Author Judith Hanson Lasater is recognized as one of the country’s most respected educators in the field of yoga.  She was trained in the Iyengar Yoga style, and she holds degrees in both physical therapy and East-West psychology.  She is arguably the foremost expert in the specific discipline of restorative yoga, having written several prior books on this subject.  In this current offering, Lasater focuses on familiar yet false beliefs frequently espoused in the yoga world—hence the book’s title, Yoga Myths.  

Lasater divides her book into eleven main chapters, each addressing a specific body area and related misinformation.  For example, in Chapter 1, “It’s All About the Curves,” Lasater immediately begins to dismantle one of the most oft-heard cues in yoga classes as she admonishes “stop tucking your tailbone.”  Subsequent chapters tackle similarly popular misrepresentations concerning the neck, the movement of the shoulder blades, knee health, and abdominal strength.  Lasater provides functional facts to refute much of yoga’s colloquial folklore, including common teachings such as “pull your shoulder blades back and down,” “pretend the body is between two panes of glass” (for triangle pose), and “breathe deeply into your diaphragm.”

Every chapter includes sections on “Why You Need to Know This,” “Your Structure” (a brief explanation of relevant anatomy), and “Your Anatomy in Action,” which details movement patterns and offers practice movement suggestions to enhance understanding.  The text is accompanied by numerous black and white photographs as well as clear anatomical drawings.  Although the main emphasis of the book is on asana, or physical postures, Lasater also includes a chapter on breathing as well as a final chapter on questions and answers.

Throughout the book, Lasater’s language is forthright, direct, and sometimes quite concise (she concludes Chapter 4 with the sentence “So simple”).  She can also be rather adamant in her viewpoints.  I found this to be especially true in the chapter on relaxation, when she insists that Relaxation Pose must be 20 minutes and proclaims that she doesn’t believe in guided relaxation.  Nonetheless, her vast expertise certainly affords her the right to be resolute.  What I found to be a bit more problematic was the “Attentive Practice” suggestions which end each chapter.  Clearly, Lasater has attempted to be detailed and thorough in these guidelines for home practice, and yet even as a yoga teacher, I struggled to understand some of her instructions.  One example of this was in the first breath awareness exercise at the end of Chapter 10.  On Page 204, Lasater states “release your hands and place them on top of your thighs in a comfortable position with your palms facing inward“;  I could not determine exactly how to execute this instruction.  I have had this issue with Lasater’s writing before, finding that her seemingly simple syntax is sometimes not sufficient to properly produce the desired outcome.

Still, with the release of Yoga Myths: What You Need to Learn and Unlearn for a Safe and Healthy Yoga Practice, Lasater has provided another valuable volume in the ever-growing yoga canon.  Her distinctive work will always have a prominent place in this field.

Beth Cholette, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who provides psychotherapy to college students.

Categories: Wellness

Keywords: yoga, wellness