“Meditation is the only intentional, systematic human activity which at bottom is about not trying to improve yourself or get anywhere else, but simply to realize where you already are.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn

YIMI’s approach to mediation is a holistic and integrative approach. Meaning that, while we conceptualise and address the burdens of ill-health, rather than seeing our teachers teach to rid symptoms, we teach to promote wellbeing.

Ignoring, or blocking out feelings, emotions and pain is not an effective method long term to facing traumatic emotions or memories. YIMI's approach to meditation and mindfulness is to be in the space of your present moment and observe all the sensations, whether they are physical, or emotional.

When defining mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn said “Paying attention in a particular way, in the present moment, on purpose, non-judgementally” - therefore, bringing attention to any current thoughts or feelings and accepting them without judgement, even if they are painful or unpleasant.  The experience of trauma can make changes in the brain, particularly in association with memory. When we use mindfulness and meditation, over time we can re-trace and re-build these pathways, and repair damage that may have been caused due to trauma. In turn, this helps emotional regulation and encourages emotional stability when faced with one of life's many moments of adversity.

Add the practices of meditation and mindfulness to your toolbox and you'll be prepared for anything that comes your way!

We live in a wonderful age where every second person (and their adorable-and-probably-insta-famous dog) are concerned, interested, and invested in health and wellness of the physical body. However, while we're hearing buzzwords like 'organic', 'kombucha' and 'pressed juice cleanse' being thrown around, the topic of mental health is still somewhat taboo. Caring for your mental health is just as, if not more, important as caring for your physical, external health - but it often gets pushed to the wayside. The practice of yoga has attracted millions from all over the globe, but many forget the true purpose of the yoga asana - to ready the body for sitting in meditation.

Because of the way meditation changes the neural pathways of the brain, it can therefore, in a way, re-programme it to be, by default, less stressed and more calm. Meditation increases activity in the left side of the frontal brain - the area of the brain that influences moods and positive emotions.  As well as enhancing these positive moods, research has show that people who meditate are better at regulating their emotions and have increased emotional stability. Meditation reduces activity in the amygdala - the part of the brain responsible for our fear response. A person who experiences anxiety, for example, has an over-active amygdala - they are constantly worrying and being on the look out for danger. Whilst this may have benefitted us in ancient times, in the modern world having a brain over-actively being fearful and worrying is only a hindrance. For those experiencing anxiety, meditation invites the feeling of being grounding in the present moment, without worrying about things in their past or future that are out of their control.

From medication to meditation 

Studies have shown that meditating has successfully replaced medicating - by using minfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), several people were able to be taken off their anti-depressants, with better long term results. People who experience depression tend to linger on sad thoughts, and "brood". MBCT teaches mindfulness through meditation in a way that gives an understanding that your being is not defined by your thoughts. With meditation, we can detach from our thoughts and begin to appreciate that they all come and go, and learn compassion for our true being.

Is it as simple as that? 

Pretty much, yep! Meditation therapists recommend that ideally meditation is practiced daily, for 10-12 minutes, to see results. If not that, then just aim for 5 minutes 4-5 times a week. Meditation complements a morning mind best, so try and do it just after you wake up! Forming the habit of putting your phone down and instead meditating straight after you wake up puts that wonderfully capable brain of yours into a great mindset to positively frame your day!

References:
Sudarshan kriya yoga: Breathing for health
A pilot study of yogic meditation for family dementia caregivers with depressive symptoms: Effects on mental health, cognition, and telomerase activity
Teaching Self-Care to Caregivers: Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Mental Health of Therapists in Training
Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners

How to travel as a yoga teacher

Do you love yoga? Do you love travelling? Well, duh. Chances are 99.9% of you answered a firm "YES!" to both questions. Well, why can't you do both? Have your cake and eat it too?

Here at YIMI we want you to create the life you want to live! By becoming a yoga teacher, you are investing in a skill and career that is appreciated all over the world - and therefore you are in demand! YIMI's 200hr Yoga Teacher Training course (both face-to-face and online) allows you to obtain insurance to teach all over the world*.

Here are a few tips and things to consider if you're feeling inspired to throw your yoga pants and mala beads into a backpack and hit the road!

• There are several websites out there that facilitate yoga jobs while travelling, for both volunteer and paid work. Yoga Trade and Yoga Travel Jobs are two worldwide examples. Workaway is a fantastic international company that is an online community that advertises jobs all over the world, in exchange for food and board. There are hundreds of yoga based jobs on there, where you might teach one or two classes a day in exchange for your food and accommodation.
• Think outside the box - you'd be surprised at where a yoga teacher can get work! Aside from studios, retreats and gyms, many hotels, hostels and resorts offer daily yoga classes, as do cruise ships, yacht tours, eco-lodges, youth camps, community centres, festivals... the list goes on! And it's always worth asking - people admire initiative! Staying at a hostel with an amazing common room space? Suggest to the manager that you could do a daily yoga class in exchange for your accommodation - chances are they'll love the idea!
• Don't expect to be paid a lot/at all. As mentioned, a lot of this work is volunteer-based or in exchange for your living expenses. Or, you may be in certain countries, such as in Asia or South America, where the amount you get paid in the local currency isn't comparable to the Australian dollar.
• Be flexible! We KNOW you can be, we've seen that forward fold of yours! Plans don't always work out, and when they don't, take a deep breath and look for the new door that has inevitably opened just around the corner.
• Make sure you have the right insurance for the countries and places you're planning on going to - for both travel insurance and to cover yourself as a teacher.
• Get comfortable practicing anywhere and everywhere - you won't have your regular nook or studio space - so try and adapt to your current 'home' - whether that's an airport, a hostel common room or rooftop, or a shady park. But don't stress if your own practice suffers a bit - you're taking in so many sights and sounds, you're allowed to stray from the schedule!
• Invest in a good travel mat. While many places you go will have their own mats, having your own will make it so much more likely for you to maintain your own practice when you're between yoga teaching gigs. Manduka's eKO Superlite Travel Mat is amazing, very grippy, durable and thin - and it can be folded up to A4 size and tucked into your hand luggage!
• Yoga studio trials are your best friend! Wherever you go, look up if there's any yoga studios nearby. Nearly every studio will offer some kind of trial or introductory offer, so take advantage of that! Attending classes whenever you can will keep you inspired, and is the perfect place for meeting people and networking new opportunities.
• Go to India. You won't regret it! While you may not necessarily find work, you'll learn so much in the birthplace of yoga, and feel such a wonderful connection.
• If you're more of a road-tripping kind of traveller, have a couple of mats in the back of the car/van and make a little sign advertising your yoga teaching services which you could put up whenever you feel comfortable - you might find yourself teaching a class in the middle of your campground to that elderly couple in the caravan opposite, in exchange for a bag of juicy tangelos!

Have passions, and follow them! The world is your oyster! Breathe deeply! Grab life with both hands and make the most of this incredible journey you're on! We promise we'll stop the cliches now... Okay, just one more... the sky's the limit - live big!

*The minimum amount of yoga teacher training to teach worldwide is 200hrs. Australian yoga teachers can get insurance to teach, with a 200hr registered course such as the ones that we offer here at YIMI, to teach all over the world - excluding the US & Canada. Insurance companies have different stipulations for the US & Canada based on the laws in those countries. However, residents of the US and Canada can do a YIMI course in Australia, including YIMI's online and distance courses, and will then be able to purchase insurance cover to teach in the US and Canada. Residents of all other countries can enrol in YIMI's online and distance courses and can teach worldwide (excluding the US and Canada) once insurance is purchased for the applicable country/ies.

We want to hear your thoughts about which short courses you'd like to see at YIMI!

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Many yogis and yoginis talk about their yoga practice suffering once little ones arrive on the scene. And while we have no doubt that's the case, there's no reason your yoga practice needs to stay separate from parenting!

We're all aware of the benefits of yoga, and many of these resonate for children as well. Aside from generally helping children move and stay healthy (and decrease screen time!), yoga has been shown to decrease mental health challenges that children face, such as anxiety. Yoga can also help with self regulating behaviour, and is also a good way for children to learn to engage in a non-competitive activity, as  many of the physical movement-based activities that children are offered are competitive sports.

Children have so much fantastic energy, but sometimes they have trouble guiding that energy in one purposeful direction, and rather seem to be "bouncing off the walls". School teachers that use yoga find it helps bring an overall balance to the classroom - energising children who are tired, and calming children who are erratically energetic. It also helps children build focus and concentration - especially poses that require balancing - which is of course invaluable in the classroom.

Yoga is a wonderful way to create body awareness in children - learning the names of all the parts of the body (which also helps their language development), fostering a sense of ownership and agency over their own body, and how to use and isolate certain limbs and muscular contractions in different ways. One of the best things about doing yoga with children is the opportunity to develop their gross motor skills and coordination by designing ways for them to cross the body's midline and use both the left and right sides of the brain which is crucial in their developmental process.

Alright, so we know it's beneficial - but how do you actually engage the kids to stay on the mat (or anywhere in the general vicinity)?! Here are a few tips, ideas and things to be aware of when doing yoga with the kids:

1. Get creative. Leading children in a yoga sequence is a great way for you to practice describing poses without just using their names - or creating more fun, engaging, kid-friendly names! Warrior 2 could be made more exciting by imagining you're holding a bow and arrow, and you have to aim forwards as you draw the arrow slowly back. Upwards Facing Dog could involve tipping the head all the way back and opening the mouth to catch the cherries falling from the imaginary tree above! If you find this challenging, there are many resources available online to help, such as decks of cards depicting an animal pose on each card which children can arrange into sequences themselves. Release expectations of perfect alignment and enjoy the shapes your mini-me is making!
2. Be aware of attention spans. If you manage to engage the kids for ten or even five minutes, well done! Every little bit helps, and it's perfectly normal for their focus, and bodies, to wander off! Some children might be excited to flip the roles, so you could ask them to play the part of the 'yoga teacher' instead. This is great for their confidence and independence, as well as language development when they have to describe poses and name different parts of the body. They'll probably impress you with some of the poses they create out of thin air!
3. Be noisy! Although the traditional yoga we're used to is mostly practiced in silence, kids will be far more interested if there's some engaging ways to make sound. Every animal pose can have it's own correlating sound, such as making a hiss when you're in Cobra pose, 'moo'-ing or 'miaow'-ing in Cat Cow, or turning a forward fold into an elephant snorting as it lowers its trunk. Not only does this benefit language development for the really little ones (by mimicking the sounds), it also is a way of guiding children when to breathe without actually seeming instructional. You might also like to integrate simple songs to keep children engaged - 'The Wheels on the Bus' tune can be adapted to fit nearly any occasion, for instance: "The yogis on the mat go up and down, up and down, up and down" etc.
4. But also integrate quiet, still, restful moments. Visualisation is great for this - you could tell the children you're going to play the Growing game, where they basically start as a seed and grow into a big flower. Describe each stage slowly, with lots of small details and cues - the seed starts curled up in a tight ball on the ground, then starts to spread into a seedling, then maybe one hand/leaf starts to lift out of the ground, and then the stalk starts sloooowly rising up to the sunlight and they go from crouching to standing tall, spreading all their petals/limbs. Children will often follow your atmospheric cues as well, so if you're whispering or speaking in a hushed tone they will quieten down so as to listen.
5. Be safe. There are certain poses little developing bodies shouldn't be doing - while children are daredevils, take care if they're attempting to push themselves into "advanced" yoga poses. Yoga with children should be fluid and full of movement - static yin poses that are held too long, or pushing a stretch too far can be damaging to developing bodies. So keep it flowing!
6. Cross that midline as much as possible! This does wonders for children's hand eye coordination and for things like writing and drawing across the page and sitting cross legged. Incorporate lots of yoga that involves windmill arms, side body stretches or standing wide legged and touching the toes with the opposite hand.
7. Laugh! Release those endorphins!
8. Try partner yoga. There are lots of great partner yoga poses that can be done with an adult and child, from ones taught in Mums & Bubs style yoga classes to more acro-yoga-inspired poses. You could even get some weight-bearing exercise by pretending to be the big monkey while the little monkey clings to you in Chair pose - get creative! And enjoy the hug therapy!
9. Be flexible (pun intended!). Yoga doesn't have to be on a mat, in a certain space, with incense wafting around and soothing harp music playing through the speakers. While that sounds relaxing, when you add kids into the mix that just isn't realistic. Yoga can be anywhere! In the car? Do facial yoga and head/neck exercises during a game of Simon Says. In the garden? Create a game of doing low lunges all the way over to the watering can, like a crouching tiger. At the shops? See who can stand up the tallest, like there's a puppet string pulling up from the crown of your head - then maybe the 'puppeteer' starts to pull at the strings attached to the shoulder, knee, elbow etc. Bedtime? Downward dog walk down the passage towards the bathroom, then stand on tip toes and keep your eyes fixed on a spot on the ceiling while brushing your teeth!
10. Let your own practice be inspired. To teach is to learn, and by teaching children you might ignite your own inner child and sense of fun in the poses, and work those elements of adventure and fearlessness into your own, regular-adult yoga practice!