Judith Hanson Lasater - Yoga Myths: What You Need to Learn and Unlearn for a Safe and Healthy Yoga Practice

Trust yourself first. JUDITH HANSON LASATER

M ANY OF us have heard and shared the refrain Everything happens for a reason. While we might engage in discussion about the relevance of synchronicities and luck, dumb or otherwise, it seems likely we can agree that sometimes we experience life in a way that reveals the locus of the muted, hidden places within us. Circumstances unfold in such a way that we awaken to the impetuses behind our choices as well as the residues. Frequently, we enlist the support of a trusted teacher to guide our inquiry and help us recover our footing when it feels like the earth has fallen out from under us. If were fortunate, we connect with someone who models a way to be in the world that resonates with our heart brain. When I think back to September 2002, I see clearly how my decision to attend a shoulder anatomy workshop pulled me onto the path I tread today. That workshop was led by my dear teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend, Judith Hanson Lasater.

Over the course of three days, Judith shared clear, sensible descriptions of the shoulder and its movements. I felt immediate and welcome changes in the asana we practiced during her lessons. To this day, my shouldersand the rest of meare grateful that I went to that workshop! More than the relief provided by healthy joint positioning, this experience also left an indelible imprint on my psyche. Judith was the first yoga teacher with whom Id studied that asked for my consent to be touched. She never exerted power over me; instead, she consistently reflected back to me my own inner wisdom by asking about my experience and inviting me to explore further. By studying anatomy and kinesiology in the context of asana, I learned to trust my bodys natural intelligence and somatic awareness, a state that Judith calls bodyfulness. As a consequence of connecting to my bodyfulness, I began to trust my own inner wisdom.

The book that you look at now is a summation of Judiths decades-long practice and study of asana. Yoga Myths is an invitation to create asana from a foundation of trust: in our bodies, intuition, and self-awareness. The chapters that follow are also informed by her rigorous study of our form, function, and movement. Judith melds anatomical realities with her many years of teaching to thousands of students the world over. Yoga Myths presents a framework for practice that encourages each of us to shape asana for ourselves, guided by respect for each persons unique anatomy, healthy directions and ranges of movement, and self-compassion. Each chapter offers an opportunity to understand and explore how different movement choices in asana affect our bodily sensations as well as the feelings and emotions that accompany them. Rather than prescribing strict alignment principles to create asana that match externally imposed ideas of presentation, Judith invites us to see, feel, move, and trust our bodyfulness. She welcomes each of us to make informed choices from the foundation of our personal structure, shaped by our relationship with gravity, to deepen our somatic and psychic exploration of asana.

Yoga Myths is an invaluable resource for students and teachers alike. Judiths accurate and direct explanations of how we choose to express asana harken us to the inner voices that echo within our interstitial space. Now, take this book, set up your practice space, and experiment with some myth-busting on the mat.

Mary Richards, MS

Yoga teacher and anatomy nerd

Alexandria, Virginia

November 2019