Yogabody ─ Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana

In Yogabody, author Judith Hanson Lasater writes, "You can't fully understand the dynamic movement of asana without first understanding the basic structure of the human body." Drawing on almost 40 years' experience as a yoga teacher and physical therapist, she focuses here on macroanatomy and kinesiology in relationship to asana practice and teaching. Organized into five parts — the locomotor system, the vertebral column, the lower extremity, the trunk, and the upper extremity, Yogabody covers the body's bones, joints, connective tissue, nerves, and muscles. This valuable guide builds on what yoga teachers already know and enables them to quickly decide what might help their students move with more enjoyment and less difficulty. It helps yoga students understand how their own body functions. Packed with color anatomical drawings, black-and-white diagrammatic asana illustrations, and helpful charts, Yogabody is the Gray's Anatomy for yoga teachers and students.

Judith Lasater has taught yoga since 1971. She holds a doctorate in East-West psychology and is a physical therapist. Dr. Lasater is the president of the California Yoga Teachers Association and serves on the advisory boards of Yoga Journal and the Yoga Research and Education Center.

Her yoga training includes study with B. K. S. Iyengar in India and the United States. She teaches ongoing yoga classes and trains yoga teachers in kinesiology, yoga therapeutics, and the Yoga Sutra at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco. In addition, she leads workshops and retreats throughout the United States and abroad.

Dr. Lasater writes extensively about yoga. Her feature articles, columns, and essays appear in numerous books, magazines, and anthologies. She is the author of Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times, the first book devoted to the supported yoga poses and breathing techniques called restorative yoga.

Judith Lasater lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children.