Yoga Anatomy

My favorite Yoga book to date
I love anatomy and yoga and this book was so well written that it became an immediate favorite. I found myself in awe several times at the insights I found within its pages and eagerly shared those insights with my partner who is much less inclined to read (and who would be incredibly lost reading this information intensive book).Now that I have finished the book I have a much deeper understanding of my practice and the purpose/roots of yoga. I am able to be mindful of what is happening within my body as I move through each pose, which I am certain helps keep me safer and progressing faster.For example, the conversation about breathing and shape change allowed me to fully connect my breath to movement and I finally understood what ujjayi pranayama meant and how to do it.Although the terminology may be overwhelming if you have never studied any anatomy, for me it was perfect and the precision of the language really helped me grasp what the book was describing.This would also be a wonderful book for anyone who wishes to teach yoga! When yogi instructors talk about the healing power of each pose I often find myself marveling at the lack of basic anatomical understanding (I was once told that Eagle helps massage the pituitary gland O.O). This text would quickly remedy any confusion while helping create accurate descriptions of what is really going on during each pose.By far the best yoga book I have purchased (so far). I look forward to revisiting it as grow in my practice and know I will learn something new each time I do.

Excellent Book
Greater understanding of poses

Great resource, not perfect, but would recommend
I bought this as a resource to help during a yoga teacher training. It it technically rigorous and spends the majority of its texts analyzing specific poses by skeletal position. I checked out a previous edition from my local library and liked it enough to buy this as permanent reference tool. I actually like the previous edition better than this one! I knocked a star off my reviews for that and a few minor critiques on things they left out or could have organized better. I also own Light on Yoga (of course), Yogabody by Lasater (a similarly rigorous text but not at all pose specific), Science of Yoga by Swanson (also pose specific but more concerned with muscle activation than skeletal positioning), and Namaslay by Candace Moore (this book is obviously the most fun and most beginner oriented but I found it surprisingly useful from a teacher perspective because it spends a lot of time on what not to do and how to enter each pose). I mention these other texts because what I found lacking in this one is covered in the others. However, I should also mention that I don’t recommend any of them over Yoga Anatomy and that if I did have to pick just one, I would probably pick this one.

Put on Your Thinking Hats
Reading this book, I feel like I’m in graduate school for yogis. Meaning, when you’re in grammar school, subjects are presented in relatively simple terms. (‘your knee bone’s connected to your thigh bone’) But when you go to high school, you learn things at a deeper level. In college, you learn that there are even more points of view, and in grad school you’re really digging for the richest possible level of understanding. That’s what Kaminoff and Matthews do in this book, they dig deep and share the gold with you.They teach you (as a yoga teacher) not to rely on misleading pat phrases like ‘breath from the belly,’ and make sure you understand what where the the truth lies. That said, if you’re like me, you may have to read passages a couple of times, or more to grasp exactly what they’re saying.This is a very intelligent presentation of breath, the spine and anatomy for yoga teachers and those who want a deeper understanding.

Muy buen libro, maravillosas ilustraciones.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my best friend who is a yogi, but also a massage therapy student. She is in the middle of trying to learn about every muscle in the human body and this book is a great companion and helpful learning tool. It goes into great depth about exactly which muscles in the body are used during poses and the diagrams are beautiful, detailed, and clear. This book is perfect for any individual who does yoga, but is also interested in learning anatomy.

O guia e perfeito para a compreensão de cada Asana. Amei pela abordagem da respiração, inovadora e esclarecedora quanto a respiração diafragmatica , pois não conseguia conceber como alguma respiração não envolveria o diafragma! Entende a respiração como uma mudança de formas espaciais me foi bem útil.