Supported Bridge Pose
This restorative yoga pose releases tension in the hip flexors, abdominal muscles and chest. Having the head slightly lower than the heart deepens the relaxation response.
Yoga and Tai Chi for Kids
It is something of a modern paradox: Although kids today seem wiser to the ways of the world, their bodies are more unhealthy and deconditioned than ever. There are many demands on children’s attention these days; but, unfortunately, very few of these involve healthy levels of interactive play or connection to nature.
Feedback From the Field: Yoga Sequencing
In a previous issue of Inner IDEA Body-Mind-Spirit Review, we asked: Do you have your own “secret formula” for creating yoga sequences? Do you prepare your lesson plans before class or do you improvise depending on the collective tone?
Teaching Restorative Yoga
Students come to a restorative class to let go of the stresses of everyday life—including the need to do things right and the constant pressure to improve or to achieve. The teacher who understands that motivation can provide
Cuing for Calm
Despite our yoga-filled classes, people are still stressed out. We live in a society that rewards people for being go-getters, taking on extra work and being the best in all the ways that the American competitive edge manifests itself. Balance is hard to find, but find it, we must.
Yoga Lesson Plan 6: Body Appreciation
This yoga lesson plan will help you guide your students to celebrate their individual bodies. It's a great practice to try out yourself whenever you need a mood boost.
Flex & Relax
Are you interested in exploring moves but not ready to teach an entire class of them? Cool-downs are a great opportunity to introduce mindful exercises to students. The following movements will increase flexibility and help students feel relaxed as they head back into the “real world” outside the group exercise room. Connection TransitionThe cool-down slowly…
Yoga Boom!
Whoever isn’t focused on capturing Baby Boomers over the next two decades isn’t focused well on the future. In the coming 20 years, boomers will inherit estates worth over 10 trillion dollars—that’s more than the value of the entire New York Stock Exchange today. And every year, 4 million Boomers turn 50 and 4 million turn 60. So what does this huge, affluent, aging populati…
REALITY CHECK; America’s fittest city? Well, maybe not
We’re fit! We’re fat! We’re kind of sweaty.
Huh?
It’s hard to say where San Diego stands when you read the myriad rankings that stack us up against other cities. Case in point: Men’s Fitness picked San Diego as No. 9 on its fittest list in 2005. For the last two years, the same magazine put us at No. 21 — on its fattest list.
Yikes! That’s quite a weight gain. Had you n…
Personal Training Stays on Top, Study Shows
SAN DIEGO – Personal training, mind-body fusion and outdoor activities continue to be popular offerings at health clubs while stability balls, resistance bands and balance boards are the most frequently offered equipment, according to the 12th annual IDEA Fitness Programs and Equipment Survey.
The survey of 225 IDEA members, who consist of health club owners, fitness center managers and…
Latest Trends on Health and Fitness
IDEA Health & Fitness Association, the leading membership organization of health, wellness and fitness professionals worldwide with more than 21,000 members in over 80 countries, has announced the findings of its annual IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey. In its 12th year, the survey revealed an increasing range of activities and gear that are specially targeted to meet the diverse n…
Step Into Namasté
Do your participants think the strength and cardio sections are the only important aspects of step class? The cool-down can be just as important, if not more so. While there are infinite ways to cool the body down, why not try adding yoga moves for stretching, balance and stabilization? Begin cooling down with basic grapevines and step-touches within a smaller range of motion, but make the moves d…
Yoga Boom: Reaching Older Clients
Whoever isn’t focused on capturing Baby Boomers over the next two decades isn’t focused well on the future. In the coming 20 years, Boomers will inherit estates worth over 10 trillion dollars—that’s more than the value of the entire New York Stock Exchange today.
Feedback From the Field: Wrist Modifications
In a previous issue of Inner IDEA Body-Mind-Spirit Review, we asked: What kind of modifications do you offer for yoga participants who complain of wrist pain? Here’s what you had to say.
Yoga for Recovering Addicts
Whether it is an addiction to cigarettes or food, alcohol or television, hard drugs or shopping, compulsive behaviors can take over. The cravings might be seemingly harmless ones that lurk beneath the surface of a functioning life, or they might be immediately and obviously devastating. For some, these patterns sever relationships, put jobs at stake, and cause serious or financial risk. For others, these habits might simply impede a sense of physical, mental or spiritual wholeness.
Sample Class: Body-Mind Fusion
Fusion classes typically combine two or
more formats, equipment choices and
training methods. Sometimes these cross-
training opportunities can yield more benefits
than practicing a single discipline. This
sample class draws from the influences of
yoga, Pilates, tai chi and the Feldenkrais
Method®. Feel free to replicate the class exactly,
or use it to stimulate your creative
…
Yoga Lesson Plan 4: Finding Focus
About this series: Each lesson plan provides both a physical focus, to guide your choice of postures, and a practice focus, to help students explore an important principle of yoga practice. The intention of the series is to present guidelines for creating a coherent and thoughtful class experience, with suggestions broad enough to allow you to choose poses that are appropriate for your students.
Yoga Fusion
Participants sometimes have a difficult time making the transition from the work phase of class to the final section, and it can be a challenge to help them rein in their thoughts and concentrate. This yoga and tai chi-inspired cool-down moves from active recovery to flexibility exercises, ending on a positive wellness note that participants will appreciate.
Making Fitness Easy
When it comes to exercise, everybody's got an excuse. Or 10. "I had a list," says Farai Chideya, a 36-year-old Los Angeles journalist who recently began lifting weights and taking dance classes. "I'm too busy. Maybe I'll hurt myself. Shouldn't I be out meeting new people instead?"Despite the well-documented health benefits of exercise, fewer than…
Yoga for Recovering Addicts
As yoga styles proliferate, more programs are targeting specific niche groups who can benefit from yoga’s unique blend of body, mind and spirit. One of these groups consists of recovering addicts. In the 1970s, Superhealth, a pioneering alternative health center for the treatment of addictions in Tuscon, Arizona,
offered heroin addicts recovery services based on kundalini yoga, di…
