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Yoga Instructor

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"Yoga is an experiential activity," says Sam Dworkis. He's a yoga instructor with over 30 years of experience.

"You can learn the science and physiology behind yoga, but that's only intellectual. People become involved in yoga because they want to invest in the experience of yoga. People become yoga teachers because they want to help other people experience the benefits of yoga."

During his 30 years of study, Dworkis started two yoga schools and wrote two books. He studied directly with several famous yoga masters and with many of their senior students throughout North America, Europe and India.

In his prime, Dworkis would be up early to do his own personal yoga practice. Then he would spend six to eight hours teaching classes to groups or individuals. He has since sold his businesses, and although he still teaches, he now has to concentrate on his own health.

Dworkis was working as a yoga instructor when he developed multiple sclerosis.

"For the first few years after diagnosis, the disease ravaged my body and I could no longer do my regular ExTension Yoga practice [a yoga practice developed by Dworkis]. That's when I conceptualized how the very same foundations for ExTension Yoga could be modified for chronically ill and injured people."

His own health problems have given him a new outlook for his yoga practice. "I have direct experience with both sides of wellness; previously as an extraordinarily fit person with the ability to do advanced yoga, and now as a chronically ill person who uses yoga to maximize my health potential," Dworkis says.

"Because of my life experience in this field, people come to me for advice It is getting better and better as I grow older! You just have to find your niche and go for it. Invest yourself in your yoga practice with passion, and in the future people will come to you for your advice and wisdom.

"How cool is it to be stopped in the street of some town that I am visiting, and the person says to me 'I took a class with you 10 years ago and it changed my life?' Or to walk past a bookstore and see my book on the shelf?" Dworkis asks. "I don't want to go another day without practicing yoga. It has helped me to restore my own health, and I get such a great response from people who say 'thank you.'"

Raymonde Worsfold is a yoga instructor and the president of an association of yoga teachers. He also gets a lot of satisfaction from his students.

"What I like most about my job is seeing people at the end of the yoga class feeling so much better than when they came in," says Worsfold. "They look more relaxed, they're smiling and I can see that it has made a difference in their day."

"It was a two-year night school program that gave me a certificate to teach hatha yoga," says Worsfold. "As a yoga teacher, your training never stops. As in many professions you continuously attend workshops to expand your knowledge." Worsfold would definitely encourage people to pursue a career as a yoga instructor.

"My main reason for becoming a yoga teacher was to be healthy when I was in my 70s and 80s. Teaching yoga helps me to do that. Yoga is a career that you can do well into old age, I personally know three yoga teachers who are in their 80s and still going strong. It's also something you can do as a part-time job," says Worsfold. His ability to teach his students how to deal with stress by practicing yoga is of great importance.

Worsfold helps people understand stress, how to recognize it and what to do to decrease it.

"Many people have to take stress leave or take medication to deal with all the stress in their lives. This puts even more stress on individuals and their families. Practicing yoga helps people to disconnect and recharge to avoid burnout."

In addition to teaching people how to handle stress, Worsfold also teaches people who are living with cancer.

"They are the students that I enjoy teaching the most because they have taught me to really enjoy life. The meditation practice and the breathing techniques that I teach help them to get through very difficult times when they have a doctor's appointment or need to go for tests. They tell me that what they learn from me helps them to stay calm and that is the best reward I could receive," says Worsfold.

Megan McCarver describes her main responsibility as a yoga instructor as "a lifelong commitment to learning and refining the teachings of yoga with grace, respect and compassion." McCarver is a yoga instructor, author and founder of her own yoga website.

Yoga enthusiasts from all over the globe visit McCarver's website. More and more yoga instructors are using the Internet to promote themselves and their classes. McCarver teaches group classes and private classes in Southern California. She balances these responsibilities with her role as a mother and her own daily yoga practice.

"I love teaching yoga. I am able to empower my students to a deeper understanding of their purpose in life through the practice of yoga," says McCarver.

Although it is not a career which necessarily leads to a large income or financial security, McCarver says she is grateful to be a yoga instructor. "It is a career that is rewarding, life changing and contributes toward world-wide consciousness and contentment," says McCarver.

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