Science of Yoga: Understand the Anatomy and Physiology to Perfect your Practice
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-27 09:54:45
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Ann Swanson
- ISBN：024134123X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Explore the physiology of the key yoga asanas， indepth and from every angle， and master each pose with confidence and control。
Recent scientific research now backs up what were once anecdotal claims about the benefits of yoga to every system in the body。
Science of Yoga reveals the facts， with annotated artworks that show the mechanics， the angles， how your blood flow and respiration are affected， the key muscle and joint actions working below the surface of each pose， safe alignment， and much more。
Look no further to achieve technical excellence in your practice and optimize the benefits of yoga to your body and mind。
Recent scientific research now backs up what were once anecdotal claims about the benefits of yoga to every system in the body。
Science of Yoga reveals the facts， with annotated artworks that show the mechanics， the angles， how your blood flow and respiration are affected， the key muscle and joint actions working below the surface of each pose， safe alignment， and much more。
Look no further to achieve technical excellence in your practice and optimize the benefits of yoga to your body and mind。
Reviews
Kirsty
，
It’s ease of use and the areas of physiology that the book touches on that are relevant to yoga。 Succinct and easy to understand！
Sudhanshu
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This is exactly what I was looking for。 I always （well， January to March of this year） wondered what exactly is happening when I do certain asanas/poses。 I still reminisce the blissful buzz post-yoga， a cocktail of chemicals combined with the sensation of your muscles finally relaxing。 It's like having coffee for the first time after an extended break。 The first time I ever did yoga was junior year of high school， around the time where I was slowly getting into mindfulness。 One round of Surya N This is exactly what I was looking for。 I always （well， January to March of this year） wondered what exactly is happening when I do certain asanas/poses。 I still reminisce the blissful buzz post-yoga， a cocktail of chemicals combined with the sensation of your muscles finally relaxing。 It's like having coffee for the first time after an extended break。 The first time I ever did yoga was junior year of high school， around the time where I was slowly getting into mindfulness。 One round of Surya Namaskar completely winded me。 There was no one else in my family or friend circle that knew anything about yoga。 The internet was my companion。 We had a shitty internet connection back then， so I just used this diagram from Google Images and did that first thing in the morning。Kinda funny story: At the beginning of freshman year of college， I thought that the cylindrical yoga mat bags that people （mostly women） carried were engineering blueprint carriers。 It's common to see those cylindrical engineering cases with students here in Asia。 So， for a brief amount of time， I really thought Georgetown was killing it at #WomenInSTEM。 'Science of Yoga' was perfect - great diagrams， brief descriptions， and some cool Yoga facts along the way。 It was a textbook-ish in style but still very accessible。 An initial section on basic biological systems and then the rest of the reading focuses on seated， standing， inversion， and floor asanas。 I made the mistake of reading this on my Kindle。 I missed out on the colored diagrams for half of the book。 In many ways， reading this was just me trying to trick myself into practicing yoga consistently again。 I suppose my initial mistake for the first quarter of 2021 was making yoga too much of a task-driven and YouTube-reliant activity。 I love Adriene of 'Yoga with Adriene'， but a class still feels like a class。 It gets boring。 After this， I feel more armed with facts about the specific effects of asanas and yoga as a whole on the mind-body。 I can pick and choose from a library of poses。 The Supine Twist is life changing。 Well， not really， but it's brilliant - it feels so good and I've added that to the few stretches that I do before bed now。 King Pigeon pose if you're up for a challenge。 I go for the Figure Four （Reclining Pigeon） - really good for your hip flexors。 The Seated Twist is great as well。 I learned recently that one of the basic reasons that life forms develop brains is for complex movement。 We have the most intricate brains on the planet - and it's not a coincidence that we're endowed with great dexterity。 It's what mechanically allowed us to build all these tools。 We're lucky that most of us are gifted with the ability to move。 Why not take advantage of the gift？ As you do some of these poses， I think there's something truly grounding about learning about how powerful your body can be。 It's so easy to underestimate oneself。 Idk man， other than this deep stuff I like the idea of yoga simply because it's a relief from sitting in front of a computer and typing all day。 I'm just trying to connect to a more profound purpose to lasso myself back into an alternate-day yoga schedule。 I highly recommend 'Science of Yoga' for anyone curious。 More than happy to share my PDF copy with anyone interested。 。。。more
Puneet
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A perfect amalgamation of Traditional Yogic practice with Science and Anatomy！！This is pretty good book for anyone who has some understanding around the Yoga poses and wants to give space Yoga in one's life。 This book has picture perfect illustrations of the yoga poses and specifically calls out for each yoga pose and what effect it has on the body and mind。I have been practising Yoga for more than a year， however going through this book helps me fix some of the poses which apparently i was not A perfect amalgamation of Traditional Yogic practice with Science and Anatomy！！This is pretty good book for anyone who has some understanding around the Yoga poses and wants to give space Yoga in one's life。 This book has picture perfect illustrations of the yoga poses and specifically calls out for each yoga pose and what effect it has on the body and mind。I have been practising Yoga for more than a year， however going through this book helps me fix some of the poses which apparently i was not doing right。 This book starts with the Anatomy of the body talking about muscular system， skeleton system， Nervous system etc， which definitely helped me revise my elementary science， this time with more curiosity。 Happy Yoga to anyone who is planing to read。 。。。more
Jessi
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The illustrations in this one are phenomenal， especially how they label alignment cues on the pose。
Elisha Yeh
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What an amazing anatomy book for Yoga teachers to use as reference， the illustrations of each asana is drawn so beautifully and labelled in depth with exactly what muscle is being used - the book shows you with colour coding exactly which muscles are being engaged， lengthened or engaging while lengthening。 Super useful and great for visual learners， also a lot of extra tidbits on each page with exactly how some joints are working in certain positions， links to dristhi， tips for hypermobile bodie What an amazing anatomy book for Yoga teachers to use as reference， the illustrations of each asana is drawn so beautifully and labelled in depth with exactly what muscle is being used - the book shows you with colour coding exactly which muscles are being engaged， lengthened or engaging while lengthening。 Super useful and great for visual learners， also a lot of extra tidbits on each page with exactly how some joints are working in certain positions， links to dristhi， tips for hypermobile bodies， so much more good stuff。 Couldn't recommend enough！！ 。。。more
Brent Woo
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Slick diagrams and interesting reading tidbits。 Some aspects of the book are too shallow， and some are too deep， making it hard to recommend for any perfect particular use。 The first section on the anatomical systems is interesting but far too brief， it spends only 1 or 2 pages on each system， like the muscular， nervous， and cardiovascular system。 It's a good refresher of high school human biology， which might be all that you are searching for。 The last section on the Science Q&As is probably th Slick diagrams and interesting reading tidbits。 Some aspects of the book are too shallow， and some are too deep， making it hard to recommend for any perfect particular use。 The first section on the anatomical systems is interesting but far too brief， it spends only 1 or 2 pages on each system， like the muscular， nervous， and cardiovascular system。 It's a good refresher of high school human biology， which might be all that you are searching for。 The last section on the Science Q&As is probably the most valuable and unique， as Swanson goes over studies related to yoga's effect on the body， mind， and spirit， linking spiritual concepts like the 8 limbs of yoga to observed effects on the body and mind。 The middle section is what everyone comes for， I think。 Really fancy anatomical diagrams of a body in a pose， highlighting which muscles are actively engaged and which are stretching。 These are very cool to look at， and are supplemented with notes on how to hold the pose， what to focus on， and variations for different emphasis。 This is where the book is both too detailed and not detailed enough。 For each of the 30 poses included， it includes diagrams of key muscles and joints and they are all labeled （！） so each diagram can be quite overwhelming with more than 50 labels or so for a given diagram。 So， this would be a good thing， except I haven't been able to figure out how to use this practically。 What I need when I'm examining a particular pose is a separated list of "what I'm engaging" and "what is stretching"。 When you just examine the diagrams it's hard to get a sense of what the primary focus is when many different muscles are colored "engaged"。 For example， in down dog， pretty much everything is engaged。 But nobody has trouble engaging the legs， the hard part is rooting the hands to engage the arms and shoulders。 For a "front-heavy" pose like Triangle， it's easy to focus on what the front leg and hands are doing， and the diagrams emphasize those areas appropriately， but the diagrams and the explanations miss out on highlighting the best stretch — if you root down the back leg you activate the back glute in a surprising and unintuitive but very rewarding move。 And the biggest drawback is， probably due to the fact that the individual asanas are so richly described， there are only 30。 There's no chaturanga or figure 4 or goddess or peacock， fairly common poses。 I guess the best idea for a book like these is to give you enough to intuit in a general sense what's going on， so that you don't have to reference every single pose （e。g。， I guess you can generally figure out what's going on in chaturanga by referencing Plank and Cobra）， but Swanson doesn't really hint at general principles that can help you learn the general idea of figuring out what muscles are engaging and so forth。 While the asanas are divided into general posture categories （Seated， Standing， Inversion， and Floor） there is no cross-cutting category of "asanas that primarily work X region or Y muscle group"， which would be a more practical division in planning sequences。 For example it doesn't really seem useful to put Down dog （Inversion） in a separate category from Plank （Floor）， since they so frequently co-occur right next to each other。 This is solidly a supplementary reference book。 I would recommend it for the flanking sections briefly introducing the anatomical systems and the "science Q&As"。 You aren't really intended to read it front-to-back， since the middle section is simply rich， annotated anatomy diagrams。 But the first and last sections are great reading。 I would not recommend it as a first book on anatomy applied to yoga。 It also won't do you any good if you don't already have an established practice （that is， this book will not help you actually DO yoga）， as it tells you nothing about sequencing （e。g。 Yoga Sequencing: Designing Transformative Yoga Classes）。 Asanas are presented in isolation which can be dangerous to some （e。g。 entering Crow or Shoulderstand incorrectly can be very risky）。 。。。more
Majka Lesňáková
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To find this book helpful， you might need elementary knowledge of human anatomy， predominantly the muscular and the skeletal systems。 Each asana is explained from a broad and a narrow perspective and accompanied with a detailed illustration of muscles being streteched and engaged，as well as of joint alignment。 As the title suggests，it offers a scientific view of yoga， explains medical and mental benefits as supported by various studies。 Yogic terminology can be easily understood even by complete To find this book helpful， you might need elementary knowledge of human anatomy， predominantly the muscular and the skeletal systems。 Each asana is explained from a broad and a narrow perspective and accompanied with a detailed illustration of muscles being streteched and engaged，as well as of joint alignment。 As the title suggests，it offers a scientific view of yoga， explains medical and mental benefits as supported by various studies。 Yogic terminology can be easily understood even by complete beginners。 This guide includes a Q&A section and a Cautions section which enumerates specific conditioms where certain asanas are to be practiced with respect to prevent injury。 Highly recommended for yogis interested in the eight limbs of yoga to be practiced on and off the mat。 Namaste 🙏 。。。more
Savanah
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When designing my first 200 hour yoga teacher training， I was looking for a text that provided the critical anatomy/physiology information new yoga teachers need without feeling overwhelming。 I considered five other books before choosing Science of Yoga。 The information is clear and direct， and the accompanying visuals are fantastic。 I keep it on my desk and reference it often！
Koleta Gabrysiak
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I have a paper version and it's very important book in my library。 Great insight into yoga and how it works for my body。 Everything is very clear and understandable。 Illustrations are also very helpful。 I highly recommend it to anyone who loves yoga， especially the curious ones :） I have a paper version and it's very important book in my library。 Great insight into yoga and how it works for my body。 Everything is very clear and understandable。 Illustrations are also very helpful。 I highly recommend it to anyone who loves yoga， especially the curious ones :） 。。。more
Emiam
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The science of yoga is one of the best book combining all the body systems， anatomy， physiology and movement along with the yoga asana。 The explanations are clear， concise， precise and safe and sound。 The pictures are beautiful， I love the vibrant colors， we can clearly which muscles are engaged which bones 。。。 we are talking about。 I like the overview to go in depth regarding the vertebrae， pelvis， ligaments， joints， the cues on philosophy， diet， breathing。 This is a very good book the combinat The science of yoga is one of the best book combining all the body systems， anatomy， physiology and movement along with the yoga asana。 The explanations are clear， concise， precise and safe and sound。 The pictures are beautiful， I love the vibrant colors， we can clearly which muscles are engaged which bones 。。。 we are talking about。 I like the overview to go in depth regarding the vertebrae， pelvis， ligaments， joints， the cues on philosophy， diet， breathing。 This is a very good book the combination of all the great scientific knowledge out there and we can see from the bibliography and her experience that Ann wrote a book that should be a reference book for every potential yoga teacher。 。。。more
Nóra Hausel
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Science of Yoga is a very detailed and useful book for learning more about asanas， chakras， meditation with up-to-date knowledge and beautiful， easy-to-understand anatomical illustrations。 I've used this book in addition to my classes for preparing myself for my anatomy exam （YAI 200 hrs Hatha&Vinyasa Flow teacher training programme）。 I really loved the Q&A section at the end of the book with interesting， evidence based studies & science behind the asana practice。 It's a perfect book for all yog Science of Yoga is a very detailed and useful book for learning more about asanas， chakras， meditation with up-to-date knowledge and beautiful， easy-to-understand anatomical illustrations。 I've used this book in addition to my classes for preparing myself for my anatomy exam （YAI 200 hrs Hatha&Vinyasa Flow teacher training programme）。 I really loved the Q&A section at the end of the book with interesting， evidence based studies & science behind the asana practice。 It's a perfect book for all yogis， especially for the ones， who are enrolled in teacher training programmes。 。。。more
ief k
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This book has loads of pictures to show the location of each muscle and is very colourful。 Great book for someone with no/little anatomy and physiology background as it is clear， concise and easy to understand。
Lisa
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Such a good anatomy book。 The illustrations are so nice。 Very interesting to see how the different positions activate or relax different muscle groups。
Carla
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I love this book。 It has so many information and knowlwedge that i didn`t find in others book i read。 It so well explained， the images are very clear and the use of colours in the muscles helpes so much to understand how they work。 I higly recomend this book for anyone who need to undertand anatomy and yoga and others things about the brain and nervous sistem。 I love this book。 It has so many information and knowlwedge that i didn`t find in others book i read。 It so well explained， the images are very clear and the use of colours in the muscles helpes so much to understand how they work。 I higly recomend this book for anyone who need to undertand anatomy and yoga and others things about the brain and nervous sistem。 。。。more
Fiona
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Because I’m now this person。 Great for easy intel on each pose and the musculature involved， amazing drawings， and cute anti-woo myth-busting。 But still a DK book so I guess I’ll be looking for something more advanced。
Miss R
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I love it and seriously wish I’d had it when doing my L2 and L3 fitness/personal training quals too - it’s so easy to read and explains things so well。IMHO you are missing a whole market of wider interest by labelling it for yoga！I’m particularly interested in how systems and processes work together - at macro and micro level。 Each page I read of your book expands my thinking further。Thank you！
Silvio
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Just such an amazing book。 I especially enjoyed the Q&A at the end。
laura
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Comprehensive and accessible。 A great resource。
Reece Aylward
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Science of Yoga is amazingly illustrated， detailed and the examination of the practice of yoga is incredible It has the benefits for all systems of the body。 This is a must read for any yogi that has an interest in anatomy and the scientific evidence of the benefits of yoga。Would love to meet the author one day！ 5⭐️
Raelle Rey
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Informative and beautifully illustrated。
Keith Hudson
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Like taking a college course in YogaIt's like taking a physiology class。 I've been doing yoga for a couple years。 Now I know why these positions are important and what is happening to my bones，， muscles and organs。 I will be referring to this book for years。 Like taking a college course in YogaIt's like taking a physiology class。 I've been doing yoga for a couple years。 Now I know why these positions are important and what is happening to my bones，， muscles and organs。 I will be referring to this book for years。 。。。more
Ruth
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I bought the paper version and I don't regret。 I started more seriously to practice yoga during the second half of this year at home。 This book is key to understand whether the muscles are stretching or engaged。 I go back often to the book and I learn something new。 It describes briefly how scientific research has demonstrated how yoga and particular asanas can help。The only thing I missed is more information on how to transition from one posture to another safely。 I bought the paper version and I don't regret。 I started more seriously to practice yoga during the second half of this year at home。 This book is key to understand whether the muscles are stretching or engaged。 I go back often to the book and I learn something new。 It describes briefly how scientific research has demonstrated how yoga and particular asanas can help。The only thing I missed is more information on how to transition from one posture to another safely。 。。。more
Ester Moya
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Great book with lovely illustrations。 I would have liked to see the references to all the scientific research facts that are included in the book。
Ethan P
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When I do guided yoga， they get me into the pose bit-by-bit and I don't really have the time to really ensure that every muscle in my body is doing exactly what it should do to really do the pose with proper form。 In the beginning， sure， the vocal guidance is plenty good-enough。 However， since I want to unleash the full magic of each of the poses， this book serves as an amazing guide。 It says for each pose， for each muscle in the body， should it be stretching or pushing。 Turns out muscles I didn When I do guided yoga， they get me into the pose bit-by-bit and I don't really have the time to really ensure that every muscle in my body is doing exactly what it should do to really do the pose with proper form。 In the beginning， sure， the vocal guidance is plenty good-enough。 However， since I want to unleash the full magic of each of the poses， this book serves as an amazing guide。 It says for each pose， for each muscle in the body， should it be stretching or pushing。 Turns out muscles I didn't realize were supposed to be engaged at all are an important part of most poses。 This format works much better to me than the list of vocal cues with photos of models that other books I've seen have。 。。。more
Sandra Arroyave
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Very interesting easy to read 。 Nicely illustrated。 Good overview of yoga 。 Does not go in details in the explanations it’s more focused on general information but still you can lead a lot 。 I did 。 Asana s are mostly described in the way the body moves and more focused on anatomy so yes muscle names are repetitive but you know what it is a very good way to memorized them so in the end it’s useful I recommend to New student if they want to go deeper in their practice or to yoga teachers as well Very interesting easy to read 。 Nicely illustrated。 Good overview of yoga 。 Does not go in details in the explanations it’s more focused on general information but still you can lead a lot 。 I did 。 Asana s are mostly described in the way the body moves and more focused on anatomy so yes muscle names are repetitive but you know what it is a very good way to memorized them so in the end it’s useful I recommend to New student if they want to go deeper in their practice or to yoga teachers as well 。 。。。more
szofisztikalmacska
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Mondhatnám， hogy ez a könyv a jógázók bibliája， de nem teszem， mert ez az első ilyen jellegű olvasmányom， másrészt pedig laikusként nem tudom teljes mértékben megítélni a hasznosságát – de nekem， kocajógázónak nagyon， nagyon hasznos és információdús olvasmány volt， olyan könyv， amit sokszor fogok forgatni， nem csupán a polc dísze lesz – habár a gyönyörű kivitelezése erre is alkalmassá teszi。Száz szónak is egy a vége: ha érdekel a jóga， akkor mindenképpen erősen ajánlott könyv。
Mehtap exotiquetv
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Dieses Buch hat anatomische Abbildungen der Asanas und erklärt genau welche Muskelgruppen in den einzelnen Ausführungen beansprucht werden。Da der Fokus eher auf medizinischer und wissenschaftlicher Sicht liegt， finde ich dieses Buch sehr spannend。 Auch wenn nicht alle Asanas abgebildet sind， kriegt man doch ein sehr gutes Verständnis darüber auf was man achten soll。 Im letzten Teil des Buches gibt es ein FAQ， dass auch noch mal auf interessante Fragen eingeht。
Tania
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Ever since I was a little girl I needed to know why。 Why can’t I eat that， why can’t I do that， why is this the way it is。 Now I know why the sky is blue and why cake for breakfast， lunch and dinner is bad for me。 But here’s a thing。 I have no clue how yoga works。 Scrap that。 I didn’t know why yoga works。This book is for those who always wants to get to the bottom of things。 For those who just can’t Believe but has to Understand。 Its helpful to better understand your body and to figure out how t Ever since I was a little girl I needed to know why。 Why can’t I eat that， why can’t I do that， why is this the way it is。 Now I know why the sky is blue and why cake for breakfast， lunch and dinner is bad for me。 But here’s a thing。 I have no clue how yoga works。 Scrap that。 I didn’t know why yoga works。This book is for those who always wants to get to the bottom of things。 For those who just can’t Believe but has to Understand。 Its helpful to better understand your body and to figure out how to do your yoga routine right。 And damn， those pictures are so nicely done。 Very demonstrative。 。。。more
Sumit Pandey
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This book is worth every penny。 It is an extremely well written book， one of the best I've ever read。 The book first gives a basic understanding of human body to build the base required for understanding how some poses affect the overall body （although you can skip if you are not keen on reading the scientific terms） it explains the key yoga asanas （poses） with lot of images， showing the correct ways to do them， how they affect the body and mind， what cautions should be taken and most importantl This book is worth every penny。 It is an extremely well written book， one of the best I've ever read。 The book first gives a basic understanding of human body to build the base required for understanding how some poses affect the overall body （although you can skip if you are not keen on reading the scientific terms） it explains the key yoga asanas （poses） with lot of images， showing the correct ways to do them， how they affect the body and mind， what cautions should be taken and most importantly a variation of the asana in case there is any difficulty or if one wants to make it more challenging。 Very interesting， very easy to read， referencing scientific research and evidence where available， accepting where there is little to no evidence to back the claims。 。。。more
Heather the Hillbilly Banjo Queen
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