When we take a yoga certification course, each style has a different answer for dealing with anxiety. As a Yoga teacher, you may wonder about how to dial up a specific routine for each student’s anxiety level. One idea is to have a gentle and a vigorous class (two separate classes) for specific personality types to help yoga students release mental, emotional, and physical tension.
A Day in the Life of the Average Student
You come home from a long day of work to the kids arguing, with the television on and still needing to do homework. After cooking, cleaning, helping with homework and a full day of pleasing everyone but yourself your stress level is on overload. I can’t recall the number of times that I’d said to myself, “What I wouldn’t give for a spa right now.” This was my life before discovering yoga and it is still the life of many people. Using yogic exercise as a therapy for stress is an amazing way to bring the spa home and into your hands. Many have not discovered its benefits yet, but the knowledge is spreading like wild fire and the popularity of yoga is more and more each day, which is amazing!
If you go to the spa, you go in stressed and come out feeling like a new person, this is true. However, you also come out with much less money. Yogic practices are a long lasting alternative to something like a spa. The tools you need for yoga training are readily available and inexpensive. Once learned, yogic methodology is something you can practice on your own time and with your own instruction. Through videos, phone apps, games, and more you can utilize the benefits of yoga as a stress therapy wherever you are.
Why Does it Work?
Yoga training is proven to reduce stress by simply connecting us via our mind, body, and spirit. What happens during yogic exercise is that the individual must focus on himself or herself. Naturally all the other elements around them that are causing stress take a back seat to practice. Due to concentration on breathing, asana practice, and the inner being, one releases all the stresses of the day. The asanas also massage the vital organs, improve circulation and stretch the body releasing toxins in the blood stream. The result is an overall happier and healthier individual who is ready to face another crazy day, knowing that stress relief will be there for them later or whenever they need it. Medical professionals are recognizing yoga as an alternative way to relieve stress, anxiety, and even depression. Science and medicine are actively doing studies, which are steadily indicating that the benefits of yogic methodology are too many to list.
Ideas for Instructors and Interns
During Yoga teacher training, you may have done a paper on managing stress. If so, it’s time to recycle that paper and turn it into a handout. If you decided to become a yoga instructor, but haven’t put a paper together yet, it’s time to write one. Student handouts are powerful pieces of information for home practice and go well with specialized workshops.