Yoga Mat Companion 1: Anatomy for Vinyasa Flow and Standing Poses [Paperback]

first three volumes arrived before time at my door securely packed,
with air bags, in perfect new condition, via amazon [to australia]..
large magazine size, well bound paperback, printed in canada on quality acid-free paper, 220 pages.. nice slightly heavy feel, bound to lie flat, solid cover for paperback with understated interesting pencil anatomy of bodies in asana relevant to volume content, clearly titled in large enough print, eg 'anatomy for BACKBENDS and TWISTS' on colour coded lower half of cover..
volumes look and feel good..

difficult to adequately review such a superlative ground breaking series[!]
everything is well laid out appropriately to learning and enjoying
these unique books.. holding/looking thru a volume while writing
this, i cant get over the level of excellence in everything..
example; section 'key concepts' repeated in each volume, clearly explains
'agonist/antagonist relationships', 'reciprocal inhibition', 'the muscle spindle', 'facilitated stretches', 'key co-activations', 'bandhas',
using specific asana with wonderfully clear large images together with
easily digestible text explanations of exactly how, these key concepts
and processes actually work in your body, and how to translate this
to your own practice and investigation of the asana and concepts..

it isnt just the typical dry text, with inadequate illustrations of many
attempts at yoga and stretching texts.. the imagery alone, combined with
well thought out clear explanations and directions, creates or enhances
your own in-brain imagery of your own muscles and joints in action
as you innervate them.. this is one unique standard setting feature
or these standard setting volumes.. even 'bandhas' are described
and detailed in a way i have never come across before.. making bandhas
interesting and accessible to my mind as real and valuable practices..

reason for ordering the four volumes was owning volI&II of 'scientific keys'
by the same ray long md, orthopedic surgeon and student of bks.iyengar,
shown on the website with ray long and said to have advised on
the contents etc of these volumes..

i am a student of simon borg-olivier and his excellent yogasynergy teachers
and also hold second dan black belt in traditional okinawa gojuryu karate
which has refined stretching and so on.. im not easily impressed, yet
can recognise quality in teaching material when i see it..

rather than describing everything with a long list of superlatives,
my advice to anyone interested in stretching and refined body mechanics
and practices is to simply go to the website; bhandayoga.com
where these volumes are available, together with specific
and marvelous imagery of muscles and joints in motion, plus 3D
rotating figures of yogis in various asanas from 'scientific keys'
and as also included in these volumes..

having attempted sanskrit i appreciate the use of sanskrit asana names
together with the typical english versions, including nice sanskrit
script with titles of asana sections, plus a page on pronunciations..
the 25 page anatomy section is also superb and typical..
back cover title; 'COMBINE MODERN WESTERN SCIENCE with the ANCIENT
ART of HATHA YOGA' gives an idea of [successful] intention here..

without doubt one of the best works of its kind, probably the, best..
these volumes cost me $23 each, plus postage :)

this is a personal unreserved recommendation of this series and of
the related 'scientific keys' for anyone with any interest in
yoga, genuine martial arts, stretching and physiology, or,
as a great gift for anyone with those interests..

namaste
carl

this series of books is the best detailed info i've seen on the postures. There are 3 ways I understand poses here. Names are given for each muscle that either stretches or flexes, also pictures of said muscles in different hues of blue and red to show where intensity is, also the joints involed and the direction the muscles move the ligements. While it could be overwhelming for some there is a lot of growing room and so many details to continue to work towards better posture. Even the sugested vinyasa flow has some weight to how to order poses and it gives reference to the chakras. But what I really like is how scientific it seems. It even gives several variations that can be used for injuries or preparation for each pose. What I really like is how it details how to use reciprocal inhibition and the golgi tendon to go deaper into poses- which I might call a simple shift of awareness to push into the pain without getting hurt. As well as a heap of detail about creating bandhas via co-activation for stabelization. One thing I dont see is much detail to get into the individual poses. But you can get that from a number of other good books. Once you're in the basic pose this book will provide much detail to continue to explore, play and increase awareness and form. The 4 books in the series have minimal overlap and the portions that do use different poses for the examples. Definately check these out!

Just ordered/received all 4 books. Quite impressed with the anatomy lessons, not just about the muscles but about the using of the opposite muscles to stretch deeper. I have injured before from doing too much yoga, IMPROPERLY. Now I am more aware of the right mucles to be used in different poses. For example, I can feel a big difference even in tadasana - feet are dragged in, while thighs out, and the muscles on the big toes are activated. My pose seems so much stronger.

The books are well made, with thick papers, and the pages are set opened easily (just like having a spiral bound book).

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