Bernie Clark - Your Body, Your Yoga: Learn Alignment Cues That Are Skillful, Safe, and Best Suited To You

About Your Body, Your Yoga

Compulsory reading for those teaching and studying yoga! The best therapeutic exercise has a defined technique and dosage, but these are different for every person. Bernie Clark masterfully guides readers through an understanding of their unique bodies. Nothing else compares to the value and knowledge gained. With this, readers can create the most rigorous, evidence-based and effective yoga practice, finding what works best for them.

Professor Stuart McGill, PhD, University of Waterloo,Canada

An exceptionally well-informed and interesting way of approaching the human enterprise of doing yoga. Full of beautiful and stimulating pictures and analogies, awakening a deep thirst to know more and think more yet.

Loren M. Fishman, MD, BPhil (Oxon.)USA

Your Body, Your Yoga is an essential book for all serious yoga practitioners. Through skillful marshaling of evidence, Bernie Clark decisively illustrates the importance of individuality in yoga practice.

Norman Blair, yoga teacher, author and trainer,United Kingdom

This book will revolutionize the practicing and teaching of yoga. It is going to be the next yoga bible! It is an incredible treasure, and it will help everybody to truly understand the essence of physical yoga practice.

Stefanie Arend, author of Yin Yoga, Detox Yoga, and Fascia Massage,Germany

Teachers will benefit greatly from understanding all that this book has to offer, and advancing students will enjoy and benefit all the more because of it. Bernie Clarks book is a terrific contribution to the field of yoga, which until recently has been overly posture-centric. Bernie gives a readable, clear account of individual differenceshow to recognize them, their consequences for asana practice, and how to sense when you are going too far. There is a wealth of information on the deeper mechanics of muscles and fascia, and an extensive treatment of the specifics of the joints.

Doug Keller, author of Yoga As Therapy and associate professor in the Maryland University of Integrative Health Masters Degree Program in Yoga Therapy,USA

You will not need another book on the mechanics of yoga. Bernie has written many wonderful books on yoga, but the one in your hands is his opus. I will be recommending this one to everyone!

Sarah Powers, co-founder of Insight Yoga Institute and author of Insight Yoga, USA

Finally, a book that dares to combine yoga with state-of-the art critical thinking and scientific reflection! To my knowledge, the most accurate and anatomically knowledgeable book in this field. I knew that Bernie Clark would contribute something remarkable. But this book goes way beyond even the highest expectations. A truly groundbreaking contribution to the field of science-inspired yoga.

Professor Robert Schleip, PhD, Ulm University,Germany

A must-read for yoga teachers and practitioners. This book will reframe the way you think about body movements.

Jo Phee, senior yoga teacher trainer,Singapore

This is an instant classic.Your Body, Your Yoga demystifies and reveals the limitations in ones yoga practice in a very clear and in-depth manner.

Sebastian and Murielle, senior yoga teacher trainers,Indonesia

I am so amazed: Your Body, Your Yoga is more than a great bookit is like participating in a training at home. I could not stop myself from finishing it.

Devrim Akkaya, senior yoga teacher trainer,Turkey

This is a brilliant book. It is an absolutely essential research resource for anyone who teaches, hopes to teach, or wants to practice the asana component of yoga in a safe, therapeutic, and effective way. Bernie Clarks thesis that we are not all the same and therefore there are no universal alignment principles that work for everyone is a huge contribution to todays yoga literature. I couldnt agree more. It is hard to believe that anyone would say this about a book on anatomy, physiology and human movement, but once I started reading, I was so excited I couldnt put it down!

Beryl Bender Birch, author of 4 books on yoga and the founder/director of The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute and The Give Back Yoga Foundation,USA

This book is dedicated to Paul Grilley,
whom I am proud to call my teacher and my friend.

This truly is his book.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2016 by Bernie Clark. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Inquiries should be addressed to:

Wild Strawberry Productions

1906 West 11th Avenue,

Vancouver, B.C.

Canada V6J 2C6

Website: www.YourBodyYourYoga.com

Editor: Dania Sheldon

Cover and interior design by Alex Hennig

Illustrations by Morgan Jeske unless otherwise indicated

First edition: 2016

ISBN 978-0-9687665-4-5 (eBook)

It takes a village to raise a child, and a similar amount of loving kindness, attention and intention to create a book like this one. I would like to acknowledge the village of people who helped inspire and create this book, beginning with Paul Grilley. Paul had the original genius to recognize the importance of human variation in yoga and of compression in limiting our range of motion. His dedication to educating yoga students and teachers through his classes, courses and DVDs changed the way I taught and practiced yoga asanas. It was because of Paul that I learned to stop trying to destroy my knees by forcing myself into hip-opening postures. I have now humbly accepted that Lotus pose (Padmasana) will never be a close personal friend. Paul, from the bottom of my heart and the heart of my knees, thank you!

Along with my gratitude for the enthusiasm and support provided by Paul and his wife and fellow yogi, Suzee, I would like to thank the students of the September 2013 Yin Yoga Teacher Training, conducted by Paul and Suzee at Land of Medicine Buddha, in Soquel, California, for sharing their stories, body shapes, proportions, and enthusiasm for this project. To Douglas, Dace, Danielle, Debby, Amanda, Stephanie, Sebastian, Murielle, Leslie, Helga, Karin, Maheshwara, Rich, Perry and all the others who shared those 16 days together, my heartfelt thanks.

My gratitude extends also to the reviewers who gave of their time and knowledge to look over the early and later drafts of my work: Dr. Chelsea Barry, Dr. Robin Armstrong and especially Katrina Sovio, thank you so much for keeping my thinking clear and my writing readable and relevant. To Dr. Sammy Chan for his invaluable research assistance, my great appreciation. A special thanks goes to Professor Stuart McGill for his reviews, thoughts and encouragement.