Book Review: Yoga Anatomy

Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kiminoff and Amy Mathews will likely teach you more than you will ever need to know about yoga postures, movements and breathing techniques. It discusses various parts of the body and how their movements impact the internal organs, muscles and skeletal system. The book is for those who desire to take their yoga moves to the next level creating maximum flexibility. 

The book will only touch on some of the basics and will quickly move into medical terminology. It will discuss breathing, spine, skeletal muscle, muscular systems and the overall different types of poses and how they impact the body. It is probably way more than the recreational yoga enthusiast will ever need to know. 

For example, you may go into a lengthy description of how the muscles connect to the rib cage, how the lungs work and stretch as well as the different types of skeletal systems. After the general medical description there are also descriptions for each movement. Illustrations will show how the muscles and internal organs are impacted. 

As this book provides detail that recreational users will not need it is more for the yoga practitioner or those who desire to teach the activity. Most instructors do not have this knowledge and are unlikely able to answer these types of questions. However, if you are serious you can study how the entire body works in varying angles and postures. 

Why would someone want to engage in Yoga? Whether you play sports or are sitting in an office chair for most of the day it is beneficial to stretch from time to time. Maintaining your flexibility, retaining muscle tone, improving breathing, and reducing stress are some of the advantages. If you are into high activity sports this is one way to incorporate advanced stretching and flexibility.

Kaminoff, L. & Mathews, A. (2012). Yoga Anatomy. IL: Human Kinetics.