Teaching Hatha Yoga - Gifts To Give Your Yoga Students

Let's look into the minds of our yoga students. What do they need most? What are the most valuable gifts we can leave behind for our yoga students? Is it something expensive? Would they benefit most from an electronic gift?

Many people look at the word gift as a tangible present, but you can give yoga students good memories and valuable lessons, which last a life time. Below are a few priceless gifts for yoga students.

Instill enough positive energy within them to become their own best Yoga teacher. A yoga student must learn to develop full awareness of his or her physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. Never hold back any information, which will benefit a Yoga students health or success. yoga teachers are a guide toward a healthy and successful life. Students must be encouraged to independently think for themselves.

Praise students, when it is earned. Whenever a student tries his or her best, you should acknowledge the effort with praise. When you praise, you instill self-worth in your yoga students. Self-worth is a must, for any person to find a valuable purpose in life.

Take the time to observe everything possible and give an assist when needed. This does not only apply to physical assists in Asana practice. When you see a student who could use encouragement, make sure you are a motivator.

Create a haven within your yoga classes. Students should expect an atmosphere without pretense, intolerance, or sarcasm, in your classes. It should be a pure joy to learn Yoga from you.

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free yoga e-book: "yoga in practice," and a Free yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Arizona Yoga Cl

Have Fun With Nature: How To Play Conkers

In an age where children spend a huge percentage of their free time playing with expensive computer games, it's nice to know that some old-fashioned games are still being played outdoors and cost absolutely nothing.

During the fall, wherever you find horse chestnut trees you'll find children playing conkers. It's a game that was enjoyed by their parents, their grandparents, and even their great grandparents and, hopefully, their own children will one day enjoy it, too.

What is A Conker?

A conker is a hard brown nut that's encapsulated in a green, prickly case produced by the Horse Chestnut tree. The cases fall from trees when they're ripe and can easily be collected from the ground.

In contrast to the nuts produced by the Sweet Chestnut tree, conkers are NOT to be eaten by humans.

Choosing A Conker

If you're serious about your game, choose your conkers carefully. The best ones are symmetrical in form, firm to the touch and should be uncracked.

Use the water test. If a conker is damaged inside it will float in water so this is a good way of testing the density of your nut. Floaters should be discarded while those that sink to the bottom will be the hardest and the best.

Preparing A conker for play

Make a hole through the middle of your conker, going from the dull area at the top and down through the bottom. A thin skewer or hand-drill is useful for this.

Choose string that doesn't break easily and thread a length about 12 inches long through the hole and tie a knot at one end to stop it from pulling through.

There are several ways to make your conkers harder, including:

Bake the conker in the oven on a low heat for 30 minutes

Soak the conker in vinegar overnight

put conkers away to use the following year (they harden with age).

How To play Conkers

two players are needed, each with a conker of his own. Each player holds his conker from the string and attempts to hit the opposing conker.

If your conker is the one being hit, you should let it hang down with the string wrapped around two or three fingers to secure it - you don't want your conker flying off when it's hit! It's up to your opponent to decide how high your conker should be held and it's important it's held still.

If you're the striker, you should wrap the string around your hand in the same way as you would if your conker was being hit. You should then take the conker in your other hand and draw it back, ready to strike. As you release the conker, you should swing it down and try to hit your opponent's conker. If you're successful, this is called a strike. If you miss, you're allowed two more goes before swapping positions.

If, when making a shot, the strings tangle together, the first player to call "strings" is awarded an extra shot.

If a player drops his conker or has it knocked out of his hand, the opposing player can call "stamps" and jump on it. End of one conker! However, if the owner calls "no stamps" first, the conker is safe (unless it smashed when it hit the ground, of course).

The game continues until one conker is completely destroyed; the one with the remaining conker is the winner.

Good luck!

International Kundalini Yoga