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Thursday, June 03, 2021

Teaching Mood Elevating Yoga Classes: Bow Pose

do bow pose at home
By: Virginia Iversen M.Ed. 

As many of us know from experience, a really good workout is one of the best ways to elevate a sour mood. A well-rounded, comprehensive Yoga practice can be even more effective at elevating one’s mood, because of the emphasis on releasing tension, focusing on the positive aspects of life and opening up the entire front of the body, including the heart area. A low mood is often evidenced by rounded shoulders, a lack of “get up and go” energy and tense shoulders. Additionally, painful experiences that remain lodged in the body are often accompanied by a clenched jaw, which can result in the painful condition, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ). 



Many different Yoga postures help to release deeply held muscular tension throughout the body. Back bending Yoga postures are particularly good at elevating one’s mood, because these poses help to open up and expand the entire front of the body, including the throat chakra area. When the front of the body is expanded, the flow of life force energy, or prana, is increased. This boost of energy helps to dispel the lethargy that so often accompanies low mood states. When the heart area is open and expanded, it is also easier to release tension in the jaw, shoulders and neck areas. 



If you are teaching Yoga to a diversity of students over the course of the week, do be aware that a number of your students may be struggling with low moods states, including feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, which are often emotional symptoms of depression. Please keep in mind that some of your Yoga students may be contending with unintegrated, painful life experiences, which are lodged in their bodies. Remember to move slowly and gently with these students and to not push them too quickly into back bending postures that they are not ready to practice. 



Even relatively simple back bending Yoga postures can be profoundly effective at releasing the physical tension that is often held around the heart, throat, neck, and shoulder areas. Another area of the body where painful or difficult life experiences are often held is the hips. In all of these areas of the body, it is important to guide your Yoga students respectfully through the practice of these postures and to remind them to slow down or take a break and rest in Child’s Pose, if they need to do so. When necessary, you also can offer your students the option of practicing restorative, supported versions of many of the traditional back bending Yoga postures, if it is more appropriate for a particular student on a given day. 

* Bow Pose or Dhanurasana

Bow Pose is a wonderfully accessible beginning back bending posture, which has an immediately expanding, energizing and mood-elevating effect. This posture is practiced from a prone position on the mat, so it is appropriate for a wide range of Yoga students. Although Bow Pose is generally regarded as a beginning to Level 1 Yoga posture, it can be quite challenging for some students if they are particularly tight throughout the front of the body. Bow Pose elongates the entire front of the torso, expands the rib cage, elongates the quadriceps, and releases tension throughout the sides of the neck, shoulders and thoracic spine.



Bow Pose is usually practiced towards the second half of a Yoga class. It is often practiced after a series of Sun Salutations, standing asanas and balancing postures, so that the students are thoroughly warmed up. When you are ready to guide your students through the practice of Dhanurasana or Bow Pose, have them flow through a final vinyasa and then come to a prone position on their Yoga mats. When they are ready, ask your students to bend their legs and grasp their ankles with their hands and to keep their palms facing the central line of the body. 



With their next inhale, ask your students to exert a gentle pressure against their hands as they raise their bent legs off the mat several inches. Ask your students to be mindful to keep their knees in a straight line with their hips, while they hold the posture for five full breaths. With their next exhale, ask your Yoga students to release Bow Pose and come back to a resting, prone position on their mats. Repeat Bow Pose two more times with your class, and then guide your students into the next Yoga posture. 



Virginia Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she works as a writer and an academic support specialist. 

© Copyright – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Want to learn more about how to become a certified yoga instructor or practicing yoga as a form of therapy? Please feel free to use the resources on the right side of this page for research.


Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Low Cost Yoga Teacher Training Courses

low cost yoga teacher training courses

By Sanjeev Patel, CYT 500

Please be prepared to laugh because I call it like I see it. Once in a while, I read an advertisement with a headline that states: "Free Yoga Teacher Training." This makes all of us curious! I'm jumping out of my seat like I drank a quad mocha latte! I teach Yoga classes regularly, but I believe in continuing education for life. Meaning no disrespect to my Guru, I click on Free Yoga teacher training in anticipation.


When reading the small details, I learn that I must spend over three thousand dollars for the course and I have to travel (more money). The lodging is going to cost me another three thousand dollars. When I call up, they tell me I'm going to pay extra for my study materials. I don't want to buy the ashram - I just want to get the free course! The advertisement states that I don't have to pay.

All of this is making a long and expensive flight back to India look really appealing! At least, I can stay with family and friends while I'm there, but where can I find this "FREE" Yoga certification course? I mean, they said, "free" and I really want it. It turns out that most North American ashrams have seva programs and I'm willing to work for free while I learn more about teaching Yoga.


After talking to a dozen of these ashrams, I learn that seva means I work for free, but I can't be accepted into a Yoga teacher training program, while I'm doing seva. Do you see the big picture? I'm a Yoga teacher already, and I'm good enough to sweep the floor, peel potatoes, and clean toilets, but no free yoga instructor course for me.

I didn't like their food anyway. How many days do they expect me to eat kale soup and go without a coffee? It was a five mile ride to the nearest Starbucks and I'd have to do it on a bike through ice, rain, and snow, because I can't afford to keep my car if I'm going to work for free for a whole year.

Uncle! I give up already. There is no free course for continuing education or for somebody who wants to become a Yoga teacher. I fell for the free deception. This is what Paulji meant by "Maya." He talked about how maya is the primary aspect that manifests illusion and duality. So, "free" is an example of the practical application of maya.


Now, I'm willing to go for low cost Yoga certification. There isn't one until I search for online and correspondence Yoga teacher courses. Well, I've come full circle and back to the arms of my Guru. Thank you, Paulji and Aura Wellness Center, for creating a low cost solution to my need for continuing education.

Hari Om Tat Sat


© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Are you an experienced teacher looking for YACEP credits or continuing education?

Subscribe to Our Newsletter for Special Discounts and New Products

Related Resources

The YOGA MIND: 

52 Essential Principles of Yoga Philosophy to Deepen your Practice 

by Rina Jakubowicz

RESTORATIVE YOGA FOR LIFE

A Relaxing Way to De-stress, Re-energize, and Find Balance

by: Gail Boorstein Grossman

YOGA: THE PATH TO HOLISTIC HEALTH

by B.K.S. Iyengar

TEACHING YOGA: Essential Foundations and Techniques

By Mark Stephens

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about teaching therapeutic yoga sessions and our selection of online yoga teacher training intensive coursesTo see our complete selection of affordable yoga instructor certification programs, please click on the courses and products button in the navigation bar in the upper left section of this page.


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