Advanced Yoga Teacher Training: Modifications for Aging Yoga Students

Advanced YTT: Modifications for Aging Yoga Students

Participating in advanced yoga teaching training is an opportunity to expand your teaching skills and help a wide range of students, including aging yogis.  

Aging yoga students will have unique spiritual/emotional needs and bodies that may require condition-specific modifications.   

Addressing the spiritual needs of aging students.

The human body changes over time, potentially losing flexibility and strength. The same applies to the mind of an aging yoga student. Research suggests that yoga may support a healthy nervous system throughout the aging process.

When working with aging yoga students, it is important to use encouraging and appropriate language to guide all poses presented in your classes. Goal-driven language can isolate, while language that builds asana from the ground up empowers, building confidence. 

Guiding the aging yoga student into the present moment brings immediate peace and works towards accepting the body as it is now. Calming music, soft lighting, the use of mantra when appropriate, and thoughtful guidance of prāṇāyāma also support clearing the mind of negativity.

Encourage the use of various props.

Props allow the human form to be supported and included in all asanas. The use of props also allows your students to take their practice into their homes! Props should be as diverse as the aging students in your care. 

·        Chairs and benches should be of varying sizes and heights to support both seated poses, standing poses, and student’s shapes.   

·        Bolsters can be quite heavy and cumbersome for aging yoga students. Offer round, rectangular, and even square bolsters in various sizes to suit everyone's body in any pose. 

·        Blankets are multi-functional, covering up for meditation and propping up for neck and limb support. Different fabrics allow for personal preferences and varied thicknesses. 

·        Blocks, when thick and sturdy, are safe modifiers for aging students. Placing blankets or towels under blocks will reduce any slippage, as well.   

·        Straps extend the limbs, helping flexibility and allowing for the push-pull that accompanies many poses. Overcome any compromised grip strength by looping straps before class.   

·        The wall is an accessible prop for all yogis, and railings may help aging pupils feel safe while standing.

Studying props and their applications in advanced yoga teacher training will also come in handy for your students of any age!

If you need more guidance in this, be sure to pursue an advanced yoga training course that specializes in teaching how to use props for aging yoga students. 

Learn about modifications for specific circumstances of aging yoga students. 

Address balance challenges of aging yoga students by strengthening the core muscles, highlighting the connection to the Earth, and sharpening the mind's eye to spatial awareness. 

·        Serve your aging students with osteoporosis and arthritis by emphasizing muscle development, balance and mobility. Both conditions rely on supporting muscles, and the movement of slow flow asana practice alleviates arthritis stiffness.  

·        High blood pressure is an indicator that pose modifications for inversions, heart openers, and even some standing poses are required. Focusing on supported relaxation and prāṇāyāma will significantly support the hypertensive student.   

·        Kyphosis is a condition best served by addressing the shoulders and spine. Gentle lengthening of the spine and heart-opening exercises ease the rounding and uplift the spirit.   

The transitions between poses carry just as much importance as your sequence as a whole. Use the transitions to reinforce the safe use of props, breathing, and mental focus.  

Consider enrolling in an Advanced Yoga Teacher Training to better serve aging yoga students.

Learning how to better serve your aging yoga students opens up freedoms for your students in their daily life. For example, balance challenges that make running errands difficult can be improved, strength-building increases feelings of independence, and improved posture fosters confidence.  

As you advance your yoga teacher training, your practice will grow, and you will be better able to serve diverse bodies and ages in your community.   

Be sure to check out the Prema Yoga Institute’s online advanced yoga teacher training in 2021, which offers many courses that emphasis teaching aging yoga students.  

If you found this information useful, visit our Blog often or subscribe to our Mailing List for similar content. 

Currently, Prema Yoga Institute is offering online study options for ALL of our yoga trainings in 2021 and online options throughout 2022.  

We hope you’ll consider Prema Yoga Institute for your online advanced yoga training program. We’re an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!

Advanced YTT: Teaching Students with Diverse Needs

As a yoga teacher, you will come across students with a wide range of body types, backgrounds, abilities, and health backgrounds. Each student has a story and unique needs that yoga can help to address. By understanding how to work with students with diverse needs, you can serve your students’ needs more directly and help them to live happier and healthier lives.

Some of the most common diverse needs in the yoga field are clients with past injuries, aging clients, and clients with perceived limitations. While the foundational 200-hour yoga teacher training is a great place to start, more advanced yoga teacher training will likely be required to help you serve students with diverse needs like aging students or students with past injuries.

Teaching Students with Past Injuries

All varieties of past injuries transform a body. The muscles, soft tissues, and bone around an injury may lose tone and power during the healing process, and scar tissue can permanently change movement in that area if not addressed. 

When pursuing an advanced yoga teacher training course, choose a course that can help you understand your client's injuries on a deeper level and help them find comfort in their yoga practice through tailored adjustments, alignment, and modifications.

For example, advanced courses like the Applied Anatomy course offered by Prema Yoga Institute are designed to help you approach yoga through the lens of anatomy to create personalized yoga sessions for your clients.

Learning how to best modify practice for your clients with past injuries is key.

Working with Aging Clients

Decreased mobility and balance may challenge aging yogis. This can lead to isolation and fear, as well as an increased risk of accidents and falls. Advanced yoga teacher training can teach you to how to focus on flexibility and strength to improve functional mobility in aging students.  

For example, an aging yogi may benefit from specific poses focused on core muscle development from the pelvis to the crown. Learning these advanced teaching techniques will help clients safely increase their mobility.   

Serving Students with Perceived Limitations

Often, a student's perceived limitations stem from the spirit, emotions, and memory. A person's restrictions may be long past, yet lingering, if not freshly developed.  

Tailoring a yoga plan for your clients often involves stepping back for a holistic approach instead of working only on specific postures and sequences.

Learning to shift your focus to mindfulness and meditation may benefit your student’s relationship to perceived pain or lack.  You can also explore pranayama, yoga nidra, and other mindfulness exercises to find clarity. In time, perceived limitations may melt away!

Continue to Deepen Your Knowledge Base to Work with Clients with Diverse Needs

Education for yoga instructors does not have an end date. Advanced yoga teacher training will allow you to serve more clients and provide tailored lessons for students with diverse needs. You can even take advantage of today's remote learning technology and pursue an advanced yoga teacher training program online.

In fact, we’d love to recommend the Applied Anatomy Program at the Prema Yoga Institute. At PYI, yoga mentors are now available for online courses to support you with interactive lessons and reviews. The curriculum includes education about the kosha system and yoga therapy related to the whole of an individual. Completion of the course can be applied to your RYT 300 education and 25 Yoga Alliance continuing education credits.

Whichever advanced yoga teacher training you choose, deepening your knowledge in the human body's complexities via anatomy will help you create inclusivity and foster community for students with diverse needs.

If you found this information useful, visit our Blog often or subscribe to our Mailing List for similar content.

Currently, Prema Yoga Institute is offering online study options for ALL of our yoga trainings in 2021.

We hope you’ll consider Prema Yoga Institute for your online advanced yoga training program. We’re an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!

Advanced Yoga Training: Finding Your Path as a Certified Yoga Teacher

As a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT200), you know the benefits of being a certified yoga teacher. But for yoga teachers that want to dig deeper and learn more about subjects like anatomy, the ancient basis of yoga, or just how to be a better teacher, there is an option for advanced yoga teacher training. A 300-hour advanced yoga teacher training course will give you the skills and knowledge to revolutionize both your practice and your yoga teaching.

If you have been thinking about becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher with 500 hours (RYT500) or even an E-RYT500, read on to learn more about doing a 300-hour advanced yoga training certification and if it’s the right path right for you as a yoga instructor.

What is The Difference Between 200 and 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Certifications?

As you know, if you wish to be a Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher, you need to complete a 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training (RYT200) from a registered school. This certification will introduce you to the basics of yoga, including asanas, philosophy, and how to teach. For many, it is just the first step to becoming a yoga teacher.  Traditionally, a training teacher would live with their teacher for 7 years!

For teachers interested in taking the next step, the 300-hour yoga teacher certification (RYT300) will be next on their to-do list after completing a 200-hour yoga teacher training program. Then these teachers can register to use the RYT500 title (a Registered Yoga Teacher with 500 hours of training) and – more importantly – put their deepened knowledge and skill to use in serving students.

Some teachers will complete this additional training by completing 100-hour yoga training programs or 25- to 50-hour advanced yoga teacher trainings that add up to 300 hours.  Keep in mind that if you wish to register as a RYT500 teacher with Yoga Alliance, they require that all these trainings take place within the same registered 300-hour program. 

What Should You Expect From 300 Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training?

A RYT 300-hour advanced yoga teacher training program is meant to build off the foundation you learned in your 200-hour yoga teacher certification. It goes more in depth into the principles and techniques of yoga and physical anatomy. It will help you gain a deeper understanding of your own practice and how to teach. Many people complete 200-hour training and never teach, but a 300-hour program is for the people who want to make a lifelong commitment to practicing and teaching yoga.

In an advanced yoga teacher training course you will learn more about:

·        More detailed and specific education in areas you want to specialize in.

·        Training and techniques, including asanas, pranayama, mantra, and meditation.

·        Teaching methodology and how to help your students learn better.

·        Anatomy and physiology.

·        The philosophy and lifestyle of yoga.

By the end of your 300-hours of advanced yoga teacher training, you will become a RYT-500, and have deepened knowledge to best modify practice for your individual clients and community.

What Are The Benefits of Taking Your 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training?

• A More Experienced Yoga Teacher

  A 200-hour yoga teacher training program will only teach you so much. Most of the time is dedicated to introducing you to the basics of yoga, not advanced teaching methods. But teaching is a skill to hone and become better at. In a 300-hour advanced yoga teacher training program, you will learn more about how to find your teaching style and adapt it to your students to best serve their intentions.

•  A More Knowledgeable Yoga Teacher
  To go deeper in your yoga practice, you need to understand human anatomy as well as energy. A 300-hour program will allow you to take an in depth look at how your body is responding to yoga, as well as a better understanding of the spiritual side of the practice. By learning more about how the body, mind, and spirit are served in yoga, you can help your students get more out of your teachings.

• Find Your Niche as a RYT500 Certified Yoga Teacher
  While a 200-hour yoga teacher training program will usually only focus on one school of yoga – or even just one sequence - a 300-hour program lets you explore other modalities. By studying other types of yoga, you can become a well-rounded teacher ready to teach any class. But this also allows you to find your niche as a yoga teacher. You can find what type of yoga you’re most passionate and excited about.

• Improve Your Yoga Business
  As with anything, the more advanced degrees and certifications you have, the easier it is to get hired or gain credibility with customers. For example, gyms and studios will value a highly qualified yoga teacher with an RYT500 title to provide their customers with the best classes. What’s more, Yoga Alliance has higher standards for teacher trainees – should you ever wish to teach in a training.
  
  The more hours and advanced yoga training you have, the more marketable you become. Invest in yourself, and it will pay off in the long run.

 Consider Prema Yoga Institute if You’re Ready to Become a 500 RYT with Advanced Yoga Teacher Trainings.

Are you ready to take the next step in your yoga teaching journey? Then make sure to check out the Prema Yoga Institute’s online advanced yoga teacher training in 2021. And since yoga is all about staying flexible, we’re hoping to offer both online and in-person classes as soon as it’s safe to welcome you back to our New York City studio.

If you found this information useful, visit our Blog often or subscribe to our Mailing List for similar content.

Currently, Prema Yoga Institute is offering online study options for ALL of our yoga trainings in 2021.

We hope you’ll consider Prema Yoga Institute for your online advanced yoga training program. We’re an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!