Your Body, Your Yoga (eBook)

Bernie Clark author of the best selling The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga, has had a passion for science, health, sports and spirituality since childhood. He has a degree in science from the University of Waterloo and spent over 25 years as a senior executive in the high-tech/space industry. Bernie has been investigating the path of meditation for over three decades and began teaching yoga and meditation in 1998. He conducts yoga teacher trainings several times a year and aims to build bridges between the experiences of yoga and the understandings of modern science. He is creator of the YinYoga.com website. Bernie lives and teaches in Vancouver, Canada.Paul Grilley, creator of the influential DVD Anatomy for Yoga, began practicing yoga in 1979 after reading "The Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananada. He moved to Los Angeles in 1982 where he studied and taught yoga for 12 years. His special interest is the teaching of anatomy. He is the initial popularizer of the style of yoga called yin yoga, and patterns his philosophy on the writings and researches of Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama a yogi and scientist from Tokyo, Japan. This philosophy integrates the Taoist meridian and acupuncture theories of China with the yogic and tantric theories of India. Paul started his studies of anatomy with Dr. Garry Parker in 1979. He continued his studies at UCLA where he took courses in anatomy and kinesiology. He earned a M.A. from St. John's College, Santa Fe in summer 2000 and an Honorary Ph.D. in 2005 from the California Institute for Human Science for his efforts to clarify the latest theories on fascia and its relevance to the practice of hatha yoga.

AcknowledgementsHow to Read this BookForeword: The History of Teaching Alignment in AmericaTable of Contents for Volume 1: What Stops Me? Sources of Tension and CompressionIntentionsChapter 1: You Are UniqueSo Is Your YogaRange of Human VariationsExamples of Human VariationsChapter 2: What Stops Me?TensionCompressionSensing Tension and CompressionFunctional Yoga versus Aesthetic YogaChapter 3: The Value of StressChapter 4: The Physiology of Our TissuesSources of TensionMusclesMyofasciaTendonsFasciaLigamentsThe Nervous SystemThe Immune SystemThe Wonder of WaterSources of CompressionBonesJoints and CartilageVolume 1 SummaryAppendix A: The Forms of StressAppendix B: Muscle Shapes and FunctionsAppendix C: The Myofascial MeridiansAppendix D: Facts About OsteoporosisAppendix E: The Types of JointsAppendix F: The Biomechanics of Joint MotionVolume 1 EndnotesTable of Contents for Volume 2: The Lower BodyIntentions1. The Bare Bones of YogaThe Planes of the Body2. The Joint Segments of the Lower BodyThe Hip JointFormThe Architecture of the Hip JointThe Bones of the Hip JointThe Joint Capsule and LigamentsMuscles of the HipThe Types and Ranges of VariationsFunction-Application in Yoga PosturesNormal Ranges of MotionSources of TensionSources of CompressionVariation in Ranges of MotionHip Joint Summary3. The Knee JointFormThe Architecture of the KneeThe Bones of the KneeThe Knee-Joint Capsule and LigamentsMuscles of the KneeThe Types and Ranges of VariationsFunction-Application in Yoga PosturesNormal Ranges of MotionSources of TensionSources of CompressionVariation in Ranges of MotionKnee Joint Summary4. The Ankle-Foot SegmentFormThe Architecture of the Ankle-Foot SegmentThe Bones of the Ankle and FootThe LigamentsThe Muscles and TendonsThe Types and Ranges of VariationsFunction-Application in Yoga PosturesNormal Ranges of MotionSources of TensionSources of CompressionVariation in Ranges of MotionAnkle-Foot Segment Summary5 Volume 2 SummaryAppendicesA. List of Anatomical DirectionsB. Variations in the Female PelvisC. Mechanical Advantage-Pulleys and LeversD. Flexion-Caused Impingement at the Hip JointE. The Dangers and Benefits of Valgum or Varum Knee OrientationF. The Movements of the Foot and AnkleSidebarsIt’s Important: Beware of studiesIt’s Important: Who is flying the airplaneIt’s Important: Playing your edgeIt’s Important: Injuries caused by yogaIt’s Important: Antifragility (or no strainno gain!)It’s Important: The value of compressionIt’s Important: Millimeters versus inchesIt’s Important: Safely stressing jointsIt’s Important: The value of alignmentIt’s Important: Remember, compression can be good!It’s Important: Co-contractionIt’s Important: Are you valgus or varus?It’s Important: Don’t assume it’s your ankles!It’s Complicated: Averages and normsIt’s Complicated: Femoral neck-shaft-angle variationsIt’s Complicated: Stress at the cellular levelIt’s Complicated: Sarcomere contractionIt’s Complicated: Adding sarcomeresIts Complicated: Our ground substanceIt’s Complicated: Other parts of our jointsIt’s Complicated: Which muscles cause which movement can varyIt’s Complicated: Estimating available ranges of motionIt’s Complicated: Femoral acetabular impingement syndromeIt’s Complicated: What is a newton?It’s Complicated: Hyperextension of the kneeIt’s Complicated: The trochlea of the talusIt’s Complicated: What causes plantar fasciitis?It’s Complicated: Arch supportIt’s Complicated: Where should the dorsiflexed foot point?Note to Teachers: When students can’t go furtherNote to Teachers: Stress when injuredNote to Teachers: Should we try to stress tendons?Note to Teachers: Sources of compressionNote to Teachers: Be cautious of creating alignment cues based only onyour own experienceNote to Teachers: Yoga is a self-selecting practiceNote to Teachers: Explore from the core outwardsNote to Teachers: Customizing ClassesNote to Teachers: Do not offer a correction without knowing the cause!Note to Teachers: Don’t be afraid of locking the kneesNote to Teachers: Getting groundedNote to Teachers: Sicklingplantarflexion with supinationNote to Teachers: Aligning the feet in Down Dog