Science of Yoga Understand the Anatomy and Physiology to Perfect Your Practice

Science of Yoga is the book I wanted to read when I first started practicing yoga. In classes, teachers offer (sometimes conflicting) cues and claims—“Calm your nervous system by elongating your exhales;” “This pose will boost your immunity;” “Align your knee over your ankle”—and I constantly wondered, “Why?” For the past decade, through workshops, reading research papers, and completing my Master of Science in yoga therapy at Maryland University of Integrative Health, I have continued to fill my notebooks with facts, figures, sketches, and stories. Science of Yoga summarizes the notes I found most fascinating as a yoga student and teacher. This book is intended as neither a comprehensive text on human anatomy and yoga, nor a medical reference book; it is just the beginning. My intention is for this material to spark more curiosity and discussion about the science of yoga, and lead to more inspired yoga practitioners and professionals, more rigorous research, more public policies that encourage yoga in schools and healthcare, and, ultimately, more accessibility and acceptance. Through my research, scientific principles and evidence have demystified so much of the practice. Surprisingly, this made my transformative experiences feel even more magical. There is just so much more