The essential guide to correcting yoga misconceptions and avoiding injuries in your practice from Judith Hanson Lasater, a yoga instructor, physical therapist, and bodywork expert.
“Tuck your tailbone to protect your back.” “Increase your breath.” “Pull your abdominal muscles into your backbone.” Following these movement cues is often believed to benefit your yoga practice and protect your body when entering and holding poses. However, what may seem like a helpful correction can actually lead to injury or physical harm.
In Yoga Myths, Judith Hanson Lasater draws on almost fifty years of experience as a yoga instructor and physical therapist to address the most common mistakes in our yoga practice and provide clear instructions for correcting these errors. Focusing on the eleven “myths” most detrimental to our practice, Lasater provides a comprehensive discussion of what the myth is, why it can hurt us, and how we can avoid it through step-by-step instructions and guiding photos. This book will allow you to return to the inherent wisdom, natural goodness, and spiritual wholeness of yoga and avoid life altering injuries for as long as you practice.
I was lucky enough to be able to read an advance copy of this book, and I knew I wanted to buy this book before I finished reading chapter one. Maybe even before that. When I saw the subtitle for chapter 2 ("Why you don't need neck rolls, but do need blankets for shoulder stand") I got really excited--I was fortunate enough to have a yoga teacher training program that explained the anatomy of the neck and why blankets are essential for shoulder stand, and cringed every time I attended a class where the teacher included shoulder stand without blankets. (I may have even "suddenly developed a shoulder issue" that prevented me from executing a shoulder stand in those classes, wink, wink.)
While Judith Hanson Lasater's name often appears in discussions of yoga '"celebrities," it's not because she's playing the role of yoga rock star, standing in front of hundreds and teaching to a live band. It's because among all yoga teachers, Ms. Lasater is one of the few who has continued to learn and experiment with that knowledge in her practice, then translate that knowledge into something useful for other yoga teachers. She's been writing for Yoga Journal since before it was purchased by a media conglomerate, and regularly teaches for Yoga U and other teacher training course offerings. In doing this, Ms. Lasater is not afraid to upset the sacred cows. She is one of the first instructors I remember speaking out against the "position your pelvis between two panes of glass" instruction (attributed to Iyengar teacher training and repeated daily by thousands of yoga teachers--I used to be one of them) often used in trikonasana or virabhadrasana II.
This book continues to question the assumptions taught in even some of the most well-known yoga teacher trainings, explaining the anatomy involved and WHY that assumption is incorrect. But more than just explaining it, Ms. Lasater provides step-by-step instructions for how to personally experience what she is explaining. (For this reason, it might be worth purchasing the audio book as well, especially if you don't have someone to read it aloud to you so you can focus on your movement.)
While you might think this book is geared exclusively towards yoga TEACHERS, I highly recommend it for all students. This is NOT a "beginning yoga book" but I highly recommend it for beginners to yoga. The reason for this is simple. Given the proliferation of yoga teacher training programs, many of which provide little instruction in anatomy, or were written with the assumption the trainees are already involved in a discipline that requires advanced anatomy knowledge, if you read this book you will likely know more than your teacher the next time you go to yoga class. This is important because then YOU the student will know the right feel of the pose in YOUR body (regardless of what it looks like) and will be able to opt-out of misguided but well-intentioned attempts to assist/correct/etc. your pose.
I’m a long time sufferer of mild-Scoliosis and it has affected my quality of living over the years, just not enough for me to take steps medically to correct. There's just not enough of a curve to deem it necessary so I’ve looked to other ways to help alleviate the pain and discomfort. You can imagine my surprise when after practicing Yoga consistently, that I started seeing and feeling results not just in my back but everywhere and I was learning how to breathe properly which aids us in other ways!
If you’re looking to learn more about Yoga to enhance your knowledge this is the book for you, but if you’re just getting started I highly recommend it as well! You’ll start off with a great foundation that will guide for years to come and really give you the Yoga body you want!
In this book, she hones in on what has been a mystery to me for my 20 years of yoga practice: How can I honor my body if I'm trying to squeeze it into some traditional form that doesn't reflect what my bone structure, weight, habitual movement patterns have produced over the course of my lifetime? The simple answer is, you can't. Judith, of course, is far more detailed and gracious and appreciative of the tradition as well as the bottom line--trust yourself first, not exclusively, but first.
This book is an invitation to be open to learning the why's and how's of the body's construction so that you can make some sense of what you experience and make your choices of how to do the poses based on how your body does them rather than according to how you're told to do them.
From Mary Richard's lovely and loving introduction to the end of the book, I felt guided through the issues that have reared their heads throughout my years of practice and teaching. And the first chapter alone makes us sit up and pay attention and be curious about what we've been taught and leads us to ask: "does this fit me?"
Judith Lasater tends to organize her books with great grace and in a way that allows the reader to learn as much as you'd like AND to practice what you do choose to learn. "Myths" follows this same helpful pattern.
I highly highly highly recommend this book for every person who wants to: appreciate your body in the yoga poses and/or learn more about the anatomy of the poses and/or enjoy what may become my 2nd favorite in Judith's series (because nothing can surpass her restorative yoga books or workshops for me). It is for practitioners and it is for teachers...to help us open our minds and eyes to the bodies of the people in front of us so that we're teaching people and not yoga.
Five stars is not enough for this book.
I appreciated the structure of the book. Each chapter introduces a myth and offers a teaching story demonstrating the potential dangers of that myth. Next, the relevant anatomy and physiology is explained. Then asanas (or pranayama practices in the chapter on breathing) are used to help you experientially explore the prior instruction. That section, called “Attentive Practice,” begins with cautions and props needed. Each new chapter builds upon the previous content in a logical progression.
I enjoyed the chapters explaining how shoulders and knees are designed to function since I have had trouble in both of those areas. I also really appreciated the chapter on practicing during menstruation, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause.
Many of the practices require props, and some will be hard to do if you don’t have a teacher to guide you. However, I think this book has something to offer anyone who enjoys yoga.
Thanks to Shambhala for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.