This book is absolutely wonderful in its presentation of what is going on inside your body when doing yoga.

Though it is somewhat technical in some aspects, it is well worth your time to go through it and learn what is happening even if it is not clear the first time you read or look at it, though for the most part for me that was the exception rather than the rule.

If you practice yoga or are interested in anatomy in general, no matter what level of experience or knowledge you have in either subject, this is a very enjoyable and educational experience.

Highly recommended.

This is a book I've been looking for to understand how muscles work on a yoga session. A must for all yoga practitioners who want to know how the asanas work.

This book is an excellent learning/reference tool...the illustrations are clear, the wording is concise (not too scientific) and each pose is listed in English and Sanskrit (including the phonetic spelling) - it's a must have!

I just started studying yoga to better round out my workout routine. I picked up this book as something to help me better understand how to perform the asanas.

Pros: Well drawn anatomical drawings, clear descriptions of how the muscles work to enable you to perform the asanas

Cons: Requires some knowledge of anatomy (I have had anatomy classes so this was not a problem for me), descriptions don't tell you how to get INTO the poses, just how they work

I would not get this book to learn yoga. You would be more frustrated than helped (see the low rated comments). But if you are studying with a yogi then I think this book will help you better understand the processes that are happening when you do your poses.

This text is a wonderful way to educate the patient's and families about the benefits of yoga to strengthen and sustain muscle mass and agility.

A detailed book showing just what muscles are effected by each yoga movement. Alot of detail and excellent graphics

Not exactly what I spected but I supose If you have enough knowledge about yoga you will find it usefull.

This was the book I had wanted to write myself!

Having read Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Delavier when I studied for a Gym Instructor's course, (ironically so that I could go on an Exercise Referral course which I felt would help me when I teach Hatha Yoga to people who have problems;) I was certain there was a need for a similar book that would show clearly the major muscles involved in different asanas.

It is clear. The diagrams are excellent and it will help any hatha yoga teacher who is seriously interested in helping students who have particular physical problems.

Well done and many thanks. I will certainly be recommending it to my students.

Helen Lloyd Jones Cardiff Wales

This book strikes me as a labor of love - immense and incredible detail pours forth on every fully illustrated page.

Serious yoga practitioners will glean useful insights on joint actions, breathing, and the precise inner workings of their bodies, in poses from savasana to scorpion. Excellent color drawings show where your intestines curl up to in poses like shoulderstand (they take up a lot more room in the torso than we realize), what parts of the body hold up weight in inverted poses, and even what our illustrated musculature looks like from underneath, in, for example, turtle pose (the publishers photographed yogis underneath suspended glass slabs). There is a lot of neat stuff here.

The "Joint Action," "Working" and "Lengthening" paragraphs detail what parts of the body are under stress or responding to gravity. The arms, legs and spine are given extra attention.

"Obstacles and Notes" includes where one might feel restrictions, try variations or deal with bodily congestion.

"Breathing" offers tips on how the breath might be restricted and how to align each pose to more comfortably/fully breathe.

OVERALL RECOMMENDATION -

Beginners won't really know what to make of this book. Besides the "oh, cool!" factor, it's difficult to figure out what beginners could do with this information. It's not a pose book per se. It's not causal reading. It's a serious texbook for serious yogis.

While the top of each page provides both Sanskrit and English pose names, the text refers to the Sanskrit, forcing yoga beginners to fumble around between pages to catch what the references are.

Proper names of muscles, bones and tendons are used: if reading about adductors, flexors, rotators, erector spinae, multifidi and rhomboids that "work eccentrically" are confusing, this book might not be altogether helpful.

That said, this book is a must-have for the libraries of yoga instructors and yoga therapists. Doctors and medical professionals endorsing yoga for health/fitness will likely enjoy this reference tool.

Intermediate to advanced practitioners with a working knowledge of anatomy and Sanskrit names should find exploring Yoga Anatomy an - ahem - illuminating experience. :)

I think it is very interesting to be able to know what your body is really doing while you move and stretch.

I bought this book on the rave reviews but agree that if you just want to learn more about yoga poses and benefits, this book might be too technical. While I like the breakdown of the muscles used for certain asanas... the text refers to many parts that are not defined in the illustration.

It is an extremely "neat" book just to see the illustrations. I would recommend it if you have a good grasp of anatomy and are a teacher.

If this book could be improved for the layman, I would suggest labeling all the parts referred to in the text portion -- into the illustration.

This is an excellent resource for building a thoughtful yoga class or practice. Many students have issues with specific muscles and this book helps you respond with good and in-depth understanding of which poses are a good choice for them.

I was first attracted to yoga without knowing anything about it. I found that there is a profound spiritual empowerment in it. Having practiced contemplative meditation I found a great affinity with the yogic arts. I know the title of the book is called Yoga Anatomy but not to mention the spiritual side to yoga is incorrect. To use the analogy of Mr Kaminoff about the car and its engine. It is like having a great engine, steering, transmission and breaks but having no destination, nowhere to go. Remember Mr Kaminoff that we are living in a much too physical era. We have lost the link (yoga) with our own consciousness.

I am very curious about which muscles do what in my yoga poses, and why some poses hurt more than others, and what I should be doing with my back muscles in certain poses. I had hoped that this book would provide some answers, but I discovered that the book was written about yoga from an anatomy perspective rather than the other way around. I don't understand 90% of this book, because I don't know which muscles are being referenced and what the motion is that he's talking about. Adducted? Trapezius? I'm totally lost.

If I bought some kind of anatomical dictionary and used it to translate this book, I've no doubt the book would be wonderful. The illustrations are amazing, and I can tell that the text and the breakdown of each pose are thorough and not at all dry. Nevertheless, I'm going to have to ask a friend who's an RN for some help reading it. Yogis, be warned: you'll need some knowledge of anatomical terminology to understand this book.

This book is really good. It has an excellent introduction of breath anatomy and explains exactly what muscles and actions are being used in a posture. I also like how it links postures together. For example when looking at forward fold (Uttanasana) it says, for more in deptch exploration look at the sitting version Paschimottanasana. So it also helps with sequencing and linking ideas together. Chef recommends!

The illustrations in this book are fantastic! The intricate detail provides a great visual to see what is actually happening in a well executed asana. The text is useful too, but it is written with very technical language and may take a bit of extra effort to absorb. I have found some answers to questions I have had in acheiving certain poses. I would recommend this book to serious Yogis.

Connecting with various parts of the body is difficult. This book with it's excellent illustrations facilitates the visualization and the possible related sensation of a pose. Sensing position and alignment are difficult and this book helps that process.

Yoga Anatomy is a book that gives the reader a look inside the human body as it is put in various yoga positions.

Chapter 1 covers the dynamics of breathing and actually covers some breathing physiology as well. Chapter 2 talks about the spine and gives some pretty detailed spinal information. Chapter 3 is short and covers the asanas.

The rest of the book, Chapters 4 through 9, make up the "meat" of the book and contains most of the anatomy information most readers probably bought the book for- what muscles are used in what poses. The way the book gives you the information is quite handy- it has a section on standing poses, sitting poses, kneeling poses, on-your-stomach poses, on-your-back poses, and arm supported poses. Sooo, all you have to do is pick a position/pose, and there you'll find pictures of what muscles are involved (and let me say, they show you some great angles of the poses to make sure the reader can see ALL the muscles that are involved). In addition to learing what muscles are involved, the book also tells you what joint actions are involved, as well as what body parts are working AND which ones are lengthening- neat!

A great reference book, its simply perfect for the yoga enthusiast that has become acquainted over time with muscles they never knew they had- but will now after reading this book! Also recommend The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution if plantar fasciitis pain keeps you from doing your yoga.

As a yoga practitioner with little formal knowledge of anatomy, this book does not offer what I was looking for. I was hoping for something more practical that would give me an anatomical explanation and help with poses that I find difficult. Though the "Obstacles & Notes" section does offer this, the explanations are very technical, often referring to muscles not labeled on the drawings. It assumes that the reader speaks the language of anatomy and the illustrations, though beautiful, are confusing.

Leslie Kaminoff is a master teacher - I heard him speak at the Yoga Therapy (SYTAR) conference and his ability to explain anatomy is superb. This book is clear, easy to follow, ties anatomy theory into yoga practice and was a joy to read. It links some more subtle yoga theory with anatomy concepts without getting lost in esoterics
and is less intimidating than Coulter's excellent book on Anatomy for Yoga. I am a yoga teacher-trainer and teach the anatomy for our program. I believe all yoga teachers should have a strong foundation in anatomy and that students also will benefit from a basic understanding of the human body. Our program will utilize this excellent text from now on.

This text is TOTALLY well prepared. If you do yoga, it is a must have. If you like naked women without their skin, then, well, this is most interesting!
Seriously, as a yoga student who is nearly 60, it's been MOST useful.
HikerBob

I own and use many anatomy books, from Gray's to the coloring book. Could another book really offer anything new and interesting? Yes!!! Yoga Anatomy brings the subject to life, making muscles relevant not just to yoga, but to every day activities, too. The illustrations are cool and make you want to get down on the mat and practice and feel.
--Anita Boser, author of Undulation Exercises and Relieve Stiffness and Feel Young Again with Undulation

"Yoga Anatomy" by Leslie Kaminoff is a precious gift to the postural Yoga community. Leslie's wealth of knowledge of anatomy, breathing and bodywork shines on every page.
This book is easy to understand and beautifully illustrated and comes complete with Sanskrit and English terms and a chapter on breathing. "Yoga Anatomy" is an invaluable book and one I would highly recommend for teacher training programs.

Brenda Feuerstein
co-author of "Green Yoga" and "Green Dharma"

I was extremely pleased with this book. Great biological-physical explanations of what happens in your body and how it works with yoga practice.
Full of nice illustrations which really exemplify and support what you're reading, so it becomes really much easier to understand stuff.

Not complicated at all, but still very explanatory. If you're into yoga and would like to know a litle bit more of what happens to your body, which muscles you work in different asanas, and how its beneficial to you , then I really recomend you get this. You won't be dissapointed.

I first saw this book in the library and was so impressed by it that I had to buy one for my personal reference. It is greatly illustrated. They photographed a person in several yoga positions and then inserted the muscular anatomy into the pose. I found the muscle information very helpful as well as the description of the positions. If you want to know how yoga is affecting your muscles in your body then you will love this book.

the information gives both yoga theory and anatomy explanations and rates each pose up to and advanced practice

This is a very thorough, but very technical book. It's better for yoga teachers than for the layman, but it's informative.

Excellent book, easy to visualize and understand the muscles that create the movements. A must have for instructors and massage therapists.

Yoga Anatomy is a fantastic resource when I am planning my yoga classes. It expands the ways available to me to explain what actions we're going for and which muscles are involved. It lends specificity to sometimes vague references.

I've thoroughly enjoyed Yoga Anatomy. I was looking for something very basic and this publication has helped me enormously in learning about how my body functions during my daily yoga practice. I found it to be clear and concise. I certainly would recommend it to anyone who wants a more detailed illustration of how the body uses its muscles during the basic asanas. My only criticism is that the illustrator, whose work was excellent, included the suggestion of clothing on the bodies. I found it unnessary and distracting.

While I applaud the author's overall effort, I take issue with the "working" and "lengthening" section for each pose. It's unclear if "working" involves a muscle "contracting" or not (just because a muscle shortens does not require it to be contracting or suggest that it is of kinesiological or anatomical interest). The same is true for lengthening, although gratefully he (the author) sometimes identifies eccentric contractions. There is also the issue of muscles being shown in the drawings, but not included in the supporting text. There is also inadequate distinction between the actions or movement into the posture, the maintenance of the posture and the action or movement out of the posture. These flaws are very distracting, and leave this book unsatisfying, even though other parts are valuable.

This was assigned to me as a required resource for Shala (Yoga Teacher Training). Having no background in anatomy, I am really struggling to tie the written descriptions in the first two chapters to the illustrations. Perhaps there is an assumption by the author and illustrator of a certain level of anatomy knowlege that this reader doesn't posses. I find that the illustrations of the thoracic cavity (lungs, central tendon, diaphram) and the spinal column (discs, tendons, vertebrae) more confusing than helpful. I needed to consult with my Shala yoga instructors and 3 different anatomy books to understand what the author was trying to teach me. Chapter two is no better. The illustrations of the spine, tendons, discs are all superbly drawn, yet don't quite sync up with the written text if you're a newcomer like myself.

After these two chapters, it's a great resource. As the other reviewers have stated, the illustrations of the muscles used during different asanas are right on and quite helpful. This is a resource I'll keep and use again. However I'd like to see the first two chapters revised so the illustrations are presented better for the novice.

The illustrations do not show the difference between the muscles are being stretched and which ones are being contracted, which is pretty much night and day as far as muscles go. Just showing which muscles are "working" is like having a listing of bank accounts that are active without knowing which accounts have a debit or credit balance.

I have an anatomy book on stretching and an anatomy book on exercises and compared to those books this book was not really very useful. You can look at the pictures in the other books and in one glance get a visual diagram of which muscles are being stretched or contracted.

I love this book and am starting recommend to several yoga teachers. I like it because it is basic and easy to read and access information. Yet it contains detailed and important information in its simplicity. The illustrations and lay out are awesome and helps those with little to a lot of anatomy background. I think it is a great book for yoga teachers.

very good quality book. I will find it extremely useful in my Y oga practice.

Yoga Anatomy is the best book I have purchased on the subject. I have been practicing Yoga for about 33 years and teaching some classes during the 33 years. The illustrations are clear, concise and to the point for the asanas demonstrated. The book is well written and interesting. I recommend it to all Yoga Teachers and serious Yogis. I am registered to teach certification, if I pursue this, Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff will be one of the text books used in my class. Thank you for such a wonderful book on Yoga Anatomy.

I am a graphic designer and can appreciate the time and effort that went into this book. The anatomy illustrations are superb and a perfect companion to the yoga posture descriptions. The writer breaks down a large variety of standing, kneeling, supine, sitting and balance poses with details that include key structures, joint actions, working muscles, lengthening, etc. I have been practicing yoga for three years and have some knee and back issues. I found this book very helpful to isolate and understand the exact anatomy that is involved during my practice. I highly recommend it for anyone who practices yoga and especially for yoga instructors.

Great book to show me what muscles I am using in my daily Yoga pratice.
Thank you.

Yoga Anatomy is an excellent book to explain which muscles are being used and best recommended breathing techniques.

Yoga Anatomy is a very informative book to all of you newbies as well as those who would like to make yoga more effective.

*Dynamics of Breathing
*Standing & Sitting Poses plus many more poses

The best part about this book is the full color anatomical drawings!

Yoga anatomy is a detailed work on how the various yoga asanas impact us at an anatomical level. For a variety of standing, sitting, kneeling, supine, prone and arm support yoga poses the key anatomical structures, joint and limb actions, working and lengthening of muscles and breathing involved in the pose are described. The obstacles to getting into the poses are also described. I found this to be extremely useful. The diagrams are detailed and by looking at it one would know what muscles and joints are involved in the yoga posture. Getting into a posture is not very difficult for many; but the question is if they are doing it the right way by involving the right muscles and joints. For example the book clearly mentions that in Uttanasana (standing forward bend) hip flexion is the main joint action but if the hamstrings are tight then spine flexes to compensate for it. By being aware of this fact, one can focus on flexing the hip and correctly get into the pose without flexing the spine much. By being aware of the correct muscles groups/ joints my yoga practice has benefitted immensely. My hip has opened easing pressure on my spinal muscles and my back pain has eased considerably because of that. For some poses, the book does not pictorically depict all the muscles mentioned in the description. The book talks about latissimus dorsi lengthening in Utkatasana but the illustration does not show that. Overall, this is a great book for a very reasonable price!

Plenty of books outline the fundamentals of yoga, but how many provide an illustrated anatomical guide to postures, movements and breathing techniques which blends anatomy with yoga moves? YOGA ANATOMY offers a visual approach that allows learners to see how all the muscles interact during various poses. Chapters survey joint actions, poses, and how yoga helps various conditions. Any library strong in yoga or new age will find this anatomical approach specific and invaluable.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

a great book for all who are interested in yoga anatomy- great images and all in very simple english.

This book has it all when it comes to the anatomy of yoga postures. I am a yoga teacher and I keep this book with me at all times. If a student has a question about how a certain pose works or what goes on during that pose I break this out to help them understand while I talk to them. It helps give them a visual what I am telling them about a pose. I just love, love, love this book! Every person who is a serious student or teacher of yoga should own this book.

Wonderful, wonderful illustrations from the ground up literally. I loved the explaination of the other two diaphragms as it is key in understanding how the breath moves in the body. Maha Mudrasana is a prime example of the immediate cognition one gets as the base point of the asana is shown from a unique observational perspective. It is one of the most powerful asanas at moving energy, and from this diagram, it is clear why. Cat/Cow is the greatest vinyassa we can master in my view and the section on primary and secondary curves is very informative. I was happy to see they had included Simhasana. Another ancient asana that is overlooked in modern day asana classes.Maybe because it is so subtle.
I will use this book a lot I think. Thankyou. Camella Nair - author of "Aqua Kriya Yoga".

Rest assured, you can relax and breathe easy as you meander through the pleasant pages of this book! Other great books connect yoga and anatomy, including the highly regarded titles, Anatomy of Yoga, by H. David Coulter, and The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga, by Ray Long. However, Yoga Anatomy is so user-friendly even those of us who drift off during yoga anatomy workshops can enjoy absorbing the wisdom in this book.

There were no anatomy books specifically designed for yoga teachers when I studied anatomy at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco in the `70s. I was already overwhelmed just learning how to place my feet in Triangle Pose and could not get my head into the daunting standard anatomical textbooks used at the time. If this book had been available, I might not have gotten a D in anatomy!

The beautiful illustrations by award-winning medical illustrator Sharon Ellis are based on photographs of various models. As others have mentioned, some perspectives illustrated are quite unusual because they were shot from underneath. The book shows a photograph of a photo shoot where the model is balanced in Crow Pose, on a long piece of plexiglass secured between two ladders. The photographer is lying on his back on the floor, shooting the pose from below.

The sight of this photo prompted me to do something I have not done in 30 years of practicing Downward-Facing Dog. I placed a sturdy mirror, one foot wide and four feet long, in the center of my yoga mat. I went into downward-facing dog in such a way that my hands and feet were pressing on the mat, and I could see the pose reflected in the mirror. I turned to the book, and there was a picture of the view I had just seen in the mirror.

I am fond of telling my students to turn the pages of yoga books sideways and upside down so that they can better see the connection between the various poses. The views shown in Yoga Anatomy make this concept crystal clear and help you see yourself and your students with X-ray eyes. Yoga Anatomy is definitely an essential resource that will illuminate your practice for years to come!

Suza Francina, author, The New Yoga for Healthy Aging, The New Yoga for People Over 50, and other books. www.suzafrancina.com

You can relax and breathe easy as you meander through the pleasant pages of this book. While there are other great books that connect yoga and anatomy, including the weighty Anatomy of Yoga, by H. David Coulter, and the amazing Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga, by Ray Long, Yoga Anatomy is so user-friendly even those of us who drift off during yoga anatomy workshops can sit in Upavistha Konasana (Seated Wide-Angle Pose) and enjoy absorbing the wisdom in this book.

There were no anatomy books specifically designed for yoga teachers when I studied anatomy at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco in the `70s. I was already overwhelmed just learning how to place my feet in Trikonasana (Triangle) and could not get my head into the daunting standard anatomical textbooks used at the time. I recall taking a field trip to visit a nearby medical school and peering at the muscles and organs in a well-preserved cadaver. Our teacher made a heroic attempt to get us to understand the bony structure of our body using a skeleton affectionately referred to as "Ms. Bones." If this book were available, I might not have gotten a D in anatomy!

The beautiful asana (posture) illustrations by award-winning medical illustrator Sharon Ellis are based on photographs of various models. As other reviewers have mentioned, some perspectives illustrated are quite unusual because they were shot from underneath. The book shows a photograph of a photo shoot where the model is balanced in Bakasana (Crow), on a long piece of plexiglass secured between two ladders. The photographer is lying on his back on the floor, shooting Bakasana from below.

The sight of this photo prompted me to do something I have not done in 30 years of practicing Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog). I placed a sturdy mirror, one foot wide and four feet long, in the center of my yoga mat. I went into downward-facing dog in such a way that my hands and feet were pressing on the mat, and I could see the pose reflected in the mirror. I turned to the book, and there was a picture of the view I had just seen in the mirror.

I am fond of telling my students to turn the pages of yoga books sideways and upside down so that they can better see the connection between the various poses. The views shown in Yoga Anatomy make this concept crystal clear and help you see yourself and your students with X-ray eyes.

Suza Francina, author, The New Yoga for Healthy Aging, The New Yoga for People Over 50, and other books. www.suzafrancina.com

There is a fantastic amount of work in this book, and any teacher, or trainee teacher will find it a very useful book. The section on breathing is particularly good and explains well the complex relationship that exists between the thorax and abdomen. The asanas are wonderfully illustrated, but I felt a little frustrated that muscles that are working, and those that are stretching are not clearly differentiated, it would have been easy to do them in different colours for instance. However, If you want to find out what muscles do what when you practice the asanas he describes, this is probably the best book around.
It doesn't set out to make judgements about the validity of the asanas described, and that probably needs to be understood when you read it, because understanding what is happening to you when you practice doesn't always mean that what your doing is good for you.

Absolutely excellent book! I even went back to purchase another one to give as a gift!

I've already started recommending this book to my yoga students so that they'll understand which muscles are activated during a pose.

I highly recommend!

Leslie Kaminoff's book is an excellent owner's manual for anyone who has a body! "YOGA Anatomy" not only provides practitioners and instructors with a quick, concise source of information about muscles groups, but it is an excellent reference for anyone who is thinking about adopting any type of exercise routine outside of yoga. As a Yoga, Tai Chi, Nei Gong and Qi Gong instructor, I keep this book in my kit bag and use it whenever I need to make a fine point about alignment or strength. Dancers and martial artists will be excellently served and advised by Amy Matthews' clear and precise descriptions of kinesiology, or muscle/joint interaction. The notes and obstacles section of each posture also offers insight on the range of muscle movement and its effect on skeletal alignment. The fine and detailed illustrations provided by Sharon Ellis help round out this wonderful book. I highly recommend this book! You will be satisfied.