Yoga Builds Bones: Easy, Gentle Stretches That Prevent Osteoporosis (Paperback)

~ Jan Maddern (Author) "Improving your knowledge of calcium and the factors that affect its absorption in the body will enable you to make lifestyle and dietary changes now..." (more)
Key Phrases: full yoga breath, pinch your shoulder blades, energizing posture, Getting Started, Case Study, Cooling Breath (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Yoga instructor Maddern presents easy-to-follow adjustments that preserve bone density and prevent osteoporosis in women. After assessing upper-body strength, the author outlines five separate 20-minute illustrated routines of yoga postures, targeting weight-bearing bones in the upper and lower body and designed to promote balance within the endocrine system. Most of these poses are easy to perform, and many would add a fresh dimension to the standard yoga workout. The author has also included an accessible discussion of the importance of adequate calcium intake and the avoidance of foods and substances that interfere with its absorption. Although this book is not intended to replace the services of trained healthcare professionals, the information could assist in maintaining healthy bone structure and help alleviate menopausal symptoms as we age. Recommended for public libraries building in the area of wellness or serving mature patrons.DDeborah Anne Broocker, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Dunwoody, GA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Perhaps you have a mother or grandmother who suffers from brittle bones, has a dowager's hump, or is constantly, desperately, popping calcium supplements. Osteoporosis affects millions of women, and is widely regarded as an insidious but largely inevitable disease. Not anymore!

Weight-bearing exercise has proven effective in building bone density, but many women are intimidated by weight-lifting in a gym. Here is the solution. Easy, simple sweat-free yoga stretches that require no props or special equipment and are proven to regulate hormones and build bone strength! Yoga Builds Bones shows you how these gentle stretches can ease menopause symptoms, improve flexibility and balance, and actually increase bone density, preventing and reversing osteoporosis.

* Find out why calcium isn't the answer to bones strength--and why milk isn't the best source! * Discover the importance of balance in fighting osteoporosis--and how yoga can give it to you. * Learn five easy, twenty-minute yoga routines that target specific areas of the body--and that you can do in the privacy of your own home! * Special bonus section on menopause symptom relief. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Fair Winds Press (MA); Rev Exp edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931412057
• ISBN-13: 978-1931412056
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #893,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoga, helps your hormones make connections with bone and, September 15, 2000

By	Ellen L. Wilson (Searsport, ME United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yoga Builds Bones (Paperback)

muscles, to prevent bone loss.

This book is aimed at women; the author is a yoga teacher that specializes with post-menopausal women. Her Mother was diagnosed with osteoporosis. This book is a gem, very well researched and thorough.

The book opens with calcium information, what causes oteoporosis, myths, foods that help and don't, a calcium test and ideas beyond calcium to build bones.

Then 5 routines are shown to build bone and maintain strong bones and develop muscle tone. Five routines cover: Upper body,Lower body, Ovaries, Adrenals,and Parathyroids, Pineal, and Pituitary glands. Parathyroid glands control calcium levels in the blood.

Black and white sketches show the pose, the name, the benefits and instruction, also the focus and sometimes a visualization is given. No equipment is necessary and benefits include more energy, deeper sleep and less stress.

The author encouarges Women to see how YOGA can benefit them in other areas of life. The book ends with a bonus section for menopause symptoms.

I bought this book as a preventive aid, my grandmother had osteoporosis. I don't know if it was her lifestyle or genetics that caused it to develop or both, but why take any chances.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A treasure, September 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Yoga Builds Bones (Paperback)

This is truly a wonderful book, beautifully and thoughtfully written, with valuable information, excellent exercises, stretches and meditations. It condenses some of the valuable treasures yoga offers in spare, intelligent prose that seem lit from within. I would recommend it for any younger, healthy woman wishing to prevent osteoporosis in later life or looking for a way to balance hormones naturally now.

Someone older and anyone with health problems should definitely show this book to her doctor before plunging in. Many of the poses require a great deal of strength in the upper body and great flexibility.

I gave it only four stars because having just one illustration per exercise or stretch, most of which are multi-stepped, is often not sufficient for a person new to yoga, as I am, to figure out how to do the sequences correctly. Although I read the instructions a number of times before trying each pose, I fear I might do something wrong and inadvertently hurt myself. Still, this isn't insurmountable: I have other books which show many of the poses in more detail, and a video. I think a teacher or a class would be most helpful, too, for anyone planning to buy this book.

All in all, though, it is a great book which will get a lot of use: a real treasure!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary, April 14, 2008

By	Evalina (Palma Sola, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yoga Builds Bones (Paperback)

I was recently diagnosed with advanced osteoporosis. I am 54 with the bones of an 85 year old. I was at first shocked followed by depression, frustration and despair. I bought a stack of books on osteoporosis, all informative and valuable, but it is this one together with Linda Sparrowe's YOGA FOR HEALTHY BONES that gently turned me around, opened my heart, lifted me out of the depth of my depression and inspired me to return to my yoga practice. Jan Maddern in YOGA BUILDS BONES writes with authority and yet with a sensitivity that makes me trust her yoga program and motivates me to help myself heal and strengthen my weakened bones. She has helped heal my fragile heart as well as my fragile bones and I thank her.