain what it is and why it’s even important to know what it is. If you’re interested in experiencing ashtanga yoga in action, I invite you to try my \\nAshtanga Yoga Class on myYogaTeacher\\n! \n⁠\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nThe Sanskrit word ashtanga means “8 limbs.” Let’s explore what those are so we can understand and deepen our yoga practice!\\n\\n1. Yama - Attitude towards environment\\n\\nThe word “yama” originally meant “bridle” or “rein.”  You can think of it similarly to how a bridle works when placed on a horse. It is a means to control how you interact with your environment, including other people.\\n\\nThe yamas of yoga are there to help yogis live an ethical life. A life that is peaceful and that promotes healthy relationships with others. A huge part of a solid yoga practice is creating self-awareness and learning how your yoga practice helps you relate to the world. \\n\\nThere are 5 yamas in ashtanga yoga:\\n\\nAhimsa:\\n Non violence and non harming of animals.\\nSatya:\\n Truthfulness, honesty in words and actions.\\nAsteya:\\n Not stealing other people’s time or possessions.\\nBrahmacharya:\\n Sexual restraint, fidelity, chastity.\\nAparigraha:\\n Non coveting.\\n\\nThese are what we work on as a part of an ashtanga yoga practice. They are important to creating a calm and peaceful life.\\n\\n2. Niyama - attitude towards ourselves\\n\\nEqually important to our attitude towards our environment is the attitude we have towards ourselves. The Niyamas are the second limb of ashtanga yoga.\\n\\nDo we show self love? Self compassion? Are we practicing self care regularly? \\n\\nDeeper questions to ask ourselves would be if we’re content, self-disciplined, and how we feel spiritually.\\n\\nThe Niyamas of ashtanga yoga address all of these things. If we aren’t loving ourselves, our attitude towards others and our environment will become increasingly negative.\\n\\nThe word “niyama” means “moral observance.” There are 5 niyamas that are the focus of ashtanga yoga:\\n\\nPurity\\nContentment\\nSelf-discipline\\nSelf-study\\nSurrender to a higher source\\n\\nNo matter your religion or belief system, these niyamas are important to mastering yourself and creating a moral compass.\\n\\n3. Asanas - physical postures\\n\\nThe asanas are what most yogis are probably the most familiar with.\\n\\nThese are the postures that you move through when you’re practicing any kind of yoga, not just ashtanga. Asanas are the third limb of ashtanga yoga. There are 84 yoga asanas!\\n\\nWe don’t learn them all in my Ashtanga Yoga Class, but we definitely build up a sweat going through a bunch of them. If you want to learn even more asanas and the correct way to do them, \\ntry a 2-week free trial of myYogaTeacher and get access to 35+ classes every day!\\n\\n\\n\\n4. Pranayama - restraint or expansion of breath\\n\\nYou may or may not have heard this word before. There are yoga practices that specifically revolve around pranayama.\\n\\nPranayama is the fourth limb of ashtanga yoga and consists of synchronizing the breath with the asanas or movements between asanas.\\n\\n“Prana” means life energy. Yama means control.\\n\\nIn ashtanga yoga, we literally learn how to control our life energy. It’s an exercise in using our breath to create mental and physical wellness. Even in a vigorous practice, ashtanga asanas will work with the breath, not against it, and you will quickly realize that controlling your heavy breathing is vital to the flow of your life energy!\\n\\n5. Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses\\n\\nMost yoga students are confused by the fifth limb of ashtanga yoga. Pratyahara is “the conscious withdrawal of energy from the senses.” \\n\\nThis often occurs when we do Savasana, at the end of a yoga practice. Maybe you recognize the feeling of almost falling asleep but not. You still maintain consciousness and contact with the present, but you feel far away from it. \\n\\nIn pratyahara, you are not affected by the disturbances of the surrounding environment. You know they’re there and are aware of them, but you do not react to them. You are in a sort of haven of silence.\\n\\n6. Dharana - concentration\\n\\nThe sixth limb of ashtanga yoga is all about fixing your mind on one point. Maybe it’s a chakra or maybe you bind your mind to one place, object, or idea. \\n\\nWhatever the case, dharana is a step towards deep meditation. The point is to hold that concentration, to maintain that thought without wavering from it for an extended period of time.\\n\\n7. Dhyana - meditation\\n\\n\\nMeditation\\n. Elusive for some, meditation is the complete withdrawal of the mind from environmental and inner world distractions.\\n\\nMeditation is the ultimate state of awareness, peace, and being present in the moment. It is built upon the other six limbs of ashtanga yoga, postures, breathwork, control of senses.\\n\\nDhyana is the union of all the limbs. The attainment of full self-realization.\\n\\n\\n8. Samadhi - integration\\n\\nThe eighth limb of ashtanga yoga is enlightenment! \\n\\nSamadhi is the highest state of mental concentration that one can achieve without actually leaving their body. It is total and complete liberation. In Sanskrit, samadhi means “self-collectedness.”\\n\\nComplete and ultimate bliss. That is samadhi.\\n\\n\\nNow that you have a better understanding of \\nashtanga yoga\\n and the stages, maybe it won’t seem so overwhelming! My hope is that you will feel comfortable practicing yoga and reaching towards the goal of mastering the \\n8 limbs\\n of ashtanga yoga.\\n\\nThere is nothing I could want more for you than complete and total bliss!\\n\\nAre you ready to experience it firsthand? All are welcome to my fast-paced, high-energy \\nAshtanga Yoga Class\\n. If you haven’t yet, \\ntake advantage of myYogaTeacher’s offer of a 2-week free trial and get access to my class and many, many more!\\n All taught by highly experienced yoga teachers from India.\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-03-18T20:44:43.961653+00:00","author":{"name":"Rohan","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Iyengar Yoga: Alignment, Balance, Strength, and Flexibility","coverUrl":"iyengar_yoga_ckm21vv5s37b90b72pvyehh0b.jpg","slug":"iyengar-yoga-practice","content":{"text":"In this class from Pranjal Joshi, we invite you to explore Iyengar Yoga. B.K.S. Iyengar believed that achieving balance in the body will be reflected as balance in the mind. While Iyengar Yoga isn't a cardiovascular practice like the flowing style of Ashtanga, holding the Iyengar poses is excellent for your body to build strength and increase flexibility. It's a wonderful practice for those who either don't want or can't participate in flowing practices.\\n\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nWhat Is Iyengar Yoga?\\nIyengar Yoga is a practice developed by B.K.S. Iyengar and derived from Hatha yoga. It is rooted in the traditional eight limbs of yoga. The Iyengar practice emphasizes self-knowledge through Asana and Pranayama and works to improve balance, flexibility, alignment, strength, concentration, stamina, and awareness. Teaching is geared towards gradual, steady progress, not quick results.\\n\\nBenefits of Iyengar Yoga\\nThere are several physical and mental benefits of practicing Iyengar Yoga. You can use this practice to:\\nBuild strength\\nIncrease flexibility\\nImprove your posture\\nCalm your mind\\nReduce chronic pain\\nLower blood pressure\\nImprove breathing\\nProtect from disease\\nToday's Iyengar Yoga Practice\\nLet's start today's Iyengar Yoga practice sitting on a pillow or a bolster. Keep your hands beside you with your elbows bent. Roll your shoulders back, squeezing your shoulder blades together, and point your elbows back, not out to the sides. Lower your eyes down to look at the floor.\\n\\nInhale deeply, feeling the breath move in your body starting from your hip joints and filling your torso. Exhale out your arms, relaxing them and letting them stretch downward. Breathe like this for a few rounds. Close your eyes when they feel heavy.\\n\\nWith your torso lifted, join your palms at your heart center in Namaskara. Inhale deeply and on the exhale chant \\nOm\\n. Complete this chant three times before bowing your head to your heart. Place your palms on your thighs, raise your head up, and open your eyes.\\n\\nPlace your palms on the pillow once again and then press your left palm into the pillow. Tilt your head to the left, stretching all the way down your neck and into your shoulder. Inhale back to the center. Repeat on the right. Repeat the sequence, returning your head to the center.\\n\\nFrom the center, tilt your head back while continuing to lift your neck up (lifting your face to the ceiling). Now, exhale your chin forward, stretching the back of the neck. Repeat two more times. Inhaling back to the center.\\n\\nInterlace your fingers behind you and stretch your hands down towards the floor, rolling your shoulders back and down. Create space throughout your torso and the front of your neck. Relax and come to a standing position.\\n\\nStand straight with your feet hip-width apart. With your left arm down at your side, take your right arm behind your back, bending your elbow. Grasp the elbow of your left arm and stretch it down. Repeat with the other arm.\\n\\nNow bend both arms behind your back, grasping the elbows with the opposite hand. Be sure to roll your shoulders back and down. Hold the stretch for a few breaths.\\n\\nInterlace your fingers behind you and stretch your hands towards the ground. Start bending forward, raising your arms high behind you, keeping your elbows straight, and pushing your chest down towards the floor. Slowly inhale and come up, release your hands, and relax.\\n\\nGrab a yoga strap, scarf, towel, or belt. Bend forward and find the bone at the base of your neck. Place your strap over that bone, holding the strap close to your neck. Pull down on the strap, putting a little bit of pressure on it. Then, gently and slowly pull the strap down from the bone up the back of your neck to your hairline. Repeat four more times before returning to a standing position.\\n\\nNext, wrap the strap around your back, at the base of your shoulder blades. Take the ends of the strap and put them up, over your shoulders, and behind your back. Cross the ends of the strap behind your back and grasp the ends in your hands.\\n\\nSlowly pull diagonally down on the straps to stretch your shoulders. Hold for a few breaths. From there, take your arms out to the side, pulling the straps gently. Stay here for a few breaths.\\n\\nNow, stand with your right side touching the wall. Raise your right arm behind you on the wall (try to get it. parallel to the ground), keeping your palm, inner elbow, and shoulder all pressed against the wall. Take your left hand behind your back with your elbow bent and let your fingertips touch the wall. Look straight ahead and breathe in this position for several breaths. Repeat on the other side, with your left side on the wall.\\n\\nWe're going to do that again, starting on the right side. This time, when you get into position, press your palm against the wall and roll your shoulders back and down without letting your arm drop. Repeat on the other side, with your left side on the wall.\\n\\nGet used to the feeling of opening your chest, rolling your shoulders back and down, keeping them away from your ears and without tension in your neck. To get more used to that movement, stand or kneel with your arms at your sides. Rotate your arms so your palms face forward and really feel what's happening in your shoulders and upper back.\\n\\nGrab your strap and hold one end of your belt in your right hand. Take your right hand behind you and grab the strap with your left hand behind you. Your right hand will be near your neck and your left hand will grab the strap at your mid-back. Pull down on the strap with your left hand to stretch your right tricep. Hold the stretch for a few breaths.\\n\\nNow, without changing your hands, pull the strap with your right hand. This will pull the left hand further up your back. Hold this stretch for a few breaths. Repeat these stretches with the arms switched so your left hand is holding the strap behind you near your neck and your right hand is mid-back.\\n\\nIn this position, you'll want to ensure that the elbow of your top arm is close to your head and pointing up instead of out. Also, keep your torso straight, don't lean to either side and look straight ahead.\\n\\nTry doing the pose without the strap now. See if you can at least get the fingertips on each hand to touch behind you. If that feels okay, you might try gripping your fingertips or even shaking your other hand. Hold for several breaths before repeating with the arms switched.\\n\\nThis pose requires that your armpit open entirely, creating a straight line with your arm and your torso. To work on that opening, grab a chair and kneel down in front of it. Place your elbows on the seat of the chair and press your palms together as they point to the ceiling. Move your knees back slightly away from the chair so you can move your back in line with the chair. Keep your abdominals engaged so your back doesn't arch, and drop your chest down towards the floor.\\n\\nFocus on opening the armpit area, this isn't a backbend pose. Stay in this stretch for several breaths. From here, try to bring your palms towards your upper back.\\n\\nWe're going to do one more stretch for that armpit area. Get into a tabletop position in front of the chair. With your right hand, grab the opposite leg of the chair at about the midpoint, and don't let your hand slide down. Move your left hand a little outside of your body. Bend the left elbow (like you're going for a pushup), keeping the right elbow straight, and pressing your right armpit towards the floor. Hold this stretch for several breaths, stretching from your upper hip to your palm. Repeat on the other side.\\n\\nWe've opened up the chest and shoulders quite a bit, so let's try Namaskara behind our backs. Start by taking your fingertips towards each other behind your back. Arch your back slightly and push your palms upward, joining them between your shoulder blades. Your elbows should be in line with your palms and your palms and fingers should be together. Roll your shoulders back and down and keep your torso straight and your eyes forward. Hold for a few breaths.\\n\\nNow it's time for a counterpose. Take your right arm across your chest, holding your left shoulder with your right hand. Take your left arm across your chest to hold your right shoulder with your left hand. It's sort of like you're giving yourself a little hug. Keep your elbows lifted away from your chest and moving your hands towards one another. See if your arms are long enough to let your hands meet. Hold this pose, stretching your upper back, for several breaths.\\n\\nGrab your bolster, placing it horizontally across your mat. We're going to take child's pose with our elbows on the bolster and lowering your chest and head toward the floor. If you're having trouble relaxing into the pose, widen your knees so your torso can fall between them. Stay in child's pose for several breaths.\\n\\nOur next pose will be a heart opener. Move your bolster so it's in line with your mat. Sit with the bolster at the base of your hips and roll yourself back onto the bolster. Let your shoulders roll back and down. Your head and neck should also be supported on your bolster. If they aren't, add more pillows to keep your head and neck in line with your spine. Let your shoulders drop to either side of the bolster and breathe. Stay in this position for several breaths before rolling to one side and bringing yourself up to a sitting posture.\\n\\nRub your palms together to generate some heat and place your palms over your eyes. Gently blink your eyes open.\\n\\n\\nThank you for your interest in learning more about \\n\\nIyengar Yoga\\n! To get the best benefit from your practice, please \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n to participate in the complete Iyengar Yoga class or one of the other classes we offer each day. With myYogaTeacher, you get access to more than 35 live online yoga classes each day with Indian instructors who can offer you feedback on your form, answer your questions, and help you deepen your yoga practice."},"createdAt":"2021-03-09T13:29:52.611248+00:00","author":{"name":"Pranjal","pictureUrl":"pranjal-1.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"pranjal-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Kundalini Yoga: The Path to Enlightenment","coverUrl":"pexels-rfstudio-3820312.jpg","slug":"kundalini-yoga","content":{"text":"Most Westerners probably aren’t aware of the various different types of yoga and meditation practices.\\n\\nThe language can be weird to us and hard to pronounce. The concepts are unfamiliar to those who weren’t born and raised in an environment that supports yoga and meditation. And honestly, the second most people see the word “enlightenment” or “spirituality,” they’re running for the door.\\n\\nBecause they’re not in it for the feels. They’re in it for the exercise. For their health.\\n\\nBut the truth is, meditation opens doors. Doors of peace, self-awareness, empathy, compassion, gratitude, stress reduction. It opens doors of better physical, mental, and emotional health.\\n\\nKundalini yoga (aka Kundalini meditation) is one of those practices that will really create a path for your mind, body, and soul to heal and thrive. \\n\\nIt’s also considered one of the most powerful meditation practices in existence. And since the concept of kundalini energy has been around for over 1,000 years, it might be something we should all give a try at least once!\\n\\nIf you’re interested, \\ncheck out my Kundalini Yoga class on myYogaTeacher!\\n\\n\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nWhat is Kundalini meditation?\\n\\nThe theory behind Kundalini meditation is that your life energy resides in your root chakra at the base of your spine. As a matter of fact, in Sanskrit, the word Kundalini means “coiled.” As your tailbone and spine create a sort of coil at the base.\\n\\nThe purpose of Kundalini meditation is to clear your energy centers – or chakras – from the root chakra up through the crown chakra. This release of energy is said to promote internal balance, awakening, and enlightenment.\\n\\nKundalini meditation consists of:\\n\\nMudras (hand movements)\\nDeep breathing\\nMantras (in the form of phrases or chanting)\\nPhysical movements\\n\\nAs your Kundalini energy rises up through your energy centers, your chakras are balanced and contribute to your spiritual wellness. \\n\\nKundalini meditation and yoga go hand in hand. The movement and the meditation work together to create cleansed chakras and internal cleansing.\\n\\nBenefits of Kundalini Yoga\\n\\nWhile other forms of yoga focus on movement and syncing your breath to your movement, \\nKundalini yoga\\n combines chanting, singing, movement, and breathing in a specific order. A repetitive pattern that is more precise than other forms of yoga.\\n\\nKundalini is also a more spiritual practice with benefits such as:\\n\\nRelief from stress and anxiety\\nImproved cognitive function and mental clarity\\nBetter self-esteem and improved body positivity\\nMore empathy\\nIncreased energy\\nInternal peace\\n\\nAccording to research, Kundalini Yoga has even been shown to help treat eating disorders!\\n\\nWith regular practice, it has been said that Kundalini yoga leads to spiritual enlightenment, which is less about religion and faith and more about becoming fully self-aware.\\n\\nAccording to Deepak Chopra, enlightenment means you have a simultaneous connection to your inner self and everything around you. An ability to maintain separation and connection at the same time like an ocean wave.\\n\\nIt’s definitely something we can all aspire to!\\n[CTA-GC]\\nHow Kundalini yoga is different from other types of yoga\\n\\n\\nHatha\\n, \\nIyengar\\n, \\nVinyasa\\n, and Anusara yogas are all focused on movement with breath and alignment of the body.\\n\\nKundalini yoga is different in the sense that the purpose or desired outcome is much more spiritually based. But there are lots of other ways Kundalini differs.\\n\\nIn Kundalini yoga, “Om” is replaced with “Ong, Namo, Guru, Dev, Namo.” This mantra means “I call on the divine teacher within.”\\nKundalini yoga uses the Breath of Fire, which is an energizing, rapid, rhythmic breathing practice sometimes used with movement and sometimes not.\\nThe mantras used in Kundalini yoga are in the Gurmukhi language and not drawn on Sanskrit mantras like traditional yoga is.\\nInstead of static or smooth movements that are common in other forms of yoga, Kundalini yoga uses dynamic, vigorous postures.\\nAs mentioned above, Kundalini yoga doesn’t focus on alignment but more on internal energy – gland secretions, Kundalini energy, and circulation.\\n\\nThere is more I could mention, but these are the primary differences between Kundalini yoga and other forms you’ve probably heard of and practiced. It’s just much more of an experience with cultural music, chanting, singing, breathing. It’s invigorating and you can start to have a spiritual awakening after just one session!\\nWe’d love to have you\\n \\njoin us in my Kundalini Yoga class on myYogaTeacher!\\n \\nGrab your \\n2-week free trial here \\nand check out this class and many more!"},"createdAt":"2021-03-04T16:08:34.072282+00:00","author":{"name":"Sujit","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"How to Practice Kriya Yoga: Pranayama and Meditation","coverUrl":"kpm_ckls3edxs0bhu0a23kkjd2myu.png","slug":"kriya-yoga-pranayama-meditation","content":{"text":"You've likely heard the phrase \"breath is life\" before. And it's true. That's why we practice pranayama or breathwork. Today, our focus is on Kriya pranayama which is part of the ancient Kriya yoga system revived by Mahavatar Babaji around 1861 through Babaji's follower Lahiri Mahasaya. It was then pushed to international attention with the publication of Paramahansa Yogananda's \\nAutobiography of a Yogi\\n.\\n\\nBenefits of Kriya Pranayama\\nKriya pranayama offers several benefits. First, it teaches us the proper way to breathe through slow, deep breathing. It can help increase your lung capacity, reduce toxins in the body, aid digestion, improve metabolism, calm and soothe the nervous system, reduce stress, and a host of other things that will improve the quality of your life.\\nAs a matter of fact, pranayama meditation benefits aren't limited to Kriya! There are many ways breathwork brings healing to the body mind and soul. Pranayama yoga:\\nImproves sleep patterns and sleep quality.\\nReduces pain throughout the body.\\nBoosts immunity.\\nIncreases feelings of self-love.\\nReduces the amount of cortisol and adrenaline released in the body.\\nAnd literally anyone can enjoy kriya yoga benefits. Breathwork and \\nmeditation\\n is accessible and can be practiced almost anywhere! At work, home, your car, a park bench or the ground. This form of selfcare requires no more space than the space your body takes up.\\n\\nHow to Practice Kriya Yoga: Pranayama and Meditation\\n\\nKriya Yoga\\n focuses on the reciprocal relationship between breath and mind. The belief is that breath control is self-control. In the practice of this Kriya yoga technique we're sharing with you today, we'll start with a simple pranayama preparation before moving into specific kriya pranayama techniques. While we finish this practice with a 30-minute Pranic Energization Technique, we won't be including that in this article. \\n[CTA-KRIYA]\\nPreparing for Kriya\\nSit in a meditative posture—Padmasana (Lotus Pose), Siddhasana (Perfect Pose), Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose), etc.—keeping your head, neck, and spine in line. Shoulders are relaxed and rolled back and down. Place your palms on your knees or your thighs. Draw your chin in towards your chest slightly, and gaze down at the floor.\\n\\nClose your eyes. Become aware of your breathing. Just observe your natural breathing for a few moments.\\n\\nNow, we'll move into Ujjayi pranayama. Ujjayi is \"victorious\" breath and is a balancing pranayama.\\n\\nStart by bringing your chin to your chest in Jalandhara bandha, or chin lock. Roll your tongue in your mouth, the lower part of your tongue should touch the upper palate. Don't force it, just rest comfortably.\\n\\nBring your focus to the back of your throat. Breathe in and out through your nose, producing a sound like the ocean with your breath. Again, there's no need to force the sound. If it comes, it comes. Breathe oceanic breaths for a few minutes.\\n\\nJoin your palms at your heart center in \\nnamaste\\n. Take a deep breath in and on the exhale chant Om. We'll complete this three times, total, followed by a Kriya pranayama yoga meditation prayer:\\n\\nOm Sahana Vavatu (May we be protected together)\\nSahanau Bhunaktu (May we be nourished together)\\nSaha Viryam Karavavahai (May we create strength among one another)\\nTejasvi Navaditamastu (May our study be filled with brilliance and light)\\nMa Vidvishavahai (May there be no hostility between us)\\nOm Shanti Shanti Shantihi (Om peace, peace, peace)\\n\\nExhale and bow down over your hands. Inhale, come back up. \\nNamaste\\n.\\n\\nKapalbhati Pranayama\\nKapalbhati is a Kriya yoga breathing technique that involves cleansing. It can be practiced in two ways, one of which is a basic variation that has no limitations—anyone can practice it. In this variation, we focus on the throat and a rapid and forceful inhale and exhale through the nose 50 times for three rounds.\\n\\nThe traditional variation of Kriya yoga meditation shouldn't be practiced if you are pregnant or menstruating, have high blood pressure, abdominal inflammation, ulcers, hernia, heart ailments, epilepsy, or if you're a child under the age of 12. This variation is focused on abdominal movement and forceful exhalation, 50 times for three rounds.\\n\\nDon't force it. If you're just starting out with breathwork, you're welcome to limit the inhale/exhale cycles to 10–20 per round.\\n\\nIf you'd like, you can place a palm on your abdomen to feel the movement as you breathe. At the end of each round, tuck your chin to your chest and hold your breath for a count of 10 before returning to normal breathing for a few moments.\\n\\nKapalbhati is a Kriya yoga technique that generates heat in the body, energizes the nervous system, releases toxins from the body, and is a great practice for those suffering from hyper-acidity.\\n\\nKapal Randhra Dhauti and Karna Randhra Dhauti\\nThis practice has several benefits. It can relieve pain from headaches and migraines, reduce stress and anxiety, calm the nervous system, improve circulation, increase oxygen flow to the brain, and more.\\n\\nTo do it, place your thumbs at either side of your temples and use your fingers to massage the sinus points in your forehead:\\n\\nNow, pinch your eyebrows along their length a few times.\\n\\nThen, with your middle and ring fingers, massage your cheeks moving down the sides of your nose, out towards your ears, and upward. Repeat this several times.\\n\\nWith your index and middle fingers, massage the sides of your face and behind your ears. Repeat several times.\\n\\nNext, alternate your hands, moving your fingers across your mouth area, repeating several times.\\n\\nLook up towards the ceiling and use your palms to massage your neck with upward strokes.\\n\\nFinally, put your little fingers in your ears and rotate clockwise and anti-clockwise.\\n\\n\\nDog Breathing\\nThis pranayama cleanses and detoxifies the body, expels toxins, strengthens the abdominal muscles, improves respiratory capacity, and strengthens your overall system to improve immunity.\\n\\nDog breathing has the same limitations as the traditional variation of Kapalbhati, so be sure to exercise caution.\\nStart in Vajrasana, leaning slightly forward and resting your hands on your knees. Open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out as far as it can go. Start panting as a dog pants. Each time you exhale, be sure to contract your stomach.\\n\\nYou'll do two rounds of 30 seconds each.\\n\\nRabbit Breathing\\nWhile dog breathing focuses on the abdominals, rabbit breathing is more about the thoracic region. Rabbit breathing is calming and allows you to catch your breath, making it especially beneficial for those with asthma. It’s recommended for people with diabetes and nasal allergies, but not for those with epilepsy or high blood pressure.\\n\\nStart in Vajrasana and bend forward with your elbows and forearms on the mat in front of you. Keep your head, shoulders, and hips in a straight line. Partially open your mouth and stick out your tongue so the tip of your tongue touches your bottom lip. Breathe rapidly and continuously for two rounds of 30–40 breaths.\\n\\nAfter each round, relax into Sasangasana (Rabbit pose). Return to Vajrasana.\\n\\nMandukasana (Frog Pose)\\nMandukasana helps open your hip joints, reducing strain on your needs, as well as improving abduction, strengthening your lower back, and aiding digestion. Limitations are the same as Kapalbhati and also include eye disorders. If you have any of these limitations, you can sit in Vajrasana and practice equal breathing (deep inhalations, deep exhalations).\\n\\nFor this breathing exercise, you won't be going fully into Mandukasana. Instead, you'll keep your knees and feet in Vajrasana position. Move into the pose and breathe for five counts before returning to Vajrasana. You'll complete five rounds of this.\\n\\nBefore moving on, move into a counterpose (intense stretch) for a count of five:\\n\\nPranic Energization Technique (PET)\\nPranic Energization Technique is an advanced technique that utilizes our prana shakti to bring energy to the entire body. This practice brings vitality and strength into every organ of our body.\\n\\nWe'll practice this technique for about 30 minutes, using a variety of breathing techniques like Brahmari (bee breath) during which you make a buzzing sound. Brahmari is a wonderful breathing practice that can help lower blood pressure, soothe the nervous system, stimulate the pineal and pituitary glands, dissipate anger, help you sleep, and more.\\n\\nWe'll also do Nadi Shuddhi (alternate nostril breathing) using the right hand in Vishnu Mudra:\\n\\nNadi Shuddhi is a great technique to calm the mind and bring it back to the present, improve circulatory and respiratory problems, aid in relaxation, purify and balance the nadis (energy channels), and harmonize the right and left sides of the brain, among other benefits.\\n\\nDuring the \\nmeditation\\n, there are a few things we will be doing to experience the prana. You will sometimes be asked to bring your hands to namaste and move them slowly apart and back together. You will also be asked to hold your hands with palms facing each other and move them clockwise or anti-clockwise. Here's what those movements look like:\\n\\nChoose a meditative posture that you can maintain for 30 minutes. If you want to lie down in Savasana, that's fine, too.\\n\\nWe'll start with the \\nPranayama\\n yoga prayer:\\n\\nPranasyedam Vase Sarvam Tridivee Yath Prathishtitham\\nMaateva Putraan Rakshasva Shrischa Pragnascha Videhinaam Ithi\\n\\nTranslated:\\n\\nWhatever exists in the three worlds is all under the control of Prāna.\\n(O Prāna) protect us as a mother protects her sons; give us affluence and intelligence.\\n\\nInterested in experiencing the rest of this Kriya pranayama yoga and meditation practice? Sign up for a \\nFree trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and get access to not only this class but 42+ live classes every single day."},"createdAt":"2021-03-02T14:14:34.057202+00:00","author":{"name":"Rohan Shroff","pictureUrl":"qrgfegrgnhqevaotkukn.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"rohan-1"},"category":["yoga","meditation"]},{"title":"5 Reasons Why Kids May Need Yoga More Than Adults","coverUrl":"pexels-gabby-12-small.jpg","slug":"yoga-for-kids","content":{"text":"In a world where parents are all hustle and bustle and go, go, go, it’s no wonder our children are stressed out, anxious, and have zero self awareness.\\n\\nThey don’t have time to be self aware!\\n\\nAnxiety and stress in little kids all the way to older teenagers can look like sleeping a lot, temper tantrums, crying over “nothing,” not eating, or eating too much. It can show up as hyperactivity, bad attitudes, poor mental focus, bad grades.\\n\\nOr it can show up as many more terrible things that no parent wants to think about.\\n\\nWe stress how important it is for adults to take part in selfcare, to stretch and move our bodies. Surely, at this point in history, every adult knows that selfcare is a thing we should all be doing. But what are we telling our children to do for selfcare? \\n\\nSports? After school activities? Clubs? More doing. Less being. More rushing around. Less stillness. Less quiet time to process their days, their emotions. And your days, your emotions. Because kids are subject to those too.\\n\\nDo we ever teach them how to just be? \\n\\nThis is why I offer a \\nKids Yoga class at myYogaTeacher\\n! Because kids with healthy bodies, minds, and spirits make for adults with healthy minds, bodies, and spirits!\\n\\nHere are some reasons I’m passionate about teaching kids the importance of yoga.\\n\\n1. Yoga improves a child’s mood.\\n\\nWe all know that happier \\nkids\\n make their parents, teachers, coaches, etc. happier. But the focus really needs to be more on the children and less on the adults!\\n\\nKids have fewer tools than adults to help them regulate their mood. \\n\\nJust like any other physical activity, yoga releases endorphins, those feel good feelings, which, in turn, reduces stress and anxiety. When children experience less stress and anxiety, they eat better, sleep better, act better, perform better. \\n\\nThey do everything better. Just like adults do.\\n\\nThey’re calmer. And all the built up negativity is released. Plus, yoga is fun! It’s not competitive, and kids are free to be themselves.\\n\\nSpeaking of being themselves...\\n\\n2. Yoga helps children self regulate\\n\\nHow can we expect kids to self soothe, regulate their behaviors and emotions, and regain focus if we don’t give them the tools they need for self awareness? Unlike adults, kids often have very little control over their lives. \\n\\nThey’re told what to do and when and how. \\n\\nA regular kids’ yoga practice will help children of all ages look inward and take time to examine why they feel or behave in certain ways and process that. With that information, they can discover how to change bad habits or behaviors, work through negative emotions in appropriate ways, and have a clear mind to make better choices in the face of challenging situations.\\n\\nKids yoga isn’t just about strength, flexibility, or getting the sillies out. It’s a portal for them to just be who they are designed to be! Let your kids check it out with a \\ntwo week free trial at myYogaTeacher.\\n\\n\\n3. Yoga improves sleep for kids.\\n\\nDid you know that school age children need anywhere from 9-12 hours of sleep every night? \\n\\nWith parents hurrying their children from one activity to another, the long hours of homework, or just being allowed to stay up too late, it’s no wonder kids are exhausted, moody and irritable. Not to mention late night screen time impacts their rest tremendously.\\n\\nThey’re simply not getting enough sleep! Not only that, but the quality of their sleep may not be all that great.\\n\\nPracticing kids yoga right before bed is an excellent way to help them have a really restful, restorative sleep.\\n\\nThe breathwork involved in yoga helps calm their minds and nervous system. The release of tension from their muscles helps them relax and ditch the overwhelm or negative thoughts. Yoga will help them fall asleep faster and sleep better.\\n\\n4. Yoga helps their brains work better.\\n\\nYep. It’s true. Yoga literally helps kids have better memory and cognitive function.\\n\\nKids who do yoga will learn how to focus on their bodies more and better and apply that mental clarity to other areas of their life. They’ll remember more of what they learn and have more self awareness.\\n\\nYoga actually requires you to use the same neural pathways in your brain that are responsible for memory. The practice itself is sort of conditioning your brain to work better, faster, and more efficiently.\\n\\nThe meditation aspect of yoga enables kids to focus on their breath and clear out all the mind junk that may be interfering with their memory.\\n\\n\\n5. Kids don’t have it easy, but yoga helps.\\n\\nAdults who say “kids these days have it easy” need to switch places with a 12-year-old in 2021. \\n\\nLong gone are the days of riding bikes safely (and even alone) along the streets of your home town. The days of simplicity and easy afternoons fishing by the local pond.\\n\\nCompetition is more fierce in almost every aspect of kids’ lives. There is more stress to have a career that makes well above minimum wage because cost of living is atrocious.\\n\\nParents are on the go or absent, and visibly stressed out when they’re not. There’s cyber bullying, drug trafficking, human trafficking. Terrorism. Political unrest. Social unrest. Children today are forced to overcome obstacles that older generations never thought of not even once when they were growing up.\\n\\nYoga for \\nkids\\n gives children a chance to unwind, detach from the world, and create their own safe space of peace. It’s a tool they can use almost any time, anywhere, and for any circumstance to improve their physical, mental, and emotional well being.\\n\\nSo why in the world wouldn’t we encourage them to use it?\\n\\n\\nDo you have a son or daughter in need of some time on the mat? \\nCheck out my Kids Yoga (10-12 years) class\\n when you sign up for your \\nfree two-week trial at myYogaTeacher! \\n\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-02-25T13:54:08.269963+00:00","author":{"name":"Sujit Tiwari","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"About Membership with myYogaTeacher — FAQ","coverUrl":"membership-faq-2xcklk5gg5c3y6509310uqgzcmd.png","slug":"membership-faq","content":{"text":"Is there a contract?\\n\\nNo, the Standard Membership is month-to-month and there is no contract. \\nYou can cancel any time\\n. \\n\\nFor your convenience, your membership will auto-renew at the end of the billing cycle. \\n\\nIf you're interested, you can \\nview the standard Membership Plans here\\n.\\n\\nNote:\\n You can sign up for 3-months, 6-months, or 1-year Membership Packages and get up to 20% off. With these packages there is a commitment and you cannot cancel anytime. Partial refunds may be granted for special cases, but the discount is given for the long term commitment. You can \\nclick here to see the discounted packages\\n.\\n\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nCan I cancel anytime?\\n\\nYes\\n, you can cancel your membership any time.\\n\\nIf you cancel your membership, you will continue to have access for the remaining time on your current billing cycle.\\n\\nHow many group classes can I take with my Membership?\\n\\nAs many as you want. All Membership Plans include \\nUnlimited\\n Group Classes. So you can take 5+ classes per day if you'd like. You can \\nclick here to check out the different Membership Plans\\n.\\n\\nHow long is my Membership billing cycle?\\n\\nmyYogaTeacher has a unique billing cycle to help with 1-on-1 Membership Plans. The \\nstandard billing cycle is 4-weeks\\n. \\n\\nHowever, if you sign up for one of the \\ndiscounted Membership Packages\\n, then the billing cycle is the time you've chosen to sign up for (3-months, 6-months, or 1-year).\\n\\nNote:\\n If your 3-month, 6-month, or 1-year Membership Package includes 1-on-1 sessions, your 1-on-1 credits will be distributed to you every 4-weeks. This is to help you ration your sessions; and build and maintain healthy habits.\\n\\nCan I get a discount?\\n\\nYes!\\n When you sign up for a 3-month, 6-month, or 1-year plan, you can \\nsave up to 20% off your membership rate\\n.\\n\\nmyYogaTeacher focuses on keeping costs down and membership rates down so that you get access to live yoga classes at an affordable price. Because \\nwe don't inflate our prices, and we make the everyday rate as low as possible\\n, we can not give deep discounts.\\n\\nBut when you commit to your health and happiness through myYogaTeacher classes, we're happy to reward you with a discounted membership rate. You can \\nsee the discounted Membership Packages here\\n.\\n\\nWhat if I want to go on vacation or know I'll be busy?\\n\\nYou can \\npause your membership any time\\n.\\n\\nA membership pause is exactly like hitting pause on a show. It goes on hold when you want, and picks up right where it left off. (ie. If you pause with 2-weeks left in the billing cycle and one 1-on-1 session credit left unused, when you un-pause you will still have the one 1-on-1 session waiting to be used and your billing cycle will end 2-weeks after the un-pause.)\\n\\nNote:\\n The\\n image below shows exactly how to pause your membership\\n. Just \\ngo to \"My Account\" or click here\\n to set a pause\\n\\n\\nWhat if I know I want to sign up for membership in the future, but not today?\\n\\nGreat! You can sign up today and \\nset your membership start date for anytime in the future\\n. \\nClick here to see the Membership Plans and set a delayed start date\\n.\\n\\nYou can also pause your Membership any time, read the \"What if I want to go on vacation or know I'll be busy?\" section to find out more.\\n\\nCan my friends or family use my membership?\\n\\nNo. Because all myYogaTeacher classes are live and the plan includes Unlimited Group Classes, \\nthe membership is intended for one person only. This allows us to fairly compensate your teacher.\\n\\nNote:\\n You can get a \\n10% family discount\\n when any family member joins myYogaTeacher as a member. As long as both accounts are active and on the One 1-on-1 Session per Week Plan ($89) or higher, both memberships will enjoy the 10% discount. If you'd like to set up a family discount, please email us at \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n\\n\\nCan my family join my sessions?\\n\\nYes. As long as you are on one device, \\nyour family may join your group classes\\n.\\n\\nWhen it comes to \\n1-on-1 sessions, they are meant to be 1-on-1\\n. Your teacher is looking forward to (and has only prepared for) working with you 1-on-1. It's kind of like a personal training session. So please come alone and ready to practice!\\n\\nNote:\\n If you would like to practice in private group classes with your family and friends, you can \\nbook a Yoga with Friends session here\\n, and invite them to join!\\n\\nHow many 1-on-1 sessions do I get?\\n\\nIt \\ndepends on the Membership Plan\\n you sign up for. The most popular plan is \\nTwo 1-on-1 Session per Week\\n, so 8 sessions per billing cycle. If you sign up for the \\nOne 1-on-1 Session per Week\\n plan, you get 4 sessions per billing cycle.\\n\\nYou can \\nclick here to check out the 1-on-1 Membership Plans\\n.\\n\\nDo I have to use my 1-on-1 sessions weekly, or can I use them whenever?\\n\\nYou can use your 1-on-1 sessions whenever you want within each billing cycle\\n.\\n\\nNote:\\n At the end of the billing cycle, any of this cycle's unused sessions will rollover to the next month. Please read the \"What if I don't use all my 1-on-1 sessions, do they rollover?\" section for more details on session rollover. \\n\\nWhat if I don't use all my 1-on-1 sessions, do they rollover?\\n\\nYes\\n. Every 4 weeks you will get new 1-on-1 session credits distributed to you. At the end of they cycle, if you have unused new credits, they will rollover to the next 4-week cycle. \\nHowever, they cannot rollover into the following cycle (2-cycles later)\\n.\\n\\nFor example\\n, if you are on the Two 1-on-1 Session per Week Membership Plan, you get 8 new session credits every 4-weeks.\\n\\nCycle 1:  +8 new session credits, if you use 6, 2 will rollover into Cycle 2\\nCycle 2: +8 new sessions credits +2 rollover = 10 session credits, only the 8 new credits can rollover into Cycle 3\\n\\nSo if you use 6 sessions in Cycle 2: -2 rollover, -4 new credits\\nCycle 3: +8 new session credits +4 rollover = 12 session credits\\n\\nOr if you use 1 session in Cycle 2: -1 rollover, -0 new credits\\nCycle 3: +8 new session credits, +8 rollover = 16 session credits (the unused session from Cycle 1 cannot rollover to Cycle 3)\\n\\nAs shown above, when you take sessions, the rollover credits are consumed first. So you don't lose any unnecessary sessions.\\n\\nNote:\\n 1-on-1 session credits given to you by the care team, or when you refer a friend and they take a class with MYT never expire.\\n\\nYou can always \\ngo to \"My Account\" (or \\nmyyogateacher.com/profile\\n) to see a graphical usage bar for your session credits\\n.  \\n\\nIf you have any questions about this, please email us at \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n\\n\\nYou can \\nclick here to check out the 1-on-1 Membership Plans\\n.\\n\\nWill my membership automatically renew?\\n\\nYes, for your convenience\\n, your membership will renew at the end of each billing cycle. You can cancel anytime if you'd like to discontinue your membership. \\n\\nIf you cancel, your membership will stay active until the end of the current billing cycle.\\n\\nCan I upgrade or downgrade my membership later?\\n\\nYes, you can always upgrade or downgrade your membership\\n.\\n\\nUpgrades\\n take effect immediately and your billing cycle will reset. Any unused time, or 1-on-1 sessions, will be refunded immediately. This is so you get access to the additional 1-on-1 credits right away. So it's kind of like resetting with the new upgraded Membership Plan.\\n\\nDowngrades\\n take effect at the end of the billing cycle, so that you continue to have access to your current 1-on-1 session credits.\\n\\nYou can \\nclick here to upgrade or downgrade your membership\\n anytime, or go to \"My Account\" then \"Manage Membership\".\\n\\n\\nYou can email \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n if you have any questions about membership. We'll typically get back to you within 24-hours."},"createdAt":"2021-02-25T00:50:00.04206+00:00","author":null,"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Your First Online Yoga Class: start here","coverUrl":"plank-laptop_cklk2dq1c3e320c345lzxp8h7.jpg","slug":"first-online-yoga-class-start-here","content":{"text":"Never practiced yoga online before? Don't worry, you'll learn everything you need to know here.\\n\\nBut first,\\n if you've never practiced yoga before period\\n (as in never practiced online OR offline), then \\nclick here to read this article first\\n.\\n\\nNow there's a few big differences between practicing yoga online, and practicing in-person at a studio.\\n\\nIn this article, you'll learn the best way to set up your space for practicing yoga at home, the ideal tech setup, and creating the right atmosphere for a good yoga practice.\\n\\nSetting Up Your Space, the bare essentials\\n\\nWhen it comes to online yoga, the \\nfirst thing you need to do is choose a space\\n to practice in. For some people, this is your bedroom, for others, the living room, guest bedroom, or the garage. \\nWhat's important is that you have enough room to practice yoga\\n. \\n\\nYou should be able to stretch your hands up and all around without touching any walls or furniture. Then place your laptop or tablet about 9 feet away from your mat, so your online teacher can see you from head to toe, even when you’re standing. (pictured below)\\n\\n\\n\\nYou might want to \\nput your laptop, tablet or phone on a table or chair. This will give a better camera angle\\n and make it easier for your teacher to see you practice and give you feedback.\\n\\nThe Ideal Tech Setup\\n\\nI always \\nrecommend practicing online yoga with your laptop or tablet\\n. A phone is OK, but the small screen makes it hard to see the teacher.\\n\\nWith myYogaTeacher, \\nall you need to get started\\n is to \\nregister for your free trial here\\n (no credit card required). And then \\ninstall Zoom here\\n.\\n\\nDon't worry \\nif you're not technically inclined\\n. You can \\nschedule a tech consult with us here\\n. We'll give you a call at the time you choose, then walk you through installing zoom, booking and joining classes, and anything else you need to get started. (Or just call us at 855-771-2929)\\n\\nIf your computer speakers aren't loud enough for the class, you might want to consider an \\nexternal speaker for more volume. Or a Bluetooth headset so you can easily hear everything\\n your teacher is saying, even when you're head down in child's pose!\\n\\nI use \\nthese Bluetooth ear buds\\n. I've had them over a year, they're great quality and easy to use. I'm not getting paid to promote these, they're just a good headset for online yoga.\\n\\nAmbiance, Atmosphere, and Making Your Yoga Space Cozy\\n\\nNow this isn't strictly necessary, but \\nmaking your space feel like a \"yoga space\" can really help you to be in the best mindset for yoga\\n.\\n\\nYou don't have to create your own studio at home. But \\nfollowing these tips, will help your space feel like the prefect place to practice yoga!\\n\\nKeep it clean\\n. If your space is messy, cluttered, or dusty then your mind wont feel at ease, spacious, or relaxed. This is an easy one to help you relax while you practice.\\n\\nPrivacy is important\\n. Now you may love practicing yoga with your kids hopping on the mat and climbing on your back while you're in down dog. But if yoga is your \"me\" time, then practicing while they're asleep or occupied, in a private place helps you to deeply relax and focus on yourself.\\n\\nThe \\nlighting can make a huge difference\\n to the feeling of the room. Intense florescent lighting is stimulating and sterile. You don't want to feel like you're at the office. You can use a lamp and cover it with a shawl, use rock-salt lamps, or any warm lighting with a dimmer switch will do. This will make your space feel warmer, more welcoming, and serene.\\n\\nLots of living plants\\n. The more plants in the room, the better. This will help your room to feel more alive and natural. You'll feel the vibrancy and abundance of nature while you stand firm in Warrior I.\\n\\nA quiet space\\n. Even if you have to stuff a towel under the door so you don't hear the TV in the next room, it's worth it to make the space quiet. This way you don't hear abrasive sounds while you're enjoying your final relaxation (savasana) at the end of the session.\\n\\nIf you have a space you can dedicate for yoga, and keep your mat rolled out on the floor, \\nthis will help you to build a habit of yoga\\n. It will make it easier to start every practice, and remind you to book your next class. \\n\\nYou can \\nbook your next Online Yoga Class with an expert teacher here\\n. Enjoy your class!"},"createdAt":"2021-02-24T23:23:54.479509+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Never done yoga before? No worries, start here","coverUrl":"smiling-yoga-class-prayer-cklk1qczk39250a84fnq1e3ie.jpg","slug":"never-done-yoga-start-here","content":{"text":"A lot of people want to try yoga but feel intimidated. \\n\\nWe have the idea that it's going to be a bunch of fit and flexible people watching me fumble around on the mat.  . . .  Not exactly something to look forward to.\\n\\nBut it's not like that. The people in your class are going to be more focused on themselves, and if they're doing it right — than if you're doing it right. \\n\\nEveryone will warmly welcome you into the class. We all remember exactly what it felt like to be new to yoga — learning all the asanas (yoga poses), the terminology, and the culture. \\n\\nBut don't worry, \\nit's pretty easy to go unnoticed your first few classes\\n. So if you want, you can get started discreetly. And if you're practicing online, you can even leave your camera off until you feel comfortable connecting with your teacher and classmates!\\n\\nNow, for those who want to know what it's going to be like, here are some tips and tricks to make you look like an experienced yogi and fit in right away.\\n\\nRespect the Mood of the Room\\n\\nWhether online or in-person, every class is slightly different. Every class has it's own culture. \\n\\nDuring the class, it's typically appropriate to be silent or quiet. You can ask the teacher for assistance if you need to, but usually they're keeping an eye on you and the other students. They'll give you guidance when they think you need it.\\n\\nWhile class is in session, you should avoid talking in a normal voice. It's more of a library-voice setting.\\n\\nIn some classes, it's normal to be social before and after the class. Everyone is friendly and chatty. Then, the class starts and it becomes quiet and meditative.\\n\\nIn other classes, it's all about \"me\" time. People will be more quiet, even silent, and be in a more meditative mood before and after the class. So it's a sacred space of contemplation the entire time.\\n\\nThe culture of your class will be obvious right when you enter the room. Just notice, and respect the mood. You'll be everyone's favorite new classmate if you do this!\\n\\nDon't get hung up on \"doing it right\"\\n\\nWe all have different bodies, different ranges of flexibility, and different fitness levels.\\n\\nWith practice, you'll definitely get more fit, more flexible, and more accustomed to the asanas.\\n\\nBut you may never look like \"flexible Judy\" on the next mat over. Don't worry about that!\\n\\nYoga is not about comparison\\n. It's totally OK to look around the room and see how to do the asana. Though, I'd always recommend looking to the teacher for correct alignment, not \"flexible Judy\". \\n\\nAs you spend more time in class (or after a 1on1 session), you'll learn the correct alignment for your body.\\n\\nYes, \\neven after years of practicing, no two people should do the asana exactly the same\\n. Even at maximum flexibility, we all have different bone structures, not to mention past injuries and things like that. So expect correct alignment for you and your other yogi friends to be slightly different.\\n\\nDon't push yourself too hard\\n\\nIt's great to improve and push beyond your current limits. But only 5-10% beyond your current limits.\\n\\nNothing is more awkward for the rest of the class than that person who comes in and tries to be \"the best at yoga\". They stand out like a sore thumb. Because they don't get that it's not a competition. \\n\\nYour yoga class is a sanctuary of acceptance, self-reflection, and self-improvement. Not a competition to look good, athletic, or flexible.\\n\\nSo \\nrelax, take it easy, and let yourself improve over time\\n. You'll see the results stack up fast — physically and mentally!\\n\\nStart Today!\\n\\nThere's always an excuse to \"start tomorrow\", or \"wait until I'm a little less busy.\" And we all have \"a lot going on right now.\"\\n\\nThese are great excuses to avoid trying something new, something we think is going to be more awkward or uncomfortable than it actually is.\\n\\nI've literally talked to thousands of yoga students now. Most of them wanted to try yoga for years before they finally did. And\\n they all wish they just did it and started sooner\\n. \\n\\nBecause yoga makes you feel happier, more relaxed\\n. Most yogis watch themselves become better people, better parents, as they get into great shape and feel more confident.\\n\\nWhy wait until tomorrow to start feeling better? Tomorrow never comes.\\n\\nIf you actually want to get started and begin taking steps towards a healthier happier you, today is the day to take your first class!\\n\\nYou can \\nclick here to see a list of upcoming classes and book your first free class today!\\n\\n\\nWhat to bring to your first yoga class\\n\\nYoga mat (for cushion, support, and better traction)\\nBottle of water (to stay hydrated and eliminate toxins)\\nSmall towel (to wipe away sweat and help you keep traction on the mat)\\n\\nGood to have but not necessary \\nYoga block (to help with alignment in some yoga postures)\\nYoga strap (a belt or long narrow piece of fabric will do, to help with alignment in some yoga postures)\\n\\nYou can \\nclick here to read more about what to bring to your first yoga class\\n.\\n\\nAnd now that you know exactly what to bring, you can \\nclick here to book a Live Online Yoga Class with expert teachers\\n. (If you haven't already, you can \\nsign up for your  2-week free trail\\n — Unlimited Yoga Classes with Live teachers, 35+ daily classes, and over 85,000 happy students!)\\n\\nWhat to wear to your yoga class\\n\\nYou might have an idea that you should wear $150 yoga pants and a lulu lemon sports bra to yoga class. This totally works, but it's not the only good option. \\n\\nYou can wear anything that doesn't restrict your movement. So any workout clothes will do.\\n\\nAuthentic yoga is not about appearance, fashion or fads. It's about inner growth, health, happiness, and meaning.\\n\\nWith that in mind, it's good to know that you can wear your PJ's to class if you want. I sometimes wear sweats and a t-shirt (although I always regret wearing sweats, because they get too hot!)\\n\\nSo you'll want to wear comfy clothes, that give you full range of motion, and you don't mind sweating in.\\n\\nAnd of course, \\nin online yoga classes, many of us do wear our PJ's. There's no social pressure to look a certain way. Most of us roll out of bed and into our morning class anyways!\\n\\nIf you haven't already, you can \\nsign up for a free 2-week trial with myYogaTeacher\\n. You'll get Unlimited Group Classes with expert teachers — Live and online! If you're in your trial or already a member, you can \\nclick here to book your next live class\\n."},"createdAt":"2021-02-24T23:05:44.318333+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What to Bring to Your First Yoga Class","coverUrl":"yoga-props-ckljzp2vc2x210c348e63z78i.jpg","slug":"what-to-bring-to-yoga-class","content":{"text":"Yoga mat (for cushion, support, and better traction)\\nBottle of water (to stay hydrated and eliminate toxins)\\nSmall towel (to wipe away sweat and help you keep traction on the mat)\\n\\nGood to have but not necessary \\nYoga block (to help with alignment in some yoga postures)\\nYoga strap (a belt or long narrow piece of fabric will do, to help with alignment in some yoga postures)\\n\\nWhat to look for in a good Yoga Mat\\n\\nIf you have a yoga mat, definitely bring it to class. While it's not 100% necessary, it helps you to have good traction as you do poses like Warrior (so your feet don't slip around).\\n\\n\\n\\nA good mat will also help you with your balance, and is a comfortable cushion between you and the floor.\\n\\nIf you don't have a mat, it's good to get one right away. You can find them for as cheap as  $20 to $30 — these are great starter mats. When you know you'll be practicing yoga for years to come, you might want to invest in a higher quality mat, like my favorite — \\nJade Yoga Mats\\n, or the favorite of many yoga teachers \\nManduka Yoga Mats\\n.\\n\\nWe're not paid to promote either of these mats. After more than a decade of practicing yoga and teaching others, these are the mats I know are high quality, long lasting, and help you have a better practice.\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nWhy Water is important when practicing yoga\\n\\nYoga is kind of like a full body massage. As you stretch your muscles and move your body, you release stored up toxins. That's why, just like a massage, you should drink plenty of water after (and during) your class.\\n\\nThis will help get the toxins out of your body and increase your energy. So bring a bottle of water to class with you, so you can stay hydrated and flush the toxins from your system.\\n\\nUse a towel to keep from slipping\\n\\nNot everyone needs this. I do. And you might too.\\n\\nIf you start to sweat in your yoga class, you'll want a towel to wipe it away. This will help you to keep traction on your mat and make your yoga classes easier for you.\\n\\nFor most people, a good sized hand towel is enough. You can wipe the sweat from your face or body and continue with your practice.\\n\\nIf you're a super sweater, you like hot yoga classes, or practice yoga after an intense workout, you might want a full body length towel to throw on top of your mat. This will give you an absorbent surface to practice on, and keep maximum traction while you sweat.\\n\\nHow yoga blocks help your practice\\n\\nYou don't need to buy yoga blocks on day one. This is an optional but handy piece of yoga equipment.\\n\\nNote:\\n blocks, straps, bolsters, cushions, and even blankets are often called \"props\". These are things you can use in your yoga practice to help with your alignment (your body in the right position)\\n\\nA yoga block is a firm foam, cork or wooden block — it's about the size of a football, but rectangular.\\n\\nYou use them to help \"bring the ground closer to you\" when you can't bend all the way down. This way you have something to rest your weight on so you can relax into the asana (yoga pose).\\n\\n\\n\\nIf you practice yoga regularly, and you can't touch the ground in every pose you're meant to, you'll have a safer and more fun practice with a yoga block.\\n\\nWhen you'll want a yoga strap\\n\\nYoga straps are great when you can't always reach your toes or the limb your supposed to grab.\\n\\nFor example, in Gomukhasana, the Cow Face pose, you're supposed to grab your hands behind your back. Many people can't do this. A strap gives them something to grab with both hands, so they can hold the pose easier and even crawl their fingers closer together, increasing the stretch and their range of motion.\\n\\n\\n\\nOr in a sitting forward bend, Paschimottanasana, if you cant reach your toes. A strap can wrap around your feet and give you the hold you need to relax deeper into the stretch. \\n\\n\\n\\nSo in every yoga class, you'll want to bring your mat, a bottle of water, and a towel. If you're going to be practicing regularly, it might be a good idea to get a couple of props like a block and strap.\\n\\nWith this, you're all set for your first yoga class! You can \\nbook a Live Online Yoga Class with expert teachers here\\n."},"createdAt":"2021-02-24T22:08:45.893995+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"7 Things To Look For in Your Next Yoga Teacher Training","coverUrl":"shutterstock_1661655565.jpg","slug":"what-to-look-for-in-yoga-ttc","content":{"text":"Community Experience\\nQuality of Teachers\\nWell rounded Curriculum\\nYoga Alliance Certification\\nSchedule & Location\\nType of TTC: 200-hr, 300-hr, 500-hr, Yoga Therapy\\nCourse Price\\n\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nIf you want to have the best possible experience, \\nhere are 7 key-factors you should look for in your next Yoga TTC\\n.\\n\\n\\n1. Community Experience\\n\\nYou would never know this without having done a teacher training course\\n, but the community experience is one of the best (or worst) parts of a TTC.\\n\\nYou should \\nnever sign up for a TTC where you haven't connected with the community\\n. So no random residentials in Bali or taking a TTC at the local yoga studio. Not unless you've done at least a few classes there and seen if you like it.\\n\\nThe \\nlast thing you want is to spend 200 to 500 hours feeling awkward\\n around people who just aren't 'your people'!\\n\\nWhen you \\nfind a studio, retreat center, or online community you vibe with\\n, then you'll likely have an \\nincredible TTC experience\\n. You'll make life-long friends who have the same passion for personal growth, authenticity, kindness, and joy in their life!\\n\\nBut none of this is likely if you don't check out the community first. That's why at myYogaTeacher \\nyou can start off with a 2-week free trial before ever signing up for the TTC\\n (or any other course or workshop).\\n\\n\\n2. Quality of Teachers\\n\\nNext, you'll want to \\nbe sure that the teachers leading the TTC are highly qualified and experienced yoga teachers\\n.\\n\\nNot only do you want them to be experienced at teaching yoga, you want to make sure they are \\nexperienced at teaching other teachers to teach yoga\\n.\\n\\nYou see, TTCs are a fast way for yoga teachers to make a lot of money. So for the really good teachers, it becomes an essential part of their lifestyle. \\n\\nBut it also attracts a lot of brand new teachers looking to increase their income.\\n\\nSo \\nyou'll want to find out how many TTCs they've led, and what previous students thought about it\\n. Any well established TTC will be able to offer you testimonials from previous students. And will be quick to answer your questions about how many TTC's they've led.\\n\\nRohan, the lead teacher for \\nmyYogaTeacher's TTCs has lead 17 in-person TTCs, 6 online TTCs, and managed 13 other TTCs\\n. That's a lot more than your average Yoga TTC leader, but it's important to know you're in good hands!\\n\\nAnd true to our own tests, \\nyou can see what past TTC graduates are saying here\\n.\\n\\n\\n3. Well Rounded Curriculum\\n\\nA Yoga Teacher Training is a life changing opportunity to go deeper in yoga. You can discover aspects of yoga no regular class has the time or structure to show you.\\n\\nBut that being said, \\nif your TTC curriculum is bland, or asana only, you'll continue to only scratch the surface of what yoga has to offe\\nr.\\n\\nThat's why it's so\\n important that your TTC covers more than just asana and correct alignment\\n... that's the minimum.\\n\\nYou want to \\nfind a TTC that also dives into pranayama (yogic breathing exercises), meditation, yogic philosophy\\n. \\n\\nYou'll want a TTC where you learn about \\nPatanjali's Yoga Sutras\\n. Learning the sutras may sound academic and irrelevant. But it's practical, down to earth, and more relevant today than ever. This is \\nthe core of yogic philosophy\\n.\\n\\nAlthough you're probably signing up for the asana — \\nmost TTC students find that the philosophy and meditation practices are what transform their lives most\\n. \\n\\nYoga is a big beautiful ice-berg, and asana is just the tip...\\n\\nDon't worry though, any Yoga Alliance certified Yoga Teacher Training Course must have a well rounded curriculum.\\n\\n\\n4. Yoga Alliance Certification\\n\\nThis certification is becoming less and less relevant. Because more studio owners and yogis are realizing it's mainly a tax on teachers and studios. But it's still a certification you'll want to have.\\n\\nIt used to be that to get a job teaching yoga, you had to have Yoga Alliance certification. That's slowly changing. But today, \\nif you want to be eligible to teach yoga at most studios, you're still going to want Yoga Alliance certification\\n.\\n\\nSo make sure whatever TTC you sign up for is accredited by the Yoga Alliance. \\nAfter you graduate your TTC and receive your certificate\\n, you can go to \\nyogaalliance.org\\n and register for certification. Then, as a teacher, you pay a yearly fee to keep your certification.\\n\\nMost yoga teachers feel like it's just a way to tax yoga schools and yoga teachers. But they do, at least, \\nenforce a minimum standard of quality for TTCs\\n. So it's not all bad.\\n\\nThat's why it's still in your best interest to make sure your TTC is Yoga Alliance certified. And for this reason, \\nall myYogaTeacher TTCs are Yoga Alliance certified\\n.\\n\\n\\n5. Schedule & Location\\n\\nThis one comes down to personal preference and lifestyle. There are \\ntwo main types of TTC; residential and non-residential\\n.\\n\\nA \\nresidential TTC\\n is often in a beautiful location like India, Bali, Mexico, or some other tropical area. You carve out anywhere from one to three months of your life, to go live at a yoga retreat center. There, you study and practice yoga full-time. Usually 6 to 10 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week.\\n\\nThis is a great way to have \\na fully immersive experience and do nothing but yoga for a few months\\n.\\n\\nNot all of us can do that. \\nWith kids, work, and other responsibilities non-residential TTCs are the best option for most of us.\\n\\nIn a \\nnon-residential TTC\\n, you \\nstudy part time\\n at your local yoga studio or online. The schedule is still intense, because you need to finish anywhere from 150 to 450 hours of class time (the last 50 hours is self-study).\\n\\nThis means that for a 200-hour TTC, you'll need to spend 150-hours in class. So even at part time, 12 hours a week, that's a 3 month course.\\n\\nYou'll want to find a TTC that has the right schedule for you. Is 6 hours a week for 6 months better for you, or 12 hours a week for 3 months? Do weekends work better, or weekday nights?\\n\\nFor you, these may be inflexible. But \\nafter watching hundreds of students complete TTCs, I've seen that most people can make any schedule work\\n. Even a working mom can do 12 hours on the weekend. It's an adjustment, but I often hear them saying things like; \\n\\n\"I didn't know how I would do it, it was so much time every weekend. But I really wanted to join the TTC and I knew that if I didn't do it now, I might never do it! Then, it turned out to be completely manageable. Actually, I look forward to every Saturday, it's the best part of my week. And I'm getting so much 'me' time!\"  \\n         - every mom who takes a TTC\\n\\nSo \\nbefore getting too hung up on the schedule, ask yourself, \"can I make this work?\" And if so, then focus on the other parts first; the community, teachers, and a well rounded curriculum.\\n\\n\\n6. Type of TTC: 200-hr, 300-hr, 500-hr, Yoga Therapy\\n\\nThere are dozens of popular styles of yoga and many different types of TTCs.\\n\\nWhen it comes to the style of yoga;\\n Vinyasa, Ashtanga, \\nPower Yoga\\n, or some home-brand yoga — don't worry too much here. \\nIf you've taken classes with the teacher, you know their style. Do you like it? If so, then you'll probably love the TTC\\n. If not, move on until you find a teacher with a style you do like.\\n\\nWhat you don't want to do\\n is go looking for a specific style, thinking \\n\"I've heard Vinyasa is the best, I should only do a Vinyasa TTC.\"\\n That's a quick way to waste a lot of money and have a disappointing experience.\\n\\nRemember, this TTC is as much for you as it is for your future students\\n. You want to make sure that you have a deeply uplifting and enlightening experience. And you want to share a style of yoga that you love, not the one you heard is \"better\".\\n\\nDo you know what I mean?\\n\\nNow when it comes to \\nthe type of TTC\\n: 200-hr, 300-hr, 500-hr or Yoga Therapy, \\nchoosing is pretty easy\\n.\\n\\nA \\n200-hour TTC is perfect for beginners\\n. It's the entry point and smallest time commitment. If you like the TTC experience, you can always take a 300-hr TTC later. This will bump your training hours up to a total of 500.\\n\\nThe \\n300-hour TTC has traditionally been for people who have already completed a 200-hour TTC\\n. That's changing recently, but it's still the norm. This is a great way to get 500-hours of certified training, without having to quit your job or dedicate 9 months of your weekends to full-days of study... Intense!\\n\\nA \\n500-hour TTC is good for beginner to advanced yogis\\n. It's basically the 200-hour and 300-hour rolled into one. You make a big commitment and dedicate a few months of your life to a deep-dive, full-time yoga immersion. These are usually residential.\\n\\nAnd finally, a \\nYoga Therapy TTC\\n. These are \\nfor advanced teachers who want to specialize\\n in solving big problems for their clients. You don't have to be super flexible or anything like that. But you will become an expert at anatomy, perfect alignment, and healing all sorts of injuries and illnesses with yoga. These TTCs are often 600-900 hours of training, with long apprenticeships. \\n\\nYou typically must have already graduated a 200-hour or 500-hour Teacher Training Course, before you can apply to join a Yoga Therapy TTC. So graduating a TTC is a prerequisite for Yoga Therapy TTCs.\\n\\nIf you've never taken a Yoga Teacher Training Course, you'll probably want to start with either the 200-hr TTC\\n or 500-hr TTC, depending on the time and energy commitment you want to make.\\n\\n\\n7. Course Price\\n\\nThe last thing you want to do is pay more than you should\\n when it comes to your next Yoga Teacher Training Course.\\n\\nYoga TTCs are not cheap to begin with. So you probably don't want to overpay.\\n\\nIn a studio, you can expect to pay around $3,500 for a 200-hr TTC\\n (plus or minus $800). This is a fair range, so watch out for any 200-hour TTC that costs more than $4,300. Unless the teacher is famous or highly sought after, you're probably better off going elsewhere.\\n\\nBut these days, \\nunderpaying is even more of a problem\\n. You see, for the first time ever, Yoga TTCs have gone online. \\nYou'll see 200-hr online TTCs for $900, $600, even $400. \\n\\nWhy is this a problem?\\n\\nWhat these TTCs aren't telling you is that 85% of the course is pre-recorded video\\n. That's how they keep the cost down and therefore the price down. It's not so different from what you might find free on YouTube.\\n\\nI don't know about you, but I \\ndon't want my next yoga teacher to have learned from a bunch of YouTube videos!\\n\\nThat's a quick way to injure yourself, and your future students.\\n\\nDefinitely and absolutely, weather in-person or online, make sure your next TTC is 100% live instruction. It's totally OK to take a TTC online, just make sure it is 100% live.\\n\\nSo you get to ask questions DURING class, DURING lectures, and DURING examples. Not just at \"office hours\" 1-week after the class, when you forgot your questions anyways.\\n\\nWith live instruction you get feedback in every practice session. And importantly, you learn the nuances of the asanas.\\n\\nTTCs can be tough. Long hours and lots of learning\\n. With \\nlive instruction and an interactive setting\\n (only possible in-person or through live classes online), you \\nstay motivated and connect with your new yoga community\\n.\\n\\nThat's why \\nevery one of myYogaTeacher's TTCs is 100% live\\n. You'll find the price very reasonable. It's much less expensive than in-person at a studio, but necessarily enough to pay living breathing teachers to give every class live.\\n\\nIf you're interested in a 100% Live TTC\\n, \\nyou can check out myYogaTeacher's TTC full course description here\\n (with testimonials, course syllabus, and reasonable rates).\\n\\nWhen you follow these 7-steps, you can't go wrong. You'll have an incredible TTC experience, make new friends for life, and walk away a better yogi, better parent, better human\\n... You'll be less reactive, with more self-acceptance, and more full of joy!\\n\\nSo now you have everything you need to choose your next TTC wisely. And \\nif you have any questions\\n about TTCs or myYogaTeacher's upcoiming TTCs, feel free to drop us a line and ask at \\ncare@myyogateacher.com\\n"},"createdAt":"2021-01-20T23:02:14.849663+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga","yoga_teacher_training"]},{"title":"Is Yoga Teacher Training Right For You?","coverUrl":"shutterstock_521856145.jpg","slug":"yoga-teacher-training-right-for-you","content":{"text":"A lot of people want to take a Yoga Teacher Training Course (TTC) but they're not sure if they're ready for it. The most common questions people ask are:\\n\\n\"I've only been practicing a few months, is that enough for a 200-hour yoga teacher training course?\"\\n\"I'm not that flexible or fit, will I be able to keep up with the course?\"\\n\"I just want to learn more and I don't actually want to teach yoga, is it a good idea to take a yoga TTC?\"\\n\\nIn this short article, you'll get answers to each of these questions. So that you can know if Yoga Teacher Training is right for you!\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nCan beginners keep up with a Yoga Teacher Training Course?\\n\\nThe biggest mistake people make, when it comes to Yoga Teacher Training, is thinking that it's just for Intermediate or Advanced yogis.\\n\\nSome Yoga TTCs are very advanced. They require extreme flexibility and fitness.\\n\\nBut many other TTCs are perfect for beginners! TTCs like this are the fastest way to take your practice from complete novice, to intermediate (maybe even advanced) practitioner.\\n\\nMost 200-hour Teacher Training Courses are perfect for beginner and intermediate yogis\\n.\\n\\nI asked Rohan, the lead teacher of MyYogaTeacher's 200-hr TTC, \"who will have a good experience in your TTC, and who should avoid it?\"\\n\\nHe told me, \\nthe only people who should not take his TTC are those with serious medical conditions\\n (like heart problems).\\n\\nSo this means, you will likely have a great experience in a 200-hr TTC even if you're not very fit or flexible yet. So if you're stiff, out of shape, or a beginner to yoga, that's perfectly OK.\\n\\nYou might be challenged for the first couple of weeks. But you'll loosen up and get in shape fast. I've seen tons of seniors, not in particularly good shape, keep up with and enjoy their TTC.\\n\\nA 200-hr TTC will take you from Beginner to Intermediate (maybe even Advanced practitioner)!\\n\\n\\nHow fit & flexible do you have to be for a Yoga Teacher Training Course?\\n\\nYou don't have to be very fit or flexible to enjoy your TTC, become a great yoga teacher, and have fun deepening your practice!\\n\\nDuring my 500-hour yoga TTC, I got way more flexible. But when it comes to forward bends, my bone structure limits me. I still can't touch my toes with straight legs...\\n\\nDoes that make me a bad yoga teacher?\\n\\nOf course not! ... and my students always love my classes. Not because I was so flexible in every \\nasana\\n, but because I made \\nlearning yoga fun and low-pressure!\\n\\nI showed them that you don't have to be pretzel-flexible to get a healthy body and find inner-peace.\\n\\nIn your TTC — you will get more flexible!\\n But even if you never bend like a contortionist; that shouldn't stop you from enjoying \\nyoga\\n, going deeper in your practice, and sharing with others.\\n\\nWhether you sign up for a TTC or not, I hope you \\nnever judge your yoga by your flexibility!\\n That's like judging a cake by the look of its frosting.\\n\\nIt's not the appearance of the cake that matters. It's the flavor that's important!\\n\\nAnd in yoga, the flavor is your \\ninner-joy\\n.\\n\\n\\nIs it worthwhile to join a TTC even if you don't want to teach?\\n\\nThe answer is: \\nYes\\n. Even if you don't want to teach, it's \\nan amazing experience and you'll be happy\\n you signed up!\\n\\nWhen I took my TTC in 2013, I had no interest in teaching.\\n\\nI was falling in love with yoga because I had spent my entire life feeling anxious. I was stressed in every social situation and this was wreaking havoc on my body, my mind, and my closest relationships.\\n\\nWhen I \\npracticed yoga — I felt free — happy, and at peace\\n.\\n\\nI wanted to \\nfeel that way more often\\n. So I \\nsigned up for a TTC\\n hoping I could ground myself in these positive feelings.\\n\\nAnd you know, I thought I would be the only one in my class who didn't want to teach. But one night, when me and my classmates were joking around and studying together, we started talking about why we signed up.\\n\\nOnly a few people wanted to work as yoga teachers. Pretty much everyone else \\njoined because they loved yoga and wanted to deepen their practice\\n.\\n\\nMy TTC gave me exactly what I hoped for (and things I never could have expected). So much more self-awareness, self-love, and self-compassion... And when you feel that way towards yourself, it's easy to feel that way towards others too!\\n\\nIf you're considering signing up for a Teacher Training Course — \\neven if you don't plan on teaching\\n — I know \\nyou'll love it!\\n\\nYou'll learn more about yoga, go deeper in your practice, and feel those great yoga-feelings — the healthy body, peaceful mind, and joyful attitude.\\n[CTA-GC]\\nSummary\\n\\nSo it doesn't matter if you're out of shape, stiff, a beginner to yoga, and you don't want to teach. As long as you enjoy yoga and want to go deeper in your practice a TTC can be a life enriching experience.\\n\\nYou'll make life-long friends with similar interests and values, you'll have a lot of fun, and you'll learn a lot about yoga.\\n\\nmyYogaTeacher offers regular\\n TTCs with expert Indian teachers — 100% LIVE\\n. If you're interested in checking them out, \\nyou can click here to see any upcoming TTCs now\\n."},"createdAt":"2021-01-20T22:52:23.879598+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga","yoga_teacher_training"]},{"title":"How To Find The Best Yoga Teacher for You","coverUrl":"shutterstock_1801286311.jpg","slug":"find-best-yoga-teacher-for-you","content":{"text":"Most people don't know this, but finding the right yoga teacher for you is the most important part of building a regular yoga practice.\\n\\nAnd having a regular \\nyoga practice\\n is the \\nonly way to start reaping the benefits of yoga:\\nFeeling more \\npeaceful, calm, and relaxed\\nGaining \\nstrength and flexibility\\nBeing more \\nfocused and clear minded\\nHaving \\nmore energy\\n throughout the day\\nBalancing your hormones\\nFeeling \\nhappier and more satisfied\\n in life\\nLosing weight and maintaining a fit physique\\n\\nYou can read a lot more about the \\nbenefits of yoga here\\n (all scientifically verified in medical studies).\\n\\nWithout regular yoga practice, you may feel more calm, more flexible, and happier on the days you practice. But after a few days, you'll feel just like you did before. One or two classes is not enough to make any \\nlasting change\\n.\\n\\nWhen you \\nbuild a yoga habit\\n — that's when the magic happens! That's when you \\nstart to feel incredible as your default setting.\\n\\nAnd \\none of the fundamental keys to building a regular practice\\n — is finding the right teacher for you. \\nThe rest of this article will show you secret to finding the \\nbest yoga teacher\\n for you.\\n\\n\\n1. Do you like the teacher's personality?\\n\\nThis might seem obvious to you, but to most people it's just an 'icing on the cake' situation.\\n\\nThe reason this is #1 , is because even if you have the discipline to force yourself to show up. \\nYou can't rely on discipline in the long-run\\n. Discipline takes effort — \\nhabits are effortless\\n. So we need to create a Yoga Habit.\\n\\nIf you don't like the teacher, you'll always be forcing yourself to show up. When you do like the teacher, showing up becomes easy. In fact, you might show up even when you don't want to (but know you should), just because you don't want to disappoint your teacher.\\n\\nSo \\nthis is one of the easiest ways to help yourself show up\\n... finding a teacher that you like.\\n\\n\\n2. Can they teach to your level of experience and flexibility?\\n\\nThis is a tough one to find at your local studio. But it's \\ncritical to find a teacher and class at your level\\n. \\nOne that is challenging enough to push you forward in your practice. But easy enough that you can keep up.\\n\\nIf the class is too easy, you'll get bored and drop off\\n. You don't have to strain and push yourself to new athletic levels. But you do have to be challenged - even if it's just holding the asana for a few seconds longer.\\n\\nAnd of course, this has to be balanced. \\nYou won't stay long in a class that is too difficult for you either\\n.\\n\\nIf you feel like you can't do any of the asanas, and like the teacher is leaving you behind. You will become discouraged or feel a sense of failure. Then, the risk / reward mechanism in your mind will tell you to stop showing up.\\n\\nSo when the class is too easy, you get bored and stop showing up. When the class is too hard, you feel like you can't do it, and stop showing up.\\n\\nBut when you find that Goldilocks teacher...\\n When it's just right — then you feel motivated and excited to show up every day!\\n\\nFinding the right class for you can be impossible at your local studios. Its hard to find that perfect class when there are only 4 or 5 options. That's why myYogaTeacher offers \\n35+ daily classes live\\n, and has over \\n80 incredible teachers\\n. \\nYou can click here to sign up for a free 14-day trial\\n (no credit card required).\\n\\n\\n3. Are they a good teacher?\\n\\nNOTE:\\n While finding a 'good' teacher is fundamental, it has to be #3 on the list. Because if the teacher's personality and class difficulty are not a good match, you won't stick with it!\\n\\nThis is a difficult one to answer if you're not a teacher yourself.  But it's really important to get right — because \\nlearning from an unskilled (yet often well intentioned and kind) teacher can lead to injuries\\n. Sometimes serious injuries, if you're already struggling with issues like back-pain or knee-pain.\\n\\nBut don't worry, I'll give you some \\nkey things to look fo\\nr. So you can see if the teacher is skilled at teaching (not just flexible or good at practicing yoga).\\n\\nOne of the first things to look at is:\\n \\nHow many hours of certified training does the teacher have?\\n\\nIn the US, it's common for people to take a 200-hour certification course and then jump right to teaching at a studio. A 200-hour certification is amazing for going deeper in your practice. And you can be an excellent teacher with only 200-hours of certification. But it takes time and experience for these skills to develop.\\n\\nIf the teacher only has a 200-hr certification, look for at least 4 years of teaching experience.\\n\\nIn India, yoga is practiced, taught, and learned at a whole different level than in the US. It's more like the medical field.\\n\\nMost yoga teachers go to university and study yoga the way a physical therapist, nurse, or doctor does in the US. With myYogaTeacher you'll find\\n teachers who are literal Doctors of yoga, \\nyoga therapists\\n, and many with 900+ hours of certified training\\n.\\n\\nThis means that \\nyou can trust the teacher to give you a safe practice that will help your body\\n heal and become stronger and more flexible, without the risk of injury. \\nEspecially when you have back pain, knee pain, injuries, or are recovering from surgery.\\n\\nYoga is a natural way to heal many illnesses and injuries. But only when your teacher truly knows what they are doing.\\n\\nIf you're interested in trying classes with an expert Indian teacher, someone who has 900+ hrs of certified training, went to University for yoga, or even a Dr of yoga — \\nyou can click here for a free 2-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n.\\n\\n\\nSummary\\n\\nIf you want to find a teacher that will naturally motivate you to be consistent with your yoga practice, heal any injuries or illnesses, and help you feel stronger, more flexible, and more at peace — \\nyou should look for:\\n\\nA yoga \\nteacher you like\\nA yoga teacher who's \\nclasses challenge you but aren't too difficult\\nA yoga teacher who has \\nat least 200-hours of certified training AND 4-years of experience\\nOr better yet\\n, an expert teacher from the birthplace of yoga, India, who studied yoga in University (similar to a Dr or Nurse in the US)\\n\\nIf you want to try yoga (for free) with an expert teacher like this,\\nyou can signup for a 2-week free trial of myYogaTeacher by clicking here\\n."},"createdAt":"2021-01-20T22:33:23.314902+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"MYT 2020: A Year in Review","coverUrl":"MYT_Highlights_2020_v2.png","slug":"2020-summary-letter","content":{"text":"2020 was a crazy year for all of us. We had a lot of ups and downs.\\n\\nHere, I'm going to share with you \\nwhat 2020 looked like for the MYT Community\\n at large:\\n\\n\\n\\nIf you consider yourself a \\nbeginner to yoga\\n, you're not the only one.\\n\\nIn 2020, \\n86,041 people signed up to give myYogaTeacher a try\\n. And of those, \\n65% are beginners\\n.\\n\\nIn fact, the most common question I get from new students is, \\n\"I'm a beginner to yoga, what classes should I start with?\"\\n\\nAnswer:\\n Here is a list of classes I recommend to anyone getting started with yoga \\n(this list was created using the filter function on the class list page)\\n.\\n\\n\\nClick here to see the Best Yoga Classes for Beginners!\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nThis year, we found more people than ever are practicing yoga to recover from surgery or heal from injuries and illnesses.\\n\\nHere's a word-cloud of \\nthe most common injuries and illnesses\\n MYT students are healing from right now.\\n\\n\\n(the size of the word represents the number of people in the MYT community working on that ailment)\\n\\nThat's why we keep adding these \"Yoga for ...\" classes. Group classes that help you recover and heal from the most common ailments we see.\\n\\n\\nYou can check out a list of the most popular recovery & healing classes here\\n. \\n(This list was created using the filter function on the class list page)\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nWe \\nlaunched 'Yoga with Friends'\\n and it's been an \\nimmediate hit!\\n\\n'Yoga with Friends' is a \\nsemi-private online yoga session\\n. Basically, you pick a teacher and time to schedule a class. Then it's open to anyone you invite, with an easy-to-share link.\\n\\nRight now, these 'Yoga with Friends' sessions are \\nfree\\n. But that's going to change soon as we add pricing to these sessions.\\n\\nThis is a \\ngreat way to have healthy fun with your friends, connect with new friends on the MYT platform, or help a reluctant friend get started with yoga\\n.\\n\\n\\nYou can click here to book a free 'Yoga with Friends' session now!\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nMYT's primary mission is to help you feel great everyday (in body, mind, and soul). Right after that, \\none of our main goals is to empower Yoga Teachers, all over the world, to make a livable wage sharing their passion\\n.\\n\\nMYT has definitely succeeded here!\\n\\nMYT Teachers in India are earning more than their top MBA (Masters in Business) and IT friends.\\n\\nYes, that's right. \\nMany of the MYT teachers are able to earn significantly more than some of the most prestigious careers in India\\n.\\n\\nThey're able to buy their parents nice gifts, send their kids to better schools, and live with outstanding quality of life. All while doing what they love, and earning more than when they worked corporate jobs!\\n\\n\\nYou can read an article about some of our teachers here!\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nAnd of course, we launched our first two Teacher Training Courses!\\n\\nThe first one started in September and finished in December. It was amazing and \\nall the students loved it!\\n\\n\\nYou can hear about it from the TTC students themselves here\\n\\n\\nThey made \\ngreat new yoga friends\\n \\n(if it's anything like my TTC, these are close friends for life)\\n. They \\ndove much deeper into their understanding of yoga\\n; the asanas, pranayama, meditation and yogic philosophy.\\n\\nMany of this TTC batch are \\nfeeling less reactive, less stressed, and like better parents\\n.\\n\\nThe 2nd TTC\\n actually started just a few days ago. But it's not too late to join. We're keeping the registration open a few days longer.\\n\\n\\nIf you're interested, you can learn more and enroll here!\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nSo while 2020 was an incredibly challenging year. We wanted to share some 'fun facts' and uplifting highlights of myYogaTeacher's 2020 too!\\n\\nI hope you enjoyed learning a little more about your yoga community here at MYT.\\n\\nWith Love,\\nWill"},"createdAt":"2021-01-20T22:05:16.927217+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Things I Wish I Knew Before Beginning My Yoga Journey","coverUrl":"pexels-elly-fairytale-3823204.jpg","slug":"things-i-wish-i-knew","content":{"text":"Hindsight is always 20/20, right?\\n\\nWe think so too. But we would’ve really liked to learn a few things from others before making our own mistakes – or assumptions.\\n\\nThat’s one of the reasons we offer \\nyoga for beginners\\n and other classes that help beginners on their path to becoming better humans, not just better yogis. Still, though, there are just some things we wish we knew before diving into the world of yoga.\\n\\nFor instance, what types of mats are best? Does the mat even matter? How do classes with a private yoga teacher compare to those in groups? Is it really worth the extra cost?\\n\\nThere are lots of questions you don’t even know to ask if you’re a newbie. And just like with anything you try that’s new, in the end, you’re always left thinking, “I wish I knew that before I started.”\\n\\nWhich leads us here. Imparting our experience, wisdom, and continued learning to you!\\n\\nLet’s talk yoga mats\\nWhat makes a great yoga mat, anyway? Is it really that important?\\n\\nWell, yes. Actually, it is. If you haven’t already experienced the struggles with a yoga mat that doesn’t work well for you, you probably will at some point. \\n\\nBut we’re here to help you avoid as many yoga mat problems as possible. \\n\\nYoga mats for beginners\\n\\nA high quality yoga mat is probably the most important piece of the puzzle to keeping you safe, stable and grounded during your yoga practice.\\n\\nIf you’re a beginner yogi\\n, you’ll want a mat that is thicker until your joints get stronger and more used to the poses you’ll be performing. A thicker mat is also great for yogis that have knee, back, or shoulder issues.\\n\\nYou’ll also want one that provides good grip so you’re not slipping out of downward dog and nose diving to the floor. \\nFollow these general guidelines when choosing a mat:\\n\\nChoose a mat that is 3-5 mm thick.\\nJute, cork, and natural rubber mats provide a good amount of stickiness to reduce slipping.\\nA mat with a foam underside gives more padding and support (but be careful using them on carpet).\\nFind a mat that is resistant to moisture, antimicrobial, and/or easy to clean.\\n\\n\\nLiforme\\n is an excellent brand of yoga mats for beginners! All of their mats feature the AlignForMe system to guide yogis through their flow with ease. They also happen to be eco-friendly!\\n\\nPrivate yoga teacher vs. Group classes\\nHow do you take your yoga? With a side of privacy? Maybe you’d prefer to practice yoga out in nature. You could be the yogi that survives and thrives in a studio or group of other yogis in group yoga classes. Maybe you don’t even know which type of class is right for you.\\n\\nWhatever the case, a private yoga teacher – or at least a few private yoga sessions – helps you build a solid foundation for a strong yoga practice.\\n\\nIf you’re a beginner yogi, a private yoga teacher benefits you by:\\n\\nInstructing you on proper alignment for your body.\\nAddressing any current or former injuries that will affect your yoga practice.\\nTeaching you the true meaning of yoga so you can get the most out of your practice.\\nAssessing your breath and demonstrating how to sync your breath to your flow.\\nMaking you feel comfortable and safe talking about your anxieties, stress, or areas of your practice where you know you need improvement.\\nCreating a customized practice designed specifically for you and your needs.\\n\\nThese are all important aspects of yoga.\\n\\nMany novice yogis begin with private lessons so they feel more comfortable and confident moving into group yoga classes. \\n\\nPrivate yoga lessons are customized to you and your needs, help you develop self-awareness, and give you the tools you need to go out on your own! \\n\\nSo when it comes to comparing group classes to private lessons, it’s like comparing apples to oranges. They are both beneficial in different ways. Here at \\nmyYogaTeacher,\\n we offer both! \\n\\nMisconceptions about starting a yoga practice\\n\\nWe could go on and on about all the things we wish we knew before starting our yoga practice. Unfortunately, we hear a few really common misconceptions that we want to nip in the bud right now!\\n\\nYou have to be flexible to do yoga.\\n\\nThis is absolutely not true! \\n\\nFlexibility is often a side effect of yoga, which is really cool. It’s a great way to develop flexibility if you aren’t already flexible. But it’s not a good excuse to dismiss starting your yoga practice.\\n\\nTaking a “yoga for beginners” class or hiring a private yoga teacher is a perfect way to start your journey to newfound flexibility.\\n\\nYoga teachers know everything about yoga.\\n\\nIf this is a thought you have, it’s probably intimidating. \\n\\nYou are inundated with images of perfect yoga poses, and IG posts of online yoga teachers wearing expensive yoga gear flood your feed. Talk of spirituality, asanas, harmony, meditation, and breathwork might have you thinking yoga isn’t for you.\\n\\nNews flash. Even advanced yogis and yoga teachers don’t know everything. They also can’t do everything. Which is totally fine! Yoga is about constantly growing and evolving as a human and a yogi! And what you see on social media isn’t always the best representation of what yoga is really about.\\n\\nAlmost all online yoga classes are created equal so it doesn’t matter which one I choose.\\n\\nThis couldn’t be further from the truth. \\n\\nBefore you start your yoga journey, it’ll benefit you to do a bit of research or, at the very least, talk to someone with a fair amount of knowledge about yoga. \\n\\nFree online yoga is great. YouTube has tons of free yoga videos, and myYogaTeacher gives you a\\n free 2-week trial\\n! But finding the best yoga class and instructor for you will help you develop a practice that is safe, healthy, and optimized for your body, mind, and spirit.\\n\\nHere at myYogaTeacher, we feel that people learn yoga best when their class is LIVE. Our yogis get the added benefit of immediate feedback and personalized interaction with their yoga teachers. LIVE classes offer a more comprehensive yoga experience versus pre recorded online videos one might find elsewhere on the internet!\\n\\n\\n\\nSo let’s recap!\\n\\nYour mat choice is important. Private yoga teachers offer major benefits, particularly for newbie yogis. You don’t need to be flexible to begin doing yoga. And finding the right teacher and class for you is the best way for you to gain the most from a sustainable yoga practice! \\n\\nWhether hindsight is 20/20 or not, you don’t have to make the same mistakes other yogis have. Remember these tips when you’re ready to begin your yoga journey!\\n\\n\\n \\n"},"createdAt":"2020-12-29T15:47:35.958926+00:00","author":{"name":"myYogaTeacher","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"The Benefits of Membership","coverUrl":null,"slug":"benefits-of-membership","content":{"text":"In case you're wondering about the benefits of Membership with myYogaTeacher — I'll sum them up for you here:\\nYou get \\nUnlimited Large Group Classes (LIVE) \\n— so you can take as many classes as you want, whenever you want!\\nYou get \\nrecordings of every class \\n(teacher view only) — so you can re-take your favorite classes whenever you want, or catch up on a class you missed!\\nYou get special \\nMember discounts on \\nWorkshops, Courses, and Teacher Training Programs (often 50% or more off)!\\n\\nAnd most importantly, our students are constantly telling us that signing up for membership... it's a \\ncommitment to yourself\\n.\\n\\nA commitment to \\ntaking care of your health. Making time for yourself. And getting that peace of mind and awareness that makes you happier \\n— \\na better mother, a better father, a better son, a better daughter.\\n\\nLess reactive with your loved ones. \\n\\nMore peaceful and calm.\\n\\nMembership with MyYogaTeacher isn't about us. \\n\\nYes, we scout out incredible teachers from India. Teachers who share deep and authentic yoga. We offer live classes and 1-on-1 sessions at the most affordable rates. We're building an online yoga community like no-where else (check out \\nYoga with Friends\\n). And this is pretty special...\\n\\nBut at the end of the day. \\nMembership is about You\\n. Your body, your needs, your health, and your joy!\\n\\nIf you're interested in signing up for Membership with myYogaTeacher, you can \\nclick here now to get started\\n."},"createdAt":"2020-12-03T18:47:22.18258+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga with Friends","coverUrl":null,"slug":"yoga-with-friends","content":{"text":"\\n\\n\\n\\nBook Yoga with Friends — free\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nYoga with Friends just launched\\n. We haven’t even had a chance to promote it. But it’s quickly becoming one of our most popular offerings!\\nIt’s essentially a private yoga class for you and your friends. Very soon, we’ll start charging for these private group classes.\\nBut for the next two weeks, it’s 100% free! All we ask is that you give us your feedback.\\n\\n\\nWe want to know; what you like about it, what you don’t like, and what we can do to make it easier or better for you.\\n\\n\\nBut the free launch isn’t going to last. And we only have a limited number of teachers.\\nOnce they’re booked up, it’s done. So we can’t guarantee you’ll get a chance to try it free.\\nIf you want to make sure you get a free Yoga with Friends class, book now!\\n\\n\\nBook Yoga with Friends — free\\n\\n\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-11-07T07:49:11.588328+00:00","author":{"name":"Jitendra","pictureUrl":"jitendra1.png","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Exploring the Benefits of Live Online Yoga Classes","coverUrl":"online_yoga_2.jpg","slug":"exploring-the-benefits-of-live-online-yoga-classes","content":{"text":"Yoga has skyrocketed in popularity in the United States and around the world. Go into any mid-sized city in the U.S. and you're likely to find at least a handful of studios offering classes for a range of prices. But what if you can't make it into a studio? Are you supposed to let your yoga practice fall to the wayside? With online yoga from myYogaTeacher, you don't have to.\\n\\nThe internet has brought yoga led by experienced teachers right into our living rooms. And on myYogaTeacher, you can find classes for all levels from Indian teachers who've been studying yoga for years. The world is your ashram. And to get started, all you have to do is head over to \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n and click the purple \\nTry for free\\n button.\\n\\nVirtual yoga classes from myYogaTeacher can do everything live yoga classes do: help you increase flexibility, improve your posture, develop core strength, and boost your energy. You can even find online yoga classes that increase your mind-body connection, offering pranayama (breathwork) and meditation in addition to the asanas, or movements, that we in the West think of as yoga.\\n\\nOf course, most online yoga classes are hidden behind a paywall. You have to really search to find a yoga teacher online who offers high-quality, free online yoga classes. And if you're looking for a live yoga class instead of something pre-recorded, you might be looking for a while.\\n\\nWe at myYogaTeacher understand how important it is to keep up your yoga practice. That's why we're offering free online yoga classes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Once we're through the pandemic, we'll go back to our very reasonable pricing for unlimited group classes. And we also offer 1-on-1 classes for our students who want to go deeper with their practice.\\n\\nSigning up with myYogaTeacher is simple, just go to \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n and click \\nTry for free\\n. You’ll then enter your name, email address, and choose a password before clicking \\nContinue\\n.\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nIs online yoga worth the time (and money)? We think so. Let's talk about why.\\n\\nBenefits of Live Online Yoga Classes\\n\\nYou already know that yoga can help you increase your flexibility, build strength, destress, and better understand your body and mind. But yoga can be expensive and time-consuming. Classes typically start at $15 and only go up from there. Then, you have to consider the additional cost of gas, clothes, mats, and yoga props.\\n\\nYoga can get expensive, fast.\\n\\nAnd that’s not even taking into consideration the time commitment. If you have a full-time job and a family, you might not have the time to drive 20 minutes to a yoga studio, spend 60–90 minutes on your mat, then drive another 20 minutes back home. And definitely not every day.\\nAdd a global pandemic into the mix and, well, bye-bye yoga.\\n\\nFinding a yoga teacher online or taking an online yoga class can be exactly the solution you’re looking for!\\n\\nOnline Yoga Is Cheaper\\n\\nIn-person yoga classes are typically a lot more expensive than online yoga classes. If you’re a drop-in student at a yoga studio, it can cost $15 or more per class. If you buy classes in bulk or sign-up for a monthly rate at a studio, your discount is only going to be slightly less per class.\\n\\nAn online yoga class is much more cost-effective. You can sign up for unlimited monthly classes through myYogaTeacher for just $29 per month! Go to \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n to get started for free!\\n\\nOnline Yoga Is Faster\\n\\nWhich takes less time:\\n\\nChanging into your workout clothes, getting your yoga bag together, driving to a studio, finding a parking spot, walking in, finding a spot, and rolling out your mat… And then do that all again an hour later.\\n\\nOR\\n\\nRolling out your mat and clicking a button?\\n\\nOnline yoga takes less time and that typically means that you’re more likely to do it consistently.\\n\\nOnline Yoga Is More Flexible\\n\\nSince you’re not taking up your time commuting to a studio, you can do yoga whenever and wherever you want. Have an hour? Click a button and spend your full hour focusing on yoga, instead of worrying about fitting your yoga practice into your lunch break and getting back to the office late.\\n\\nHave a weekend to yourself? Take a few \\nyoga classes\\n and treat yourself to an in-home yoga retreat.\\n\\nIf your yoga app or online yoga class offers class recordings, you even have the option of practicing any time, day or night. Two in the morning and you can sleep? Go check out that \\nYoga Nidra\\n class and get your sleep back on track.\\n\\nOnline Yoga Is Travel-Friendly\\n\\nOne of the biggest complaints we hear from students is that it’s so hard to stick to a yoga routine when traveling for work or vacation. With a yoga app or online yoga class, you don’t have to worry about it. You can search for a class and be ready to go with the click of a button from your hotel room or the beach at sunrise.\\n\\nOnline Yoga Offers Brilliant Teachers\\n\\nMany yoga practitioners in the United States talk about wanting to go to India to experience yoga at its origin, with teachers who have been involved in yoga on some level for their entire lives.\\n\\nUnfortunately, this just isn’t feasible for most yogis.\\nWith online yoga classes, especially through myYogaTeacher, students can get access to yoga courses offered by Indian instructors who are familiar with yoga tradition.\\n\\nOnline Yoga Is Less Intimidating\\n\\nWalking into a yoga class can be scary—no matter if you’re a beginner or have been practicing for years. What if you don’t know all the poses, can’t move your body into a certain pose or don’t understand what’s going on? What if you’re not dressed right? What if there’s chanting?\\n\\nBeing able to practice yoga online is much less anxiety-inducing. You can dress for comfort, meditate without worrying what you look like, try your hand at chanting, and use all the props you need to get into a difficult pose (or take another pose entirely).\\n\\nThe Downside of \\nOnline Yoga\\n\\n\\nOf course, even with all the benefits of online yoga, we’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention some of the disadvantages that we’ve heard:\\n\\nIt’s not safe\\nIt’s harder to understand or follow\\n \\nIt’s harder to build a community\\n\\nWhile it’s true that taking a yoga class online can make it harder to follow the moves or make certain moves less safe, that’s not really the case with myYogaTeacher.\\n\\nFor starters, our instructors are really great at what they do. If you leave your camera on, the teacher will be able to see you and offer gentle audible cues to adjust your poses. They also explain the movements, the purpose of the movements, and in some classes talk about the philosophy behind the movements before or as they ask you to do them.\\n\\nYou’ll also get cues that will help you understand how a pose should feel and, importantly, shouldn’t feel.\\n\\nIn terms of community, some practitioners just aren’t looking for that, which is why they might have turned to online yoga classes in the first place.\\n\\nIf you’re still looking for a sense of community, we recommend seeking out a live yoga class online (like those you find with us) and engaging with other students either before or after the class.\\n\\nAs you can tell, we’re passionate about online yoga and are so proud of what we’re able to do through \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n. Head over to myYogaTeacher to start—or deepen—your personal yoga practice.\\n\\nWhy Choose a myYogaTeacher Online Yoga or Yoga App Class?\\n\\nTo enjoy an online yoga class, all you need is a mat, some space, and internet access. While some classes do incorporate props like yoga blocks, bolsters, and straps, they're not required. You can find a yoga teacher online for wherever your practice takes you, be it for meditation, movement, or breathwork or a combination. The best online yoga classes will challenge you on both a physical and spiritual level.\\n\\nIf you're new to yoga or want to experiment with a style you're unfamiliar with, you'll find beginner options available in our live yoga classes. If you keep your camera on, our skilled instructors can offer you modifications right in the moment, giving our group yoga classes the same benefits you'd get from an in-studio class. Instructors will also teach you how to use your props, if you have them, to keep your practice safe.\\n\\nYou'll be able to enjoy the yoga experience you want, on your own schedule by streaming our online yoga classes in a browser or through the myYogaTeacher yoga app. Our enthusiastic and skillful teachers offer high-quality, structured programs that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home, no matter whether you're a beginner to advanced yogi.\\n\\nWe also understand that the relationship between a yoga teacher and yoga student is an important one. If you find a yoga teacher you particularly like, you can sign up for 1-on-1 instruction with them or stick with the group classes that they offer each day. If you're a paid member of myYogaTeacher, you can access class recordings, too, so you can experience your favorite class whenever you want.\\n\\nWhat Online Yoga Classes Are Available on myYogaTeacher?\\n\\nWe offer online yoga classes for any level of experience, from beginners to advanced yogis. You can filter classes by date, class, teacher, and level to find the class that's right for you. On myYogaTeacher, you'll find online yoga classes for ashtanga, breathing and meditation, chair yoga, chakra healing, Hatha, Iyengar, restorative, pranayama, vinyasa, and a whole lot more. We even offer yoga for kids aged 7–12, laughter yoga, and yoga for specific issues like back pain, knee pain, and hormonal imbalance, among others.\\n\\nMany of our classes are 60 minutes but you'll find 30-minute, 45-minute, and 90-minute classes, too.\\n\\nEvery class, whether experienced in your browser or our yoga app features the same brilliant teachers who bring expert, motivating instruction to you. No matter where you are, you’ll find a nourishing yoga class that you’ll love. Sign up at \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n and get started for free!\\n\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-10-20T22:57:24.791156+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Privately Powerful: 3 Eye-Opening Benefits of Online Power Yoga","coverUrl":"eye_opening_2.jpg","slug":"3-eye-opening-benefits-of-online-power-yoga","content":{"text":"Times they are a-changing.\\n\\nThe days of sweating it out in a yoga studio or gym with a group of people you may not even know have passed us by. \\n(Deuces, overpriced gym membership)\\n\\nPower yoga teachers all over the world are getting up close and personal through the television, computer, and phone screens of yogis who simply can’t live without their daily dose of power yoga practice.\\n\\nPlus, in an insta-everything world, where everyone wants everything quick, fast, and in a hurry, online everything is just….well, better.\\n\\nNow is the perfect time to explore your yoga options and truly understand the benefits that \\npower yoga\\n brings to your mind, body, and life!\\n\\nHelllllloooooo, choices!\\n\\nAre you a fitness fanatic who’s new to yoga? Maybe exercise is what you see models doing on infomercials. Not something \\nyou\\n actually do. \\n(That’s cool. Yoga’s the perfect place to start your fitness journey!)\\n\\nMaybe you have limitations like knee, shoulder, or back injuries that prevent you from working out in the same way as many others do.\\n\\nOr \\nmaybe\\n you’re a yoga ninja, and you’re ready to keep up or ramp up your yogi game.\\n\\nWhether you're the newbie or the master, age 5 or 50 (or even older), online power yoga offers you a safe space to explore the world of yoga, get fit and flexible, and clear the mind junk from your trunk.\\n\\nFeel Wealthy, Get Healthy\\n\\n\"I feel like a rich person because I have a \\nyoga teacher\\n in my house 2 times a week. It’s amazing!\"  - Ursula\\n\\nThe word “yoga” means to yoke, unite, or join. It’s deeply rooted in the Hindu culture and has been a part of our world for thousands of years. \\n\\nThe practice of yoga has taken over our modern world by storm with the creation of over ten thousand yoga studios and about thirty million Americans practicing.\\n\\nIn these uncertain times, many yoga studios have been forced to close. Some temporarily and some permanently. Which has left many yogis searching for their intimate connection to mind, body, and spirit online. \\n\\nEnter >>> \\nOnline yoga\\n. Taught by experts from India.\\n\\nPower yoga is a fitness-based approach to vinyasa-style yoga. What many modern-day yogis are most familiar with.\\n\\nLet’s look at some of the primary benefits of power yoga classes:\\nIncreases stamina \\n(Ditch the huff and puff)\\nIncreases muscle mass and core strength \\n(Six-pack abs anyone?)\\nHelps with achieving permanent weight loss \\n(Um, yes please.)\\nSafely increases flexibility \\n(AKA Party trick pizazz)\\nHelps alleviate back and joint pain \\n(Bye, bye grunts and groans)\\nReduces stress and anxiety \\n(Get your Zen on)\\n\\nMy Yoga Teacher\\n offers you personalized attention from hand-picked, highly-sought-after power yoga teachers from India, the birthplace of yoga.\\n\\nYou get expert guidance, goal setting, an individualized plan all from the comfort of your home. Not to mention your very own personal guided meditation from the folks who really know how to help you clear your mind and be present in your life.\\n\\nOh. You’re a fan of a group yoga practice after all?\\n\\nThat’s cool. \\nMy Yoga Teacher\\n offers those as well. \\nAs a matter of fact, you get unlimited group classes with your membership. \\n\\nClasses on \\nyour time\\n in \\nyour space\\n.\\n\\nReduce stress and anxiety, improve strength and flexibility, condition and tone. Lose weight and keep it off. There’s a power yoga teacher just for you. And a group class that you’ll fall in love with. We promise. \\n\\nBecause we’ve insisted on giving the best of the best to our favorite yogis \\n(that’s all of you out there).\\n\\nLive like a rich person — if you aren’t already rich, that is — for less. Bring expert yoga instruction right to your home. \\n\\nPlus, being healthy \\nis\\n being wealthy!\\n\\nThe Power of Personalized Attention\\n\\n“They are so focused on me. I’ve never had that. I mean, who’s had that unless you pay for a 1- on-1 class? [...] it makes the practice so healing.”\\n   - Rachel\\n\\nEveryone likes to have 1:1 attention! No one wants to pay the hefty price for it. \\n\\nPersonalized 1:1 online power yoga classes allow you to not only choose the power yoga teacher that’s the right fit for you but brings them into your home virtually. \\nFor less\\n. Your teacher will address important aspects of power yoga such as alignment, posture, flexibility, and the possibility of pain relief.\\n\\nAnd, in case you haven’t heard, power yoga is an excellent full-body workout, folks!\\n\\nYogis use their own body weight to tone, strengthen, condition, and build muscle mass, which can boost metabolism. \\n(Feel the buuuuuuurn. Gently.)\\n\\nOne on one sessions give you what a studio or gym can’t. For a price that’s much more affordable.\\n\\nOf course, the healing power of yoga is most effective when you’re doing it right. \\n\\nYour personal power yoga teacher (that you select based on your personal preferences and needs) will teach you the benefits of being properly aligned and the dangers of being misaligned during your yoga practice. \\n\\nYou’ll get a rigorous workout that is safe for beginner yogis and expert ones alike while also being easy on your back and knees. \\n(Who needs plyometrics anyway, right? Right.)\\n\\nAnd most importantly, your instructor will meet you where you are. \\n\\nMy Yoga Teacher’s kind-hearted, knowledgeable power yoga teachers guide you lovingly and compassionately through your yoga practice and instill a sense of calm in a space that is safe for you two to connect.\\n\\nA Safe Space for A Safe Practice\\n[testimonial from someone other than Ursula or Rachel]\\n\\nEver feel too embarrassed to practice yoga in a studio or gym with a whole bunch of strangers? What if you have a wardrobe malfunction? Or worse. Gas? \\n(It’s ok. We all have it, folks.)\\n\\nBut in a quiet room. With \\nstrangers\\n?!\\n\\nEnter >>> judgement and eye rolls. Or worse. Laughter.\\n\\nIf you’re a newbie, virtual at-home yoga sessions are the perfect place to explore power yoga in the comfort of your own home. If you topple over, mess up, grunt, groan, sweat like a stuffed pig, or even — gasp — fart, it’s ok. \\n\\nAND, My Yoga Teacher is perfect for beginner yogis!\\n\\nOh, you’re a veteran yogi?\\n\\nPushing yourself is your jam. Where else do you feel the most comfortable trying out new yoga moves besides in the privacy of your home? \\n\\nMaybe your safe space is a hotel, condo, villa sitting on the beach in Bali \\n(or on the beach itself, you lucky thing, you)\\n. Having the ability to practice yoga anywhere at any time is priceless.\\n\\nHere are some more benefits that come with practicing online power yoga in your very own safe space:\\n\\nNo traveling needed. \\n(Which means no excuses not to get your yogi on. Plus save gas and time.)\\nYour home. Your rules.\\n (You have all the control over your yoga practice.)\\nPick your person. \\n(Your power yoga teacher is your friend, not just some rando.)\\nWear whatever you want. \\n(No high dollar yoga pants necessary.)\\nKeep your germs to yourself. \\n(Your house. Your germs. Stay healthier.)\\nMake mistakes in private.\\n (If a yogi falls in a forest, does anyone really know?)\\nYou don’t get those benefits at a studio or gym, my friends.\\n\\n__________________________________________________________________________________________________\\nMy Yoga Teacher\\nYoga Your Way\\n\\n\\nMy Yoga Teacher’s mission is to improve the mental and physical well-being of the world through the healing power of yoga and meditation. Yoga and meditation are powerful tools that have been used for over 1000 years to help people of all ages, abilities, and ethnicities become better, healthier humans. Naturally.\\n\\nWe offer online power yoga classes for beginners and advanced yoga practitioners taught by expert instructors from the birthplace of yoga itself, India.\\n\\nGet personalized expert guidance, without the commute from the privacy of your own home or other safe space. PLUS, set goals and track progress with your individualized roadmap to success that you and your teacher create together. You get the added benefit of discussing your progress with your power yoga teacher and getting their feedback! They will provide tips, tricks, and changes that will push you past difficult spots and plateaus. Your success is our success with My Yoga Teacher!\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-10-20T22:28:00.28937+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Lawyer turned Yogi","coverUrl":"shrutika-post.jpg","slug":"lawyer-turned-yogi","content":{"text":"It was the year 2006 when I passed the 12th grade and chose to study law (a regular professional course), as expected from a girl who is from a middle class family in India. An added advantage was that I got into one of the top five law universities in the country, followed by a handsomely paid legal job in the country's top bank. Like everybody else, I was running the rat race shifting to better paying and more demanding jobs. Following an epiphany experienced in late 2016, I took a sabbatical from work for 2 months after being burnt out from corporate life and set off to Rishikesh for a \\nyoga course\\n without any expectations (I had never done yoga before only heard about it). \\n\\nThe experience in Rishikesh completely transformed me as a person. The course in Rishikesh was quite demanding starting at 5 A.M. in the morning and ending with a meditation session at 7 P.M. in the evening. The course in Rishikesh was affiliated to Yoga Alliance organization in the US. We were taught \\nHatha Yoga\\n, \\nAshtanga Yoga\\n, philosophy of Yoga, physiotherapy, Pranayama, history of Yoga, guided meditation techniques as subjects. However, I realized that it was the little things like discipline, family, diet, environment, not talking while eating (basically our ancient Hindu tradition), etc. that mattered the most in life. It was because of these things that I was transformed as a person, as these very basic things were missing in my life because of the hectic corporate job.\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nI came back from Rishikesh to Bangalore in January 2017 and worked for a whole year as a lawyer with yoga completely missing from my life due to time constraint. However, I was not happy as my mind kept taking me back to those blissful months in Rishikesh and to explore more in the field of Yoga. As I knew that the course in Rishikesh was just a tip of the iceberg. Moreover, the course in Rishikesh catered to modern day Yoga and not the traditional Yoga. I quit my job in 2017 and did 3 courses in different types of Yoga, the course in Nashik was a traditional Hatha yoga, the course in Kerala was based on Ashtanga yoga of Patabhi Jois and lastly, the one in Dharamshala was mainly on Iyengar yoga. However, I was still not satisfied with just these month long courses. I finally applied to a yearlong Post graduate diploma course in Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute. I also wanted to stay in a typical ashram like setting and experience Yoga. The yearlong course finally prepared me to face the fact that Yoga has to be a lifestyle or the way of life to get benefits from it and it is during this course that I realized that I should share with people my knowledge and decided to take it up as a career. Briefly, we were taught traditional Hatha Yoga asanas, Pranayama, guided meditation techniques, theory subjects Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gherand Samhita, Patanjali \\nYoga Sutras\\n, yoga and mental health, to name a few. Never thought Yoga as a subject had so much theory. I am pursuing my masters in yoga through distance education trying to get deeper knowledge of the theory which will aid my practical teaching as well. \\n\\nUnfortunately, I met with an accident last year and had to quit Yoga for a few months. I have completely recovered now and thus ready to share my knowledge of yoga with people. I am raring to go. I could come out of these tough times (surgery and recovery) only because of Yoga (asana, pranayama and meditation). \\n\\nAs stated previously, following an epiphany experienced in late 2016 to find peace and spirituality, I found my true calling in Yoga, I want to share this knowledge with as many people as possible so that they can benefit from it as I have. Yoga has made me realize that I am a simple person at heart. My dream is to lead a simple life with my family filled with peace (as happiness follows peace). \\n"},"createdAt":"2020-09-28T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Shrutika","pictureUrl":"shritika-pro.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"shrutika-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Journey of Yogini","coverUrl":"IMG_20200601_214146-1.jpg","slug":"journey-of-yogini","content":{"text":"\\nI discovered yoga 15 years ago while in high school , yoga was a part of curricular activity during my school days . I was unaware what yoga really is? I thought it's just for flexibility and molding a body as we want until I realize. We had \\nyoga asanas\\n for sports competitions during my school days, that was the best part of my childhood days .  When I look back now, it is clear to me that I was not doing it correctly at that time. I thought to myself, “Yoga is not that difficult, I just need to rest in the pose!” I brought that mind of thinking, namely, that I was not so bad at yoga. I had participated in many competitions during my high school and graduation, and got many prizes for my advanced postures.\\n\\nAt the beginning of regular practice, I was always being adjusted for alignment and asked to use strength by my master’s n friends. I wondered why all my alignment and concepts about Yoga were wrong before? Fortunately, I didn’t feel frustrated but was just curious to learn the correct way to perform the poses. Otherwise, I would have quit Yoga and wouldn’t have been the “me that I am” today. Many other aspects about Yoga have been unfolded to me in my \\nYoga journey\\n. Firstly, breathing technique – we breathe every moment, why do we have to learn how to breathe after being alive for so many years? Secondly, Yoga Sutras – Yoga also has a “bible”! This is interesting. Thirdly, meditation – it is a relatively normal topic – sitting still without moving has always been my strength. Of course, it is a deeper topic than I thought. Fourthly, Mantra chanting – although I didn’t understand the meaning of the mantras at the beginning, I liked the melody. Fifthly, cleansing technique – when my master asked me to join the cleansing class, I asked what we would do and he just said we would drink a lot of water.\\n\\nIn the second half of 2015, Strangely enough or I may be lucky, all these invaluable concepts unfolded gradually. I was interested in learning more without any hesitation. I was asked if I was interested in undertaking Yoga teacher training or some course.\\n\\n I resisted teaching as I didn’t think I had the talent. Further, I was too shy to speak in front of people. But I was eager to learn more about Yoga besides asanas (postures). I was still hesitant to enroll for the course, only four days before the course started, I signed up with sudden impulse. Then I took 2 years masters in yoga science in specialization of yoga therapy which includes traditional hatha yoga. Then I did a 200hr TTC ashtanga course and 200hr TTC Aerial yoga course in Mysore.\\n\\nI kept challenging myself in new things that I had never thought of doing or resisted doing (sometimes out of fear or because of lack of confidence). Now I volunteer to teach Yoga in a charity organisation. It's been more than 4 years since I started teaching in India and Abroad(Qatar) as well. \\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nI have become more aware of my feelings and the emotions deep down. So I begin to understand myself more out of this Yoga journey. Thanks to every master and every fellow practitioner I have met along the journey. I have learnt a lot from each of them. I believe that the right things will unfold at the right time.I believe keeping practising without setting any rigid goals while experiencing along the journey is more precious. It is a simple but deep and meaningful statement. The way we practise Yoga will affect the way we live our lives. Don’t give ourselves too much pressure. Don’t take things too seriously. Learn to undertake challenges playfully. Balancing between persistence and letting go will go a long way in every aspect of our lives. We will feel the joy when gratefulness fosters naturally.\\n\\nYoga is the union of body, mind and soul. My practice has been transformed from a physical exercise to more a practice of awareness of my feelings and emotions. I have changed my approach to practice by having a thankful mind with a focus on feeling every part of my body and my breath. There is still a long way to go on the journey, but I am sure I am heading in a joyful path, no matter how the external environment evolves. The seed of joy has sprouted inside me.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-07-27T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Mamatha GP","pictureUrl":"IMG_20200601_214146-1.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"mamatha-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga – A companion for life !","coverUrl":"IMG-20200317-WA0030.jpg","slug":"yoga-a-companion-for-life","content":{"text":"Having seen a loved one go through a terminal illness in my family, I, very early in my life, realized the importance of maintaining good health for living a happy and fuller life.  \\n\\nI suffered from gastric and hormonal related problems for a very long time and taking allopathic medicines only helped in temporarily relieving the symptoms. My demanding corporate job as a marketing professional also added to the mental stress and kept me feeling on the edge most of the time.\\n\\nTo address these issues from their root level, I started to research about natural and sustainable ways of improving my health by reading and talking to people going through similar challenges. As cliched and commonsensical it may sound, I discovered that making changes in my diet and incorporating a workout routine in my lifestyle was what I needed to combat these health issues. \\n\\nGoing to the gym never appealed to me and hence I decided to give yoga practice a try. What intrigued me about \\nYoga\\n was its ancient origin and ability to impact by targeting the root cause of the problem and somewhere I knew, intuitively, that this is the right form of practice which will gel with my overall temperament. \\n\\nI started practising it daily for one hour with the help of a Yoga instructor along with some dietary changes and within 7-8 months, I started to feel its impact on both physical and mental well-being. The flexibility of my body increased making me feel lighter most of the time and I experienced a significant improvement in digestive health. My anxiety levels came down enabling me to stay more grounded, present and connected with myself.\\n\\n \\n\\n\\n\\n\\nIt's been 6 years since I brought Yoga into my life and I cannot emphasize enough on its power to heal you from the core. Last year, organically, I got a strong urge to deepen my understanding of yoga philosophy and developed an inclination to share my knowledge and experience of yoga practice with other people. I figured that to fulfil this desire of helping other people discover the benefits of yoga more systematically, I needed to learn the teaching techniques, the symbolism of the \\nasanas\\n and their effects at the mental and spiritual levels. Hence, I enrolled myself in a super intense teacher training course offered by an internationally recognized and yoga alliance certified Yoga Centre. Spending time at the centre opened a whole new dimension into the world of Yoga for me and my connection with the practice became stronger and deeper, \\n\\nYoga will always mean different things to different people. For me, it has become a way of life and much more than just a set of physical postures. As a teacher, I believe in learning together with my students and structure my class depending on the needs and goals they are looking to address. I would be very happy to be a part of your yoga journey 😊 "},"createdAt":"2020-06-29T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Shikha","pictureUrl":"shikha-pro.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"shikha-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"International Yoga Day!","coverUrl":"int-yoga-day-123.jpg","slug":"international-yoga-day","content":{"text":"We're celebrating International Yoga Day this weekend! \\nSo you'll see a bunch of special classes (for this weekend only)!\\n\\nYou see, the purpose of International Yoga Day is to raise awareness of the benefits of yoga — \\nto bring peace, health and joy to every human being.\\n\\nOn top of the regular schedule, you'll see these special \\nInternational Yoga Day\\n classes.\\n\\nThey're easy to spot because they all have \"International Yoga Day\" in the name. \\nThe one's listed below are all free!\\n\\n\\nSaturday June 20th\\n\\n🧘 \\nCandle-Guided Meditation\\n (7:30 PM PST / 10:30 PM EST)Tratak is a \\nmeditation\\n technique in the practice of yoga to help concentrate on the visual stimulus of a candle flame in order to bring the mind to focus. In addition, it also cleanses the eyes, strengthens the eye muscles, and improves vision, concentration, and memory. It even helps in improving the quality of sleep. Tratak is practiced in a room with dim lights by focusing on a candle flame and stabilizing the breath. Requirements: candle, matchstick/lighter, table of height almost similar to the height of your eyes when sitting on mat/cushion, a slightly dark room.\\n\\nSunday June 21st\\n\\nYoga for Balancing and Deep Stretch\\n (7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EDT)This class offers strength postures that will have you moving, breathing, and sweating.This class focuses on building and engaging your core strength to support you in more advanced postures. Yoga strengthens, balances and exhilarates the body and mind!\\n\\nKids Yoga Party!!!\\n (8:30 AM PST/ 11:30 AM EST)Get ready for some fun challenges, new activities and games!! We welcome you to \\nKids Yoga\\n party for celebrating International Yoga day!!\\n\\n108 Sun Salutations\\n (10 AM PST / 1 PM EDT)During this session, we will work on flowing with the breath and challenging ourselves by working on our physical and mental endurance. We will focus on warmup and kick-start with doing a few sun salutations. Then, gradually we increase to reach our goal of 108 sun salutations!\\n\\n🧘 \\nMeditation & Deep Relaxation\\n (7:30 PM PST / 10:30 PM EDT)In this class, we will begin with a few rounds of breathing, including A Kara chanting & awareness. We will move through A - U - M chants to help us find our peaceful and aware state of Samadhi.\\n\\nAgain, if you'd like to save your spot in any of these special (and free) classes, you can click here now! \\n\\nHope to see you there!\\n\\nAnd happy \\nInternational Yoga Day \\n/ weekend! \\n"},"createdAt":"2020-06-20T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Jitendra","pictureUrl":"jitendra1.png","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Letter from Jitendra (CEO and co-founder of myYogaTeacher)","coverUrl":"jitendra-family.jpg","slug":"letter-from-jitendra-ceo-and-co-founder-of-myyogateacher","content":{"text":"\"If you want to reach your goals, the WHY is always more important than the HOW.\"This letter to you isn't short but you'll want to read it. Because it could be the start of a life-changing process for you. It was for me...\\n\\nYou see, when I was starting my first company, I was living a super unhealthy lifestyle.\\n\\nI was smoking cigarettes, binge eating and then pushing myself to run like a maniac. I'd exercise to the point of exhaustion and then go right back to eating a carton of doughnuts!\\n\\nThis is how I dealt with the stress of starting my first company. And to be honest, it was much worse on my family.\\n\\nFor 7 years I was just a body at the dinner table. My daughters would bubble with excitement about their day at school. And I would barely respond, \"uh huh\". They were instantly deflated. They'd repeat themselves 3 or 4 times and I still wouldn't be able to listen...\\n\\nI LOVE my daughters, I care about them, and I wanted to listen! But it felt like a train was steaming through my head and running off the tracks... My mind was out of control!\\n\\nMy body was there, but I was completely unavailable for my wife, my kids, and everything outside of work. No bedtime stories, no basketball games, nothing like that.\\n\\nI was missing the highlights of their lives... of our lives!\\n\\nI knew I needed to be more present. I needed to be less stressed. I needed to be healthier and more available for my family. But I had too much work to take care of.\\n\\nI wanted to be the father for my girls, that my dad was for me. I wanted them to know they're loved, to be a meaningful part of their life. And I want them to have amazing memories of us for the rest of their lives...\\n\\nBut I was failing. I couldn't balance work and family. I couldn't balance health and taking care of my responsibilities.\\n\\nNearly 10 years of this! I had to do something...\\n\\nSo I decided to join a yoga studio. I thought \"I'll get in shape AND reduce my stress!\" Sounds great, doesn't it?\\n\\n... It wasn't that simple. The studio classes were generalized. It was more about the class and style of yoga than it was about me and my needs. I wasn't seeing any results.\\n\\nSo pretty soon, I was back to the gym and discount yoga classes at The Y... the random gym-class schedule never quite worked for me. I'd always have to miss out because of a meeting or something like that.\\n\\nThen a friend told me about 1-on-1 private sessions with a yoga teacher. He said it's kinda like my own personal trainer, but for yoga!\\n\\nI was super excited and hopeful again!\\n\\nSo I started...\\n\\nNow I was finally getting results! She gave me constant motivation. She kept me accountable. And she helped me to be consistent.\\n\\nThe sessions were personalized to my needs. And that alone made a world of difference.\\n\\nI was less stressed, toning up, and feeling like 26 year old me (instead of 46 year old me)!\\n\\nBut it was $100 a session, and I stil had to drive to the studio. It just wasn't sustainable. So pretty soon I had to quit...\\n\\nThen one day, I mentiond all this to a friend. Do you know what she told me? She was doing 1-on-1 sessions ONLINE with a teacher in India! ... Genius!\\n\\nRight away I reached out to my friends back home (I'm from India) and asked them to put me in contact with a teacher.\\n\\nI was hooked! I was getting 1-on-1 sessions for a fraction of the cost! The sessions were in my home. No baby sitter required, no driving, no class full of people to feel awkward in front of. Just me and my teacher.\\n\\nBut the scheduling was a pain.\\n\\nWe'd write about a dozen emails back-and-forth just to pin down a time for one session. Then my schedule would change and we'd go through the whole process again. (So annoying!)\\n\\n\"You know, I didn't go into business just to make money. I want to contribute something meaningful to the world.\"I knew this was big. I knew I had to do something drastic. So I handed off my company to a friend, and hired a team of developers to start building myYogaTeacher.\\n\\nOver the next year we streamlined all the technology and the scheduling!\\n\\nNow anyone can have the most affordable 1-on-1 private yoga sessions. And easy online access to amazing Indian teachers.\\n\\nI've been practicing with myYogaTeacher at least 2 or 3 times per week for the last year and half. And my family will tell you, it's made all the difference.\\n\\nI'm healthier than ever. I haven't smoked a single cigarette for 14 months. I'm even working on my headstand!\\n\\nAnd I almost never get stressed. When I do start feeling a bit stressed, I take a 1-hr yoga session and reset.\\n\\nBut the best part is, I'm happier and finally here for my family. I make breakfast every morning for my girls. I help them with their math homework and even coach their basketball team!\\n\\nI am present for my family. I'm the father I want to be.\\n\\nAnd I am so grateful to my yoga teachers who have helped make this happen. I sincerely hope you love your trial with myYogaTeacher and it's the start of a HUGE transformation for you too!\\n\\nThanks for taking the time to read this letter. And...\\n\\nRemember your WHY!Jitendra\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-06-03T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Jitendra","pictureUrl":"jitendra1.png","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Begin Again","coverUrl":"anushacover.jpg","slug":"begin-again","content":{"text":"By Anusha\\n\\nBeing professionally a Doctor my yoga journey started a little over a decade ago, just with Asanas or physical postures. That was irregular too. Since balancing profession and passion was a difficult task. Then I found a way. 3 years back it all started. I started attending retreats and got exposed to different places of yoga. And it's then I changed. I wanted to go deep into this path of \\nyoga\\n and spirituality. I did my TTC and started teaching students from different countries and with different languages as I love traveling. Also conducted many workshops and retreats. Then I wanted to expand my teaching and reach people staying far. So decided to take online classes. All I want is to give the best of my knowledge to my students.\\n\\n‘Am learning too! ’, is the key for me to teach my students. We all are learning in different ways. I cannot promise you that I 'll make your dreams come true, but I can promise that I will definitely make a way for you to achieve your dreams.\\n\\nMy classes are always a combination of asanas/physical posture, \\npranayama/\\nmeditation. And the structure of each session is primarily based on every student’s requirements and goals. With details including body alignment, breath and mindfulness for every practice. A practice very important for your physical and mental health. Its ok if you are too young or too old to \\nstart yoga\\n. Your age, health, race, etc., doesn’t matter, you can always find a way. We all have that phase in life which lead us to start over again and again. It’s never too late. No matter what’s happened to you, you can always begin again."},"createdAt":"2020-05-19T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Anusha","pictureUrl":"anushacover.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"anusha-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"The Direction of Yoga","coverUrl":"Umesh-Feature-image.jpg","slug":"the-direction-of-yoga","content":{"text":"\\nThere was an immense surge of energy and a sense of lightness in being me. I was dripping like it was hot summer. I was so aware of my body, my mind, and my breath. I wanted more of it. There was this beautiful rush I felt throughout and when it was time for ‘Shavasana’. I could not stop myself being one with the stars and the galaxies as I closed my eyes. It was magical! I was smiling! I was happy! I had finished my first Yoga class! Almost two decades later…with the same smile, I’m here with you sharing how it all began.\\n\\nMy background in movement arts started in 1997 when my parents enrolled me to study martial arts because I beat up my school mate when he teased me. As lame as it may sound, I was pretty hurt and suppressed as I held onto my emotions. I was all bottled up and quite. The training began with stances, alignment, breathing, and striking with the foot and hand. My reflexes were required to develop into responses rather than unsystematic reactions. I was jumping, rolling, learning to break a fall. It all became second nature to me. Over the next few years, I improved multifold not only physically but mentally and emotionally. I was taught about – ‘Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control, and Indomitable Spirit’. These were lessons for life.\\n\\nWhat had changed in me was that I turned out more disciplined with awareness. The boy who I beat up was friends with me again because I went up to him and apologized. I had learned to forgive and be empathetic. And, that felt good to me. It was on the same campus where dance was taught. The sound of Indian percussion music aroused a passion for dance. Now I was both shadowboxing and ‘shadow dancing’ with postures I did not even have a name for. They looked aesthetic and pleasing to me. I knew I had an eye for detail and articulation.\\n\\nFrom 2001 to 2014 I have been a contemporary dancer, performing across the globe. Through this, I learned more about ‘rasas’ and stage presence. I gained further insight into human anatomy, musculature, injury prevention, and nutrition. Martial arts and dance are such a beautiful combination together. They are like two sides of a coin to me. One you defend yourself with and with the other you express and communicate. Oh yes! I specialized in sculpture making in my Arts College. It was all a beautiful alignment to understand the human body. It was at this juncture that I started learning Yoga to prevent injuries and to focus inwards.\\n\\nThe spiritual search for clarity began with Yoga and there has been no end to the possibilities it opened up within and outside. I’m grateful to all the teachers and schools who have given me this knowledge and to the students who I learn from as I teach. I will always remember the very first \\nYoga class\\n which has taken me till here with a smile.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nThe chanting of the ‘mantras’ at the beginning of a class invoked a sense of being in the present and thanking the almighty creator, the universe, and its elements. India has had such a rich heritage, deep culture, and its own mystique to it. Who knew that this would be Yoga? Why these postures? How are these postures, mudras, yogic breathing, and uses backed by medical and scientific research and analysis in the present day? \\n\\nIt amazes and intrigues me as more advanced scientific and medical data proves and shows that Yoga is a must for everybody. For example, the risks arising from cardiovascular diseases are reduced with the practice of certain ‘\\nasanas\\n’ and ‘pranayama’. Apart from making me physically flexible, strong, and supple, Yoga has helped me heal mentally and emotionally. My emotions are sometimes on a surge because I am human. Even if it does surge for a few seconds, it automatically brings me back into a sense of calmness and blissful focus. I look inwards and question myself. I try to be in the present and practice mindfulness with every step, bite, and breath. I have learned to amalgamate the nuances and technique of martial art and dance into \\nYoga\\n and I have noticed in my own practice and the inner feelings of my students who express so well saying they feel heroic and they feel unknown beautiful serenity. They feel relaxed and accomplished at the end of the class. That is so true because I feel the same! My life has been full of art and movement. The compass is always pointing towards Yoga. Simply put, Yoga unifies the mind and body. Uplifting our spirit and energizing us, it aligns everything possible for us in a positive way. This ancient art of Yoga was made for all of us to practice with an open heart regardless of age. We will have a clear direction then. And, that is Yoga, the most beautiful path! I hope you like my journey so far here. Looking forward to seeing you often! Stay Blessed, Namaste!\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-05-15T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Umesh Balavaradaraju","pictureUrl":"sbx7hdb2bzbkpgvdqmiu.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"umesh-2"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"When Yoga became the Aim of my Life","coverUrl":"sakshi1.jpg","slug":"when-yoga-became-the-aim-of-my-life","content":{"text":"\\nAfter suffering from TB and pneumonia for almost a year, I remember feeling desperate to get out of this miserable condition. Till this date I’d never practiced yoga, only heard it could cure and bring good health. I also thought it was about certain asanas only. I needed to do something to get out of it for once and for all so I decided to join one of the century old school, The Yoga institute to start 900 hrs of intense Hatha \\nyoga training \\nstraight out of my sickness, and what happened next was truly the best thing that could’ve happened, the sickness turned out only to be a big best blessing in disguise. It was like through my sickness I was preparing for yoga, and through Yoga, I not only understood why I felt sick but I also completely healed myself. \\n\\n\\n\\n\\nYoga for me was coming home to myself. Taking 100% responsibility for my actions, starting a tremendous love affair with myself. It has only been life-transforming for good. I never started \\nYoga\\n to become a teacher, it just came naturally and now this attempt of teaching yoga is only with the intention of walking everyone home, to a safe place within ourselves, full of creativity, compassion and celebration engulfed in absolute silence, even amidst the chaos. It’s like waking up from a dream and seeing everything for the 1st time and laughing at the whole gameplay of the universe! Then Little things start bringing great joy, and the secret lies in simply being aware that you’re aware. Yoga is a journey to attuning yourself with your higher awareness. It’s about a deeper understanding of your own true nature. The beauty of this journey is going from the known the unknown, from gross to subtle, so subtle that there is no difference between you and the divine. \\n\\nYoga is not just doing \\nasanas\\n and finding peace of mind, these are just by-products, the ultimate aim of Yoga is \"Samadhi\". \"Samadhi\" means transcending the duality to merge with one consciousness. I invite you to take this leap of faith and jump with me to take a ride in the infinity. I invite you to take the 1st step: START.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-05-12T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Sakshi Jain","pictureUrl":"SAKSHI.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"sakshi-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Turning my whole life around with Yoga","coverUrl":"b055cca2-fd74-44f2-ae4f-411a740a47da.jpg","slug":"turning-my-whole-life-around-with-yoga","content":{"text":"\\nPrior to writing “Ramayana”, Valmiki was known as Ratnakara – a highway robber. It is said that he obtained knowledge by repeating the name of Sri Rama in the reverse. The story narrates the glory of the name Rama.\\n\\nRatnakara spent his time in the forest, looting travelers. One day he attacked a group of seven saints who had nothing to offer to the robber other than the name of “Rama”.\\n\\nThe seven sages told about the glory of the name Rama and the treasure it can unfold. They told him that the name is the key to the true treasure of life.\\n\\nRatnakara was so immersed in his wrongdoings that he was unable to utter the word “Rama.” \\n\\nAs a solution, the sages then asked him to repeat the name in the reverse order. Thus, Ratnakara started chanting the name: Mara.\\n\\nMara…Mara…Mara soon became Rama… Rama…Rama.\\n\\nOver time, Ratnakara became so fond of repeating the name that he became a pious saint.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nI am no saint but the above story is quite true in my life. Years ago, I was a staunch non-believer of God or spirituality and never cared about the world around me. Arrogance was my second name. My world was a fantasy and I was the protagonist. I did all possible sins that landed me in trouble many times and I constantly succeeded in annoying people with my tantrums. \\n\\nI lived as I pleased and nothing more mattered. Living like there was no tomorrow, I enjoyed everything the material world had to offer. I was a heavy smoker and drinker, and I ate meat every day. Unhealthy food and lifestyle habits wrecked my body, causing health issues and damaging my immune system to the degree I was sick more often than not. I took pills all my life and overmedicated myself at the slightest sign of discomfort.\\n\\nWhen the Bollywood movie, Sanju, was released, my friends said it reminded them of me. It was a wakeup call. I felt ashamed at that moment because I realised how painful that would have been for my parents. A totally ignorant life.\\n\\nI didn’t have to be reborn to be like Valmiki, rather maybe I am one of the few to have realised what is the real purpose of life. My new path wasn’t immediate, however. When my wife did her Teachers’ Training course, I didn’t try simple things that she asked me to. Even my own TTC wasn’t for the right reasons at first. I wanted to earn money and be independent, because I was moving to the US for good. \\n\\nLittle did I know that the 3 months course would be transformative and change the value system in me. I started looking at life with a completely different lens. As an actor on stage for many years, I had become very critical about life but \\nYoga\\n gave me a different perspective towards humanity. I started appreciating the beauty of life and loving people. \\n\\nPhysical practices brought a lot of confidence and eliminated health issues gradually and in fact, I could overcome some very serious injuries in my body like Coccydynia and because of a major train accident in childhood, I had multiple fractures on my left foot, fracture in the pelvic bone, dislocation in my left shoulder and many other fractures, bruises, stitches on my entire body. The simple technique of Jalaneti made my immune system strong and I no longer rely on medication-- I haven’t had a cold in three years. The magic of \\nyoga\\n astounded me and gave me the humility I desperately needed.\\n\\nWhen I saw these changes in my life, it gave me the faith to believe in a higher reality and recognize the truth in the scriptures. My relatives and friends don’t recognise me anymore because my life has taken a 360 degree turn and my bad habits and vices are gone for good. Yoga gave me firm determination to never go back and suffer. I never thought I would be doing headstands and teaching philosophy to students from all across the globe at The Yoga Institute for TTC, but here I am. I’m pursuing my Masters in \\nYoga\\n from SVYASA University. \\n\\nI am not telling all this to gain fame or boost my ego because that truly is the last thing I want. If my story can help some and work as an eye opener, I will be fulfilled. I can’t change my past but I have the power to shape my future because I am living consciously in the present. If I could do it, then anyone in this world can do it. I give this credit to all my teachers and students, without whom I would not have been able to learn more and change my life. I thank my family for supporting me in everything, my faith in Sai Baba and the courage I get from reading Swami Vivekananda.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-05-12T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Rohan Shroff","pictureUrl":"qrgfegrgnhqevaotkukn.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"rohan-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"What Style of Yoga is Right for Me?","coverUrl":"pexels-photo-823694.jpeg","slug":"what-style-of-yoga-is-right-for-me","content":{"text":"\\n\\nStarting out on your yoga journey might leave you feeling lost. Beyond where to find your yoga instruction (a studio? online?), you have to navigate what type of yoga is right for you. Here, we’ll dive into six different types of yoga that you can try from the comfort of your own home. Many yogis choose more than one to do regularly— so don’t worry if you’re drawn to a few options! \\n\\n1. Ashtanga\\n\\nYou might have seen \\nAshtanga\\n Yoga touted by popular Instagram yogis like @kinoyoga and @fitqueenirene. Their strength and confidence are intoxicating, and it’s no surprise that they both have roots in the challenging, demanding practice of Ashtanga yoga. Traditionally, Ashtanga uses one set sequence and takes its practitioners deep into each pose, using many vinyasas to raise the heart rate and increase the physical exertion of the class. I call Ashtanga “hardcore” because it involves really settling into demanding poses. A beginner might use the sequence as a “goal”, something to one day be able to go through without stopping— while an advanced yogi can challenge themselves by moving deeper into poses and activating even their smallest muscles in accordance to their instructor’s guidance. \\n\\n2. Vinyasa\\n\\nModern yoga as we see it is mainly Vinyasa-style yoga, because there is a flow and freedom to the sequencing. There is no set sequence to Vinyasa yoga, though many teachers incorporate a beginning meditation, core/warmup work, a few standing flows, and backbends or inversions before savasana. Because of this, Vinyasa yoga is easily adapted to one’s abilities and goals. If you are a beginner, a Vinyasa yoga teacher may stick to some simpler poses, moving through Warriors and Twists so you can get the foundations of the practice. If you are an advanced yogi, however, you might see a Vinyasa teacher guiding you through arm balances, handstands, and one-legged poses. Vinyasa is easily adaptable for the student, and because of that it is one of my favorite yoga styles to teach.\\n\\n3. Yin\\n\\n\\nYin yoga\\n is like a spa experience for your body and mind. In Yin, practitioners spend several minutes in supported poses, using props like bolsters and blocks (or for at-home yogis, pillows and even books!) This helps muscles truly release, tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system and encouraging the body to let go of any stress it may be holding. At the end of a Yin class, I often feel as though I’ve just had a day at a spa— I feel loose and light on my feet. This is a great class for both beginners and seasoned yogis alike— the practice truly meets you at your level, whatever that might be.\\n\\n4. Hatha\\n\\nHatha is more or less an umbrella term for any class that takes you through asanas, or physical poses. It can mean anything, although in most cases it is slower-paced and more gentle than Vinyasa or Ashtanga yoga. A lot of beginners flock to Hatha yoga because of its accessibility— Hatha yoga instructors emphasize teaching body alignment in foundational poses. But even non-beginners should take note: when scientists study the benefits of yoga, they often focus on Hatha yoga because of its healing capabilities and its accessibility. If you’d like to learn more about Hatha yoga’s benefits, see our article on yoga and immunity! \\n\\n5. Kundalini\\n\\nI remember the first time I ever went to a Kundalini yoga class. It was actually one of my first yoga classes ever, and as a bashful high schooler I was immediately cautious about the chanting and meditation that comes with Kundalini. Yet, afterwards  I felt empowered— as if I’d tapped into an energy bigger than myself. That is what Kundalini is all about— linking breath, meditation, and poses to connect to spirituality. Practitioners love it for directing energy and bringing guidance and motivation to the mindfulness journey. Expect to see the more spiritual side of yoga in a Kundalini class— you likely won’t break a sweat, but will leave feeling transformed and revitalized. I recommend it for anyone regardless of their religion; yoga is around for as long as it has been in large part because it allows one to clear through the chaos of everyday life. Kundalini takes that awareness to the next level.\\n\\n6. Iyengar\\n\\n\\nIyengar yoga\\n was developed in the 20th century by BKS Iyengar, but its newness doesn’t take away from what is a soon-to-be classical practice. Iyengar yoga is a refreshing form of yoga that utilizes props in new and novel ways, moving its practitioners through long pose holds and therapeutic flows. A highlight of Iyengar yoga is its precision: teachers aim to fine-tune each muscle of your body so it sets perfectly into every pose. Iyengar yoga is great for every level, and I think it shines most for those looking to develop intense core strength, those looking to work around injury, and those (like me) who love how props can change a practice. \\n\\nNo matter what yoga style you choose, it’s important to remember that choosing to practice yoga is a step in the direction of improving your health, stress levels, and even how you view the world. We offer all of these styles and more, and our teachers can guide you towards any physical and mental goals you may have. No matter which style you choose, have a happy practice and enjoy the process! \\n"},"createdAt":"2020-05-08T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Jitendra","pictureUrl":"jitendra1.png","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"When Yoga happened Suddenly...","coverUrl":"","slug":"when-yoga-happened-suddenly","content":{"text":"By Priya \\n\\nMy first exposure to yoga was when I was in grade, during a summer camp.\\n\\nI was awestruck, watching the instructor demonstate different postures. I thought jalaneti (water-based nasal cleansing) was magic!\\n\\nAt that point, I wanted to learn yoga ..\\n\\nWhen I delivered my daughter some years ago, I realized the impact of yoga during my post natal and motherhood experience.\\n\\nAt that point, I wanted to teach yoga..\\n\\nI then went to yoga school to get qualified academically, learnt several new aspects, met new people and unravelled the wonder of spirituality, value education, yoga therapy, naturopathy and overall health.\\n\\nYoga has been my companion over the years, guiding me through anxiety, weight issues, deadline pressures, parenting blues, and injuries.\\n\\nYoga has had a major influence on me and I am passionate about sharing this broadly.\\n\\nThere is something in this for everyone and the magic continues .. \\n\\nOm, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-05-05T00:00:00+00:00","author":null,"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Finding Yoga in the Heart of Winter","coverUrl":"winter.jpg","slug":"finding-yoga-in-the-heart-of-winter","content":{"text":"Before we dive into the article, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Charlotte, and I’ll be writing some blog posts for \\nMyYogaTeacher.com\\n. I’m beyond excited to share my words with you, starting with my yoga journey:\\n\\n When I was in high school, I was constantly focused on body image. There were myriad ways to spend my time better than worrying about how I dressed, how I looked, and a number on the scale— but due to a mix of tabloid magazines and TV shows, that is what I thought about.\\n\\nI was also obsessed with exercise, and because of this my mom got me a book on yoga poses. It was probably her not so subtle hint to slow down, to enjoy these years where the biggest thing I had to worry about was school. And it worked— kind of. I followed some of the poses in the book, and eventually did stop obsessing over looks and popularity. I enjoyed my high school years.\\n\\nSeemingly, I forgot about the book and about yoga in general until a friend asked me if I wanted to go to a hip hop yoga class at a studio near my college. I said “sure”, and was absolutely blown away. Not only were the intense \\nvinyasa\\n poses set to hip hop beats, but it was blacklight yoga! That made the experience seem like a spiritual party— the white leggings I’d worn glowed and the room was vibrant with color. At the end of the class, sweaty and subdued after a perfect savanna, I had changed my mind about yoga. It was really cool. \\n\\nThat fondness, and the studio, stayed in my heart as I trained for obstacle course races and half marathons. Then, post-college, I was on a trail run after work one day when I fell hard on my ankle. Running the rest of the way down the mountain wasn’t the hardest part. The hardest part was learning I’d fractured my ankle, and that I’d have to take it easy for a while.\\n\\nExercise had been my one outlet for stress, and it had empowered me to see myself and my body outside of just physical looks. Over the years, I saw my body as something that could take me through mountains, races, and more. I wanted to run ultramarathons, and now that vision was slipping away from me.\\n\\nBut the universe provided as it always does. A friend from college who I hadn’t seen in years reached out to me— the studio that I loved was offering a month for only $45. We started going every day. We were absolutely hooked. We grew inseparable, and yoga was a huge part of our friendship. It made us as close as sisters, and to this day, even when we live in other states, we are just as close. \\n\\nYoga became my routine— no day was complete without it. Having instructors who knew me by name, who cared about my journey, brought me closer to my \\nyoga practice\\n every day. Soon I learned they were offering a teacher training, and I leapt at the opportunity. I’d known I wanted to change career paths for a while, and this came at the perfect time.\\n\\nYoga Teacher Training, or YTT, was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. I was working overtime at my job as an art teacher, and weekends were spent doing the training. Beyond that, it was the winter in Boston— and with that came cold, snowy weather that sucked the energy out of the city. I wanted desperately to curl up in bed for a whole day with a book and a chai latte, but I couldn’t. Still, it was the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. \\n\\nAs the spring arrived, so did our graduation. Soon I taught classes and transitioned to teaching full time. This was in 2017 and I’ve been teaching yoga ever since.\\n\\nMy yoga journey has brought me so many positive people that I now call friends. It took me out of my college years, where even though I kept myself in shape I drank heavily and didn’t treat my body well. Yoga gave me a profession that I adore, and a confidence that comes with breaking the normal career route. \\n\\nI’ve taught yoga in four states now, and I cannot wait to teach it in more. One day I’d like to run yoga retreats in Costa Rica or Panama, somewhere that feels like an escape. Some days I feel exhausted, but I’ve had so many clients come up to me and tell me that I helped them heal from injuries, or I taught them how to love their body just the way it is. That keeps me going no matter what. \\n\\nI don’t look like a traditional \\nyoga teacher\\n, or even a traditional yogi. I’m in shape, but I’m also curvy. I have rose-colored hair and a few tattoos. I’ve seen very few people that look like me in yoga magazines and Lululemon ads. But that’s okay. \\n\\nYou don’t have to look one way or another to be a yogi. You don’t have to dress a certain way, or believe in a certain thing. We have people in yoga who practice the spirituality right down to their diet (vegan and Ayurvedic), and others who come in wearing vintage rock and roll t-shirts and hot pink bike shorts. \\n\\nThe only thing you need to be a yogi is to try yoga. Let yourself fall in love with it. Let passionate, educated teachers guide you through poses and meditations. You don’t need to change who you are, but you might just change your life.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-04-23T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Charlotte","pictureUrl":null,"teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Let your yoga begin","coverUrl":"Poonam-Shah.jpg","slug":"let-your-yoga-begin","content":{"text":"My yoga journey started a little over a decade ago, just with asanas or \\nphysical\\n \\npostures\\n. And now, it's become a way of living for me and my family!\\n\\nAsanas are just one aspect that most of us start with, but I promise, you leave each session with so much more! My classes are a combination of physical postures, breathing exercises, and \\nmeditation\\n. And the structure of each session is primarily based on each client's requirements and goals. There's a lot of detail included such as body alignment, breathing technique, and mindfulness for each practice.\\n\\nHaving my MBA, I was in corporate finance for a long time. I am a mother of two. The reason I mentioned this is I know we all have some of the other challenges in each phase of life, so making the best of our fitness session becomes especially important for our physical and \\nmental health\\n.\\n\\n||Athah Yoganushasanam|| which means... Let your yoga begin! \\n"},"createdAt":"2020-04-22T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Poonam","pictureUrl":"Poonam-Shah.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"poonam-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"How to setup at home for your online group class!","coverUrl":"","slug":"how-to-setup-at-home-for-your-online-group-class","content":{"text":"Congratulations! You've signed up for an online group class with us. Are you excited about seeing new faces or the chance to find peace at home? \\n\\nHaven't signed up yet for a FREE group class? CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED.\\n\\nTo make your experience as stress-free and wonderful as possible, here are a few tips to get started!\\n\\nChoose a room with enough space and good lighting. You'll want about 10 feet away from your computer so that \\n"},"createdAt":"2020-03-18T00:00:00+00:00","author":null,"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Free LIVE Online Group Classes","coverUrl":"1-0n-1-GIF.gif","slug":"free-live-group-classes","content":{"text":"We are offering Free Group Classes\\n\\n[CTA-FREECLASS]\\n\\n\\n\\nAt \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n our fundamental mission is to help people.\\n\\nIt seems like there is a lot of confusion, panic and uncertainty with the coronavirus right now.\\n\\nEspecially in times like this - yoga, meditation and breath practices can help. These practices help you feel calm, increase your immunity, and your overall health.\\n\\nWe want to help. So we've been hustling like crazy and pulling all-nighters to put this together.\\n\\nIn our pursuit for helping,  we are offering absolutely free group classes. No credit card required, no obligation to sign up after, nothing like that.\\n\\n... ... Honestly, I'm struggling to write this. You see I'm not interested in fear mongering. So I'm going to avoid saying anything about the state of things right now.\\n\\n\"The reason why you don't put your hand in the fire is not because of fear, it's because you know you'll get burned. You don't need fear to avoid an unnecessary danger, just a minimum of intelligence and common sense.\" - Eckhart Tolle\\n\\nSo, if like many others you are taking the precaution of Social Distance seriously. Then you'll probably benefit from these group classes.\\n\\nLike all our offerings, these classes are online. So you can take yoga, \\nmeditation\\n, or breath-work classes from the comfort and safety of your own home.\\n\\nAs long as we can manage it, this offer is Open To All and Completely Free. So please invite anyone you know who can benefit from these online classes - your friends, family and all loved ones. They are very welcome to join us.\\n\\nEven if you've already completed a free trial (of private 1on1 sessions) with us, or you signed up for the trial but never started, or you are currently a My Yoga Teacher Member - YOU ARE INVITED TOO!\\n\\nAfter the \\nsignup\\n, you'll see a special section to book group classes - go there and pick any class you'd like.\n⁠\\nWe're scrambling to contact our teachers and add many more classes.We're adding times, teachers, and styles so you'll have tons of options soon!\\n\\nThanks for reading this, we wish you well.\\n\\nWith Care,The Entire MyYogaTeacher team\\n\\nPS: Please share this post with everyone who will want to practice yoga, meditation, or just keep up with their fitness in this time.\\n\\nYou can tell them \"MyYogaTeacher offers \\nonline yoga classes\\n with live teachers (it works much better than you might think). The teachers are kind-hearted and extremely knowledgeable. \\nClick here to sign up for live group yoga classes online.\\n\"\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-03-14T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Will","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"will-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Our body is a temple","coverUrl":"jyoti.jpg","slug":"our-body-is-a-temple","content":{"text":"Since I was a kid, I wanted to avoid the problems I saw in others. I remember hearing people say that medications and pills had side effects or after they went through surgeries or operations that their body just doesn't feel right anymore. I didn't want that future for myself. \\n\\nI believe that medicine and surgery can fix things. But, there is definitely a problem with our lifestyle that we actually need to fix. \\n\\nMy mom was was diagnosed with a slipped disc when I was younger. I remember that when I looked it up online, it was very common! There are more than 20 million cases per year! There must be something else we can fix with our lifestyle to help this.\\n\\nWe don't usually take care of our bodies. It's a blessing that we take for granted. Our sleeping habits, eating habits, bad posture and etc. impacts so much. We don't even realize.  \\n\\nAll these questions have one answer \"\\nYOGA\\n\".\\n\\nYoga is so much more then just a workout that we do for an hour in the morning. I believe yoga has all the solutions to the physical, mental and emotional stress.\\n\\nI am learning everyday and can't explain how grateful I am!\\n\\nI completed my graduation and masters in IT and I was working as a data analyst. I was happy but I realized I would be happier if I could help people with this gift of Yoga.\\n\\nSo, I did my teachers training course along with various certification in yoga and I am glad I took this decision. Yoga helps with:\\n\\n\\nBad posture\\n\\n\\nAlignment \\n\\nStiffness\\n\\nWeight loss\\n\\n\\nStress\\n\\n\\nAnxiety\\n\\n\\nDepression\\n, etc.\\n\\nYoga is all about realising that your body is a temple and we need to be grateful for it by taking care of it.\\n\\nYou can book a session directly with me by \\nCLICKING HERE!\\n\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-02-25T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Jyoti","pictureUrl":"jyoti-pro.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"jyoti-3"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Real People, Real Talk: Curious about myYogaTeacher?","coverUrl":"tyler-nix-JPGS3UGKKag-unsplash-1.jpg","slug":"real-people-real-talk","content":{"text":"You might be just getting to know us. And we're happy you are here. \\n\\nWe're dedicated to improving the lives of every student on our platform. We know this sounds big and maybe just a little over the top - but it's true. \\n\\nAnd it's starting to happen. \\n\\n\\n\\n\\nWe wanted to add these testimonials here for the world to see. Here are some real students, giving us some real talk about how myYogaTeacher has been a huge help in their lives. \\n\\nWe're excited. And we hope you are too. \\n"},"createdAt":"2020-02-25T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Jitendra","pictureUrl":"jitendra1.png","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Elemental, chemical and energetic shifts","coverUrl":"Aswathy-rotated-e1582225936289.jpg","slug":"elemental-chemical-and-energetic-shifts","content":{"text":"I was introduced to yoga at my dance classes as my teacher used to incorporate yoga in our warm up routines. I wanted to increase my flexibility and strength to be a better dancer, so I decided to enroll in a \\nyoga class\\n. \\n\\nI remember my arms quivering while holding downward dog in my first yoga class and yet now it has become a resting pose in my \\nvinyasa \\npractice!\\n\\nIn 2014, I completed my 200 hours of training at Aayana Yoga Academy, Bangalore. It was during this course that I realized there was so much more to yoga than the physical practice I was exposed to. \\n\\nLuckily, I got the opportunity to teach a few classes at Aayana immediately after completing the course. During the first two years of teaching, I only paid attention to the students' physical abilities. I worked on their strength, \\nflexibility\\n, and stamina. My practice remained at the physical level. \\n\\nIn 2018, I went through a challenging phase in my life. I thought that solving the problems in my life would make a difference. When I solved one, I would find a new problem pop up in my life. I reached a state where it had become my day-to-day reality. I thought it was normal to always be bothered by problems. \\n\\nThe same things that gave me joy seemed meaningless. \\n\\nI went through a stage where I felt I was being unfair to my students because I felt that my classes were not good enough. By the end of that year I had reached my limit, so I decided that it was time to make a shift. I enrolled for my 300 hrs training program at Aayana Yoga Academy. \\n\\nIt was one of the most beautiful period in my life. It was three months of regular practice and theory classes. The course transformed my thoughts by giving me good content to think about, making my conversations about new concepts I had learned and creating a new drive within me. \\n\\nI experienced an elemental, chemical and energetic shift within myself. \\n\\nMy practice and teaching changed significantly after the course. I moved from being scared of not being a good teacher to being confident that I have something valuable to offer. \\n\\nIn class, we keep observing our breath, and our thoughts with a detached attitude. \\n\\nIt was only last year that I actually started to bring it to practice in everyday life. Yoga taught me that my physical body, emotions, thoughts, or mind don’t define me. And that my intelligence can be above them all. There are days when I am able to practice this detachment and there are days when I am unable to do so. This journey with yoga will continue and I look forward to delving deeper into this way of life.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-02-20T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Aswathy","pictureUrl":"Aswathy-rotated-e1582225936289.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"aswathy-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Not Just Yoga","coverUrl":"deepak-cover.jpeg","slug":"not-just-yoga","content":{"text":"Early Days \\n\\nI grew up watching my father's Yogic practice. He would get up at 4:30 am and practice until 6:30 am. This initial observation became part of my learning Yoga with him, which I started at the age of 14.\\n\\nMy First Teacher\\n\\nAs I was craving more understanding of Yoga, I met with Sri. Satyavratha, the former President of Bharath Sevadal and one of the Directors of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Bangalore.\\n\\nHe taught me not just how to practice but made me understand why should I \\npractice Yoga\\n! I learned \\nAshtanga Yoga\\n, pranayama and a few meditation techniques.\\n\\nTh daily discussions on Yoga with him generated so much curiosity and interest. This inspired me to join the Yoga University in Bangalore and I completed my Master's Degree in Yogic Education and Therapy.\\n\\nNot just Yoga but the importance of Yogic Life\\n\\nYoga in my life is unique and helps me to break all the limited beliefs - the beliefs that blocked thoughts of achievement. Now I feel more confident, fearless and truly compassionate. \\n\\nNot just Yoga but significance in Lifestyle changes\\n\\nWalking along the Yogic path gives me confidence to try new things. This level of awareness has increased many times and this happens to everyone who walks the path of Yoga. Yoga helps with a better quality of sleep, deep rest, a flexible body and more energy and enthusiasm throughout the day!\\n\\nNot just interest but inspiring self\\n\\nEvery time I teach a class, I learn something new. This has been a continual process. I will never forget the day that I began teaching a 65 year old woman with bronchial asthma. She is now my longest cient and the Yoga practice has removed her need of medication. Teaching her required me to think outside of the box and she is now extremeley happy practicing yoga!\\n\\nNot just practicing but complete Transformation of Life\\n\\nWhenever I practice Yoga, I feel a deep connectivity inside. Initially, I used to just feel it as a physical workout. But as it became a habit, I began to feel an integration between Body and Breath. Practicing this has brought in so much awareness, that I now feel this integration throughout the day. \\n\\nNot just a teacher but giver and contributor \\n\\nIf Yoga has given me one thing its the attitude of GIVING more than getting. I follow \\nKarma yoga\\n, the Path of Dynamic Action. This is making me fearless and has opened up new directions for contribution to society. This courage to give has helped me bond with people and understand their stories. \\n\\nOne incident totally changed my perception about life. I gave an elderly person a ride and he began to ask me about my place, family members, relations. At first, there was so much laughter and exchange of information. Then it started to become serious as I listened to his story.\\n\\nHe was awealthy person that had lost his son, wife, daughter, son-in-law in a road accident. He had given all his wealth to an orphanage and was working in a market selling pumpkins. He told me it gives him so much more joy selling pumpkins than running a corporate business. \\n\\nThat day, he showed me the Power of Without Expectation. I give my 100% in classes and get 100% of Love, Health, Wealth, Happiness and Prosperity. \\n\\nAs the Bhagavat Geeta says:\\n\\nYoga Karmasu Koushalam\\n which means Creativity in Action is Yoga.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-02-10T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Deepak","pictureUrl":"deepak-cover.jpeg","teacherMytSlug":"deepak-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"A Teacher and Practitioner","coverUrl":"raghavendra-cover.jpeg","slug":"a-teacher-and-practitioner","content":{"text":"I have done many things in my life. I come from sports (cricket), acting, modelling, and have been an entrepreneur. I am now a practitioner and teacher of Traditional Classical \\nHatha Yoga\\n,  \\nVinyasa\\n,  \\nAcroyoga\\n and Aerial Yoga. \\n\\nI love teaching, inspiring, motivating people to live a smiling, healthy and challenging life. I guide myself and others to stick to the roots and the basics of life. \\n\\n\\n\\n\\nMy greatest alltime teachers are my Father, Mother, and my Grandfathers who are both doing well at the age of 96 years and so active! Their whole life, they have been Karma and Bhakti Yogis dedicating their lives to service and devotion.\\n\\nYoga is a discipline, a way of life and an experimental science. It is a vast ocean, a process and a path towards an inner journey and self-realization.  \\n\\n\\n\\n\\nI started a Yoga Shala in Bengaluru  called In the Name of Swadhyaya Yoga Institute. We conduct 300-hour teacher training certification (TTC) programs and are affiliated and certified by VYASA. We also teach Brahmavidya, a unique breathing Practice.\\n\\nI am a Certified \\nYoga Instructor\\n from SVYASA and have completed 900 Hrs TTC from 101 Years Oldest The Yoga Institute (Mumbai). I am a Brahmavidya practitione and a Pranic Healer.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-01-20T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Raghavendra","pictureUrl":"raghavendra-pro.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"r-raghavendra-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Why we started myYogaTeacher","coverUrl":"image-1_37.png","slug":"why-i-started-myyogateacher","content":{"text":"\\n\\n\\nHaving started 3 companies, I believe, there are two kinds of startup ideas.\\n\\nFirst, there are ideas that make intellectual sense – I mean ideas where you can think of a need, talk to customers and imagine a way to deliver a service in an economically viable fashion to address that need.\\n\\nBut myYogaTeacher is the second kind of idea. The ideas where you personally feel the need. These are ideas where you feel a sense of \\nmission\\n and you are compelled to pursue them because you feel that the universe and your entire life has been building up for you to bring the idea to reality.\\n\\nYou see – My name – Jitendra – is derived from Sanskrit and it means “one who has control of his senses.” For the most part, I felt I lived up to this but while running my previous startup I found myself miserable and losing control.\\n\\nOn the outside, I had it all together. I owned successful companies, had tons of friends and a great family. I had everything I wanted and worked so hard for … but despite all of that, I had thoughts running like trains in my head I could not control, I was not sleeping well, not exercising enough, counting the days to my next break and feeling like there was more to life. There was something that I was missing. You know what I mean?\\n\\nI felt sad and depressed pretty much every day. My eating habits were terrible and all my efforts to improve fell flat. My mind circled in unhealthy thought patterns that I just couldn’t stop.\\n\\nI didn’t feel good in my body, I didn’t feel good in my mind, and I didn’t feel good in my life.\\n\\nNow, I’m originally from India. Of course I had heard about Yoga since I was a child. Even here in America, Yoga is a big deal. A regular \\nYoga practice\\n creates peace, drastically increases health and well-being and can even help you to lose weight.\\n\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\n\\nThese were all the things I desperately needed.\\n\\nBut, despite knowing all that, I didn’t want to go to a yoga studio! I was out of shape, totally inflexible and just plain self-conscious.\\n\\nMy old friend, who lived in India and practiced Yoga everyday, said the best way to learn yoga was the classic Guru–shishya relationship that has been passed down for generations. To put this in modern terms (and to pass on the outdated “guru” idea), this meant having a connection with a teacher to learn from directly. A teacher who could get to know me and my unique struggles. My friend offered to find someone for me and I agreed.\\n\\nHe delivered!!!\\n\\nHe found me Pranjal, a yoga teacher with 8 years of teaching experience and 1,600 hours of certified teacher training! Yes, you read that correctly – a whopping 1,600 hours of training.\\n\\nBut, she lived in Pune, India and I was in California! So we decided to try practicing through video calls.\\n\\nI was skeptical – Yoga is a physical thing! Was she going to see me well? Would she be able to tell how I was doing and give me the guidance I needed? I was just starting out and was going to need A LOT of help.\\n\\nBut Pranjal was amazing!\\n\\nShe helped me build the strength and \\nflexibility\\n to perform the postures really well. She guided me towards realistic goals. I could feel and notice the improvement in each session.\\n\\nThe flexibility, strength and ability to meet challenging postures in my yoga practice was spilling into my mental health as well.\\n\\nI was happier, calmer and able to make healthier decisions (and stick to them). I was losing weight and the stress from building my businesses practically vanished. I still get stressed but I don’t take it home with me.\\n\\nAfter a few months, I felt ready to go practice in a yoga studio…\\n\\nWhat. A. Disappointment!!!\\n\\nAfter all the 1-on-1 personal attention I was getting from Pranjal, it was a bitter experience to finally feel ready to practice in public. The teacher had no time to focus on me.\\n\\nYeah, she would do (MAYBE) one correction during the class. But nothing more. She didn’t KNOW my body the way Pranjal did. She didn’t help me to set goals or work toward them. She didn’t change the pace of the class when I felt ready to\\n\\nIn the group classes, I was just another one of 30 people the teacher needed to keep track of.\\n\\nAfter a few classes of that, I sprinted back to Pranjal!\\n\\nBut something was off…with all my tech skills and entrepreneurial spirit, I needed to share this with other people. I knew there were tons of people too busy to go to a studio, too shy to practice in front of others. People who need and want the 1-on-1 personal attention that will help them to progress, heal, and grow fast!\\n\\nI knew there were so many people out there ready and waiting for yoga to transform their lives.\\n\\nWith a team of amazing people, I started myYogaTeacher to improve physical and mental well being of the entire planet. To help empower you to take positive steps forward in your life. And even to heal the symptoms of pain and illness that we’ve seen yoga heal.\\n\\nSound’s big, doesn’t it?\\n\\nIt’s a bold mission, but I also know that our teachers have the power to make it a reality for every one of our students. So I brought together a team of awesome engineers to start working on myYogaTeacher.\\n\\nBut, most importantly, I hired a group of scouts in India to find the best yoga teachers in the country.\\n\\nAfter 8 months of hard work, it’s time for the big test! We launched recently and I am so excited to see this venture grow. I value all of my businesses, but helping people improve their physical and mental health through a personal connection to one of the best \\nYoga teachers\\n of the East is close to my heart.\\n\\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\\n\\nI genuinely hope you try and enjoy your time with myYogaTeacher. We would sincerely love to hear from you. Email us, call us or chat with us through the app.\\n\\nYour friends in growth, health and wellbeing!\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-01-18T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Jitendra","pictureUrl":"jitendra1.png","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"A Review from a MyYogaTeacher Member","coverUrl":"1-First-we-check-in.jpg","slug":"a-review-from-a-real-student","content":{"text":"We were just so excited to see Nikki's review of myYogaTeacher that we asked if we could also share it here. We are LOVING her excitement and enthusiasm for finding HER TEACHER!\n⁠\\n[CTA-REVIEWS]\\nGuest post by Nikki Miller\\nWhen the student is ready, the teacher will appear attributed to Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni\\n\\nMaybe you've heard that one? You’re ready to up your yoga game, but where is your teacher? \\n\\nThey’re in your living room.  \\n\\n\\nI mean, not right now (don’t freak out). But they can be in your living room, if you’re ready for one-on-one online yoga instruction, in private, in your home - with a real \\nlive\\n yoga teacher trained in India. \\n\\nConfession: I wasn’t ready. How would that even work? #skeptical\\n\\nI only tried myYogaTeacher because of three words: \\nFree Trial Period\\n. At least it would motivate me to get on my yoga mat and skip that last hour of Netflix binging. \\n\\nFully ready to bail the moment the app got confusing or annoying (nobody has time for a half-baked app), I signed up and the app proved seamless. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves—we haven’t even gotten to the yoga yet!\\n\\n\\n\\nMe and Pranjal!\\n\\nI set up my yoga mat in living room and a real, live yoga teacher met me online through the two-way camera on my laptop. Pretty cool… but how could she instruct me through a camera? Still skeptical. Still ready to bail.  \\n\\nShe asked about my goals and how my body was feeling (I happened to be recovering from a shoulder injury) and then she tailored the practice to my specific needs that day. \\n\\n\\nWhen we got to my Nemesis Pose (the one I always struggle with) she proactively offered \\nmodifications\\n — and I actually felt at ease in the pose. Yoga. Epiphany.  \\n\\nAlong the way I asked ALL the questions: Can we go back to the last pose? Can we slow down (or speed up) a bit? Can you tell me more about [insert every question I’ve ever had about \\nyoga poses\\n]?\\n[CTA-GC]\\nAfterwards they sent me a recording of the session. (Confession: I had absolutely no intention of watching it! I’ve seen myself in the mirror at the studio. Hard pass). But I caved, and the replay revealed how my body came in and out of poses and where I was misaligned until performing the modifications. \\n\\n\\nMy understanding advanced more than it had in months. \\n\\n\\nI had found my \\nyoga teacher\\n.  \\n\\nNot everything was smooth sailing, though:   \\n\\n1)    Setting up the audio harshed my zen. In order to get your entire yoga mat on the screen, you have to place your laptop/device pretty far away, but then it can be difficult to hear through the speakers. In the end, I opted to use my mobile phone for the audio—which worked fine but became distracting while navigating around the mat.\\n\\nOne teacher spoke with a pronounced accent that I struggled to understand. I’d rather say more “OM” and less “Can you repeat that please?”\\n\\nI tried other teachers over time, and while you learn something from every teacher, not all were the right fit for me. It’s similar to finding your yoga studio home: you’ll know it when you find it.\\n\\n\\nSharing physical space and community with other yogis at the studio will always be an important part of my yoga experience. And if I’m desperate I might mimic a pre-recorded \\nyoga class\\n again. But myYogaTeacher is now a critical arm of my yoga practice. \\n\\n\\nIt’s where my experience is expertly tailored to my unique needs. It’s where I can ask questions and receive immediate feedback. It’s where my practice truly advances. \\n\\nIt’s where I found my teacher. \\n\\nAnd all from my living room. (Confession: Sometimes still in my pajamas.)\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-01-10T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Nikki Miller","pictureUrl":"nikki-miller.jpg","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga","myYogaTeacher"]},{"title":"A Resort in Kerala Changed My Life","coverUrl":"Charu-pro-1.jpg","slug":"a-resort-in-kerala-changed-my-life","content":{"text":"from Charu\\n\\nWhat is your first yoga memory?Seeing a group of foreigners attending a yoga class in the wee hours of the morning, at an upscale resort in the backwaters of Kerala. It thrilled me to see so many people from outside our country traveling all the way to \\nlearn yoga\\n! It was an eye-opening experience.\\n\\nHow has yoga helped you in your life?A lot! Yoga has helped me deal with health issues and life issues overall. It has helped me deal with situations and people better and maintain my calm.\\n\\nWhat was the most significant yoga moment in your life?While pursuing my yoga teacher training course at the Yoga Institute, I realized that I was able to control my cravings better. That was the best moment for me because I had been struggling with this literally all my life. It was a true aha moment!\\n\\nWhen did you first get interested in yoga? Why?This goes back to my first memory with yoga at the resort in Kerala. I had heard about yoga being popular outside India but it was the first time I witnessed it myself and it made me think that there might be a huge potential in yoga. I started my yoga journey from a book of common \\nAsanas\\n that I bought from a shop in the resort. \\n\\nWhat keeps you practicing? The immense benefits that I can feel in my body and my mind keep me going on. Yoga made not only my body but also my mind more flexible. There were days when I would wake up gloomy but pushing myself to do some yoga and meditation completely turned things around for me, and increased my productivity manifold.\\n\\nWhen and why did you decide to become a teacher?I decided to become a teacher a year ago when I realized that more and more people across the globe need to reap the benefits of yoga and being a channel in their journey would make me feel very grateful! I love to spread the joy called \\nyoga\\n.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-01-09T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Charu","pictureUrl":"Charu-pro-1.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"charu-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"Yoga is for any age and any body shape","coverUrl":"sheena-pro.jpg","slug":"yoga-is-for-any-age-and-any-body-shape","content":{"text":"by Sheena\\n\\nNamaskaram.\\n\\nI was introduced to yoga by my mother at the age of around 14 or 15 as I was a chubby girl. She used to make me watch an \\nIndian yoga\\n guru, Baba Ramdev, morning \\nyoga sessions\\n on TV and practice with him. I used to do that unwillingly as when someone makes you do a thing in which you do not have the whole heart, it appears to be a burden. Much later, I moved out for studies and was occupied in the college life.\\n\\nAfter college, I started going to the gym. Because of no guidance and experimenting stuff on my own, I injured my knee. I ignored my condition for around 3 to 4 years as the pain wasn't regular and only bothered me once in a while. \\n\\nThis ignorance towards my knee was not wise.\\n\\nOne day, I was not able to cross a street so I finally consulted a doctor. He told me I could no longer do intense workouts and that I might need a knee replacement when I got older. \\n\\nThis was so disappointing for me. I couldn't just stop being active, so I joined yoga classes to keep myself fit without being harsh on my knee. After few months, with the help of a physiotherapist and yoga, the condition of my knee improved.\\n\\nBut by this time, my knee issue was not even the matter of my concern. The \"feel-good\" factor which I was experiencing everyday after the practice session hooked me to yoga for life!\\n\\nThis \\nyoga practice\\n was changing me on so many levels - not just physically but mentally and emotionally. \\n\\nI experienced a phenomenal change in my thought process, the way I was perceiving things was very different as compared to before. I grew to be more confident, happy and light. My temper improved and the way of reacting towards situations.\\n\\nIt isn't that I am completely evolved but I am full of hopes and have a positive mindset. I am ready to work towards becoming strong everyday. I am a person who still gets angry. I still compare myself to others and get anxious over life matters. But also I am full of hopes and ready to come out of the troubles, to face the challenges of life.\\n\\nWhen I tried a forward fold in class, or any pose for that matter where it was hard, it was difficult at first. Yet, with patience, hard work and consistent practice, I improved and got better in the practice day by day.\\n\\nMy yoga practice made me realize that this principle can be applied not only in achieving any pose but also anything in life.\\n\\n\"Patience, hard work and consistent practice\" is the Mantra which personally made me realize that every problem in life can be dealt with if we keep these three words in mind. Be it any troubled relationship, work related matter. Any thing and everything can be sorted.\\n\\nYoga does not only help in toning our body but also the mind. Yoga can bless us not only with the body of our dreams but can also condition our mind in such a way that we are comfortable in our own skin. \\n\\nHow deep is the meaning of the saying \"Sound mind resides in sound body\"? We all are aware of the fact that a disturbed mind creates unpleasant chatter in our heads. The habit of procrastination, comparing our lives with others, overthinking, stresses from work and other spheres of life, all of these appear to drain ourselves.\\n\\nTherefore, I want to help and encourage others, so that the same kind of relief, confidence, satisfaction and happiness can be experienced by them and they can also witness the beauty of this life.\\n"},"createdAt":"2020-01-03T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Sheena ","pictureUrl":"sheena-pro.jpg","teacherMytSlug":null},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"The Physics & Chemistry of Yoga","coverUrl":"vineetacover.jpg","slug":"the-physics-chemistry-of-yoga","content":{"text":"It was an overwhelming experience for me to direct people into Yoga - into knowing themselves, their bodies, their breath.\\n\\nIt even took me a while to sink into that amazing feeling of Yoga. I can't remember exactly Yoga began to grow in me. Was it when I saw my grandfather \\nmeditate\\n inside our family temple? Was it when my great grandmother used to tell me great Indian mythological tales? Or maybe it was when someone gave me a beautiful book on Yoga. \\n\\nBorn in a Hindu Brahmin family, I was blessed with a conducive environment for my practice. I was always excited to get into asanas and breathing practices. But soon I was hungry for more depth, more knowledge, more philosophy. \\n\\nI completed my teaching certification about 3 years ago but the major Yoga moment for me happened a bit later. Yoga's therapeutic aspect had a profound impact on me. \\n\\nI just wonder - how the practice of doing your asana and breathing mindfully, one can achieve complete health, be it the physical, mental or spiritual one? One can shine from inside.  My studies in physics, chemistry and biology have helped answer those questions. My post-graduate degree in organic chemistry has helped me have a better understanding of our word but also an understanding of the universality of Yoga. My studies helped me to have a better understanding of the human body.\\n\\nYoga, as well as Art, has been a major part of my existence. My dream is to create a painting series of my understanding with Patanjali \\nyoga sutras\\n if Almighty allows me.\\n\\nNow, helping students into \\nasanas\\n with full understanding and awareness is a pleasure to watch. \\n\\nFor me, Yoga is for everyone! Be it a teenager, a kid, old, young, a marathoner, a gym enthusiastic, a sick or a stressed one - Yoga serves EVERY individual in its unique way. \\n\\nIt acts on all the layers of our existence. The deeper you go, the more you have Yoga. It just happens. You can do yoga anytime, anywhere in any situation. You just have to know it. \\n\\nAnd this is really beautiful.\\n"},"createdAt":"2019-12-13T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":" Vineeta","pictureUrl":"vineeta.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"vineeta-1"},"category":["yoga"]},{"title":"The Best Moment of My Life","coverUrl":"supriya-pro.jpg","slug":"the-best-moment-of-my-life","content":{"text":"When I was pregnant with my first child, I wanted to do something for my body. But workout options were limited so I decided to try \\nprenatal yoga\\n. \\n\\nI’ll never forget my first class. When I walked out, I was so energized yet mentally relaxed. I had wondered why I never tried yoga seriously before then! My daughter is now almost 6 and I don’t remember the day that I missed my \\nyoga class\\n! \\n\\nYoga didn’t only help me with my pregnancy, it also helped me avoid a serious operation. \\n\\nAfter my pregnancy, I had a nasal deviation which the doctors said I’d need surgery for. I did not feel mentally prepared for such a surgery, so I took up \\nPranayama \\nbreathing techniques. After 6 months, the doctor told me that the operation was no longer needed!\\n\\nAfter seeing my results, I believed in the power of yoga and wanted to spread the benefit of yoga to others. \\n\\nIn 2017, I began a Teacher Training Certificate program to deepen my knowledge but I wasn’t totally sure I wanted to actually teach. I still worked in finance but I realized that through Yoga, I was doing something that I really wanted to do. When my TTC was about to finish, my close friends approached me to start teaching a yoga class. \\n\\nSo I began teaching. Shortly afterwards, one of my students told me that my yoga classes had changed her life. She had severe depression yet she always started to smile and feel positive after my classes. This was one of the best memories of my life and I knew that I was finally on the right path. Finally, I was living my truth and helping people through Yoga. \\n"},"createdAt":"2019-12-13T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Supriya","pictureUrl":"supriya.jpg","teacherMytSlug":"supriya-1"},"category":["yoga"]}],"categories":[{"name":"Fitness","value":"fitness","display":"fitness"},{"name":"Therapy","value":"therapy","display":"therapy"},{"name":"Yoga","value":"yoga","display":"yoga"},{"name":"Anxiety","value":"anxiety","display":"anxiety"},{"name":"Pain Management","value":"pain_management","display":"pain management"},{"name":"Mental Health","value":"mental_health","display":"mental health"},{"name":"Emotional Health","value":"emotional_health","display":"emotional health"},{"name":"Weight Loss","value":"weight_loss","display":"weight loss"},{"name":"Meditation","value":"meditation","display":"meditation"},{"name":"Restorative","value":"restorative","display":"restorative"},{"name":"Yoga Teacher Training","value":"yoga_teacher_training","display":"yoga teacher training"},{"name":"Workshops","value":"workshops","display":"workshops"},{"name":"Yoga Poses","value":"yoga_poses","display":"yoga poses"},{"name":"MyYogaTeacher","value":"myYogaTeacher","display":"myyogateacher"}],"search":"","category":"yoga","pageTitle":"Yoga","schema_category":"Yoga"}