Yoga Anatomy

by Leslie Kaminoff

2007

Description

"The book details the key anatomical systems involved in the practice of yoga, including the skeletal system, muscular system, respiratory system, and nervous system. Anatomical detail and explanation are blended with yogic breathing and mindfulness to create a complete yoga practice. Chapters detail standing, sitting, kneeling, supine, prone, and arm supported poses, or asana, with extensive anatomical illustrations and pose outlines. Cueing callouts connect movement to breath and highlight key aspects of practice"--

Library's review

See inside every yoga pose! With clear, expert instruction and full-color, detailed anatomical drawings, Yoga Anatomy depicts the most common asanas to provide a deeper understanding of the structures ad principles underlying each movement and of yoga itself.

From breathing to standing poses, see
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how each muscle is used, how slight alterations of a pose can enhance or reduce effectiveness, and how the spine, breathing,and body position are all fundamentally linked.

Whether you are just beginning your journey or have been practicing yoga for years, Yoga Anatomy will be an invaluable resource-one that allows you to use each movement in an entirely new light.

Author Leslie Kaminoff is a recogniized expert and teacher in anatomy, breathing, and bodywork. He is the founder of The Breathing Project, New York Citiy's premier yoga studio dedicated ot the teaching of individualized, breath-centered yoga practice and therapy.

Contents

Acknowldgmens
Introduciton
Chapter 1 Dynamics of breathing
Chapter 2 Yoga and he spine
Chapter 3 Understanding the asanas
Chapter 4 Standing poses
Chapter 5 Sitting poses
Chapter 6 Kneeling poses
Chapter 7 Supine poses
Chapter 8 Prone poses
Chapter 9 Arm support poses
References and resources
Asana indexes in Sanskrit and English
About the author
Abut the collaborator
About the illustrato
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User reviews

LibraryThing member TheLibraryhag
This is the sort of book you want to own. I think I will refer to it often. It is interesting to see all the muscles involved in each of the poses included in the book. The descriptions are very good too.
LibraryThing member KatySilbs
The illustrations in this book show the positions of bones and muscles in several dozen yoga postures. The first chapter cover the anatomy of breathing with plenty of illustrations. The main part of the book is a postures reference. Covered are standing, sitting, kneeling, supine, prone and arm
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support poses.

For each posture the following is provides: 1) a phonetic spelling, 2) word meaning, 3) Classification and level, 4) Joint Actions, 5) Muscles working, 6) Muscles lengthening, 7) Obstacles and Notes, 8) Variations, and 9) a line drawing of a body in the posture with the relevant muscles tinted red and identified by name.

I have found this to be interesting to peruse and to consult for information about specific postures.
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LibraryThing member imjustmea
Great reference book to get to know which muscles are involved in each yoga move. Great tool to help improve your practice and avoid injury.
LibraryThing member gratefulyoga
For the systematically minded. Each major pose is broken down into components. What sets this book apart is the emphasis on breathing, and the way it functions in each pose. On the whole, more information that most students need - but invaluable for teachers.
LibraryThing member TLCooper
Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff discusses yoga's effect on the body and the body's effect on yoga. Kaminoff starts by explaining the dynamics of breathing and of yoga breath. This section alone is worth the cost of the book! I noticed an immediate improvement in my breathing during yoga poses and
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therefore an improvement in the poses after reading the section on breathing. Yoga Anatomy then goes on to show yoga poses from an anatomical view highlighting the parts of the body that should be working and/or that are affected by the pose. The yoga name and a translation for each pose is provided. Each pose is classified and given a level. The joints that are active, the work the body is doing, the muscles being lengthened, the obstacles for each pose, notes to help with the pose, and breathing are all discussed in relationship to each pose. There are moments when the descriptions for the poses have so much in common, the reader feels a sense of de ja vu while reading. I even felt like there were times when I wasn't actually internalizing what I was reading until I was moving into a pose the next day or even a few days later and would suddenly remember reading about the pose and realize why the pose hadn't been working for me and how to correct my stance, my breathing, or my focus. Yoga Anatomy is easy to read and understand, but a reader should be prepared to take some time, especially if the goal is to use the book to improve one's yoga practice. I read it a little at a time over several months in order to internalize what I read about each pose. Yoga Anatomy is a great book for anyone interested in practicing yoga or for anyone who practices yoga but struggles from time to time with a pose or yoga breath. Yoga Anatomy has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf as a reference book! After all, it's already proven beneficial to my yoga practice.
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LibraryThing member Michael.Bradham
Using this book, along with videos online, I was able to form my beginner's yoga routine. Thank you.
LibraryThing member ljhliesl
The subject matter is interesting but the illustrations (including the cover) just slay me: every single flayed figure, shown in bones, muscles, and ligaments, is wearing shorts, and the ones with longer hair wear tops. Qu'est-ce point?
LibraryThing member Tobias.Bruell
The book starts with two short chapters on the anatomy of breathing and the spine. The following main part of the book is a description of a variety of yoga postures (asanas). More or less all postures are covered in a systematic/uniform way, which consists of: a) anatomically correct drawings of a
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person in the posture (in the style seen on the cover), b) a listing of the involved/stressed muscles and joints, c) hints and warnings, and d) notes about the influence of the posture on breathing. On average, each posture is covered in two pages.

I found the first two chapters mostly comprehensible, sound, and interesting. In the main part I found items b) particularly boring/needless and skipped them. This made the whole book rather short, since a) and b) together on average take more than half of the space for each posture. The drawings of a) are nice and give a good view of the postures, but I could not make too much of all the muscles which are drawn into them. Items c) and d) contain some good suggestions.

It was a problem for me that the author uses a lot of anatomical terminology which I was not able to understand; an issue that should have been made clear on the backcover of the book. Nevertheless, despite the deep anatomical background, at times I had to doubt the logical correctness of the observations. For example, towards the end of chapter two the author claims on the same page (p. 36, German edition) that i) a flexion of the spine is related to inhalation and ii) a flexion of the spine results in exhalation. Also, the contact points of the body with earth in Padmasa seem questionable: the author claims that both knees shall touch the ground. This will lead to a skew position of the spine.

The book reminded me of a physiotherapist that once treated me: he always had a deep anatomical and impressive sounding answer to every aliment. Unfortunately, I was never really able to understand/follow his explanation. The cause might well have been my inferior knowledge ... or he did not really understand himself. God knows.
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Tags

ISBN

736062785

Publication

Human Kinetics
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