38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Key Poses of Yoga, January 26, 2010
This review is from: The Key Poses of Yoga: Scientific Keys, Volume II (Paperback)
This book is fantastic! Have both Vol I & II, and they are invaluable for anyone wanting to learn about yoga, being healthier, or any nursing or med, or physical therapy student.
The book shows which muscles are involved in each yoga move - the ones working, being stretched, or supporting the body weight. For anyone in medicine, this also breaks down movements into steps and illustrates why the patient is in pain with that movement. For anyone in physical therapy, is illustrates why you need to do that excerise & shows how it will help you.
As a student in a yoga teacher training class, this helps me learn how to do the poses correctly and which muscles are working with each pose and how to avoid stressing injuried body parts. Fantastic reading and a great resource!
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Text and Illustrations, May 8, 2008
The book's design of using separate Theory and Practice sections has given me much more insight into how the mind and body work together when practicing Yoga. The author has turned an extremely detailed brain/anatomy lesson into something you really want to keep reading and explore further. The text combined with the illustrations in the Practice section help to tie it all together and get you towards the fullest extension of the pose while gaining knowledge of what is really working in your body at that time. Some mention and great illustration of the deep fibrous tissue are a plus. I would have liked more detail on that aspect but most books don't even address it. All around great guide, you will use it often.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Muscles in perspective, April 13, 2009
As a massage therapist and a yoga instructor, I was delighted to discover "The Key Poses of Hatha Yoga," along with its partner "The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga." In "Key Poses" several representative yoga poses are described, detailing which muscles are contracting, which are being stretched, and how it affects the limbs and skeletal structure. What makes this book unique, however, are the jaw-dropping illustrations color-coding the contracting muscles in shades of blue and the stretching muscles in red and pink. Not only are they beautiful, but you can clearly see how the muscles balance and interact. These illustrations offer a "right brain approach" to understanding the poses, and serve as a guide for moving deeper into the poses. The practitioner then seeks to activate blue muscles and relax red ones, with the text explaining the actions.
The book also offers a clear explanation of the mechanics of stretching, utilizing the muscle spindle, Golgi tendon organ, and reciprocal inhibition in a practical way to attain deeper stretches in the yoga practice. Although not a beginner's "how to" book, it will deepen the understanding of the intermediate and advanced students with an interest in specific muscle actions. Overall, it is an auspicious pairing of western muscle physiology with eastern mind/body medicine.
My only complaint about these books is the proofreading. I have found numerous errors of the technical sort (misplaced quote marks, etc.) and a few fairly important ones (mislabeled diagram, and the misspelling of "rectus abdominis" throughout). In addition, I would have preferred the Sanskrit rendering of the asana names to allow the reader to pronounce them correctly: "shirshasana" rather than "sirsasana" since they opted not to use the written diacritical marks (quite a few misspellings here too.) But, if you are not particular about such things, I can highly recommend this book as a useful tool, a fabulous reference, and overall eye candy for those interested in either yoga or muscle anatomy--a splendid addition to either your yoga or myology collections.
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