Yoga as Medicine

I love to read, and the bulk of what I read is about yoga or related to movement of the body or it’s anatomy.  Specifically my interests often lie in yoga therapy or the use of yoga as a healing tool.  I have so many books on yoga, I thought it would be useful if I set out a book review every so often.  So, here is the first review of a wonderful yoga book. Enjoy!

Yoga As Medicine

Timothy McCall

This is a wonderful book!

McCall seems to have the beginner yogi as his audience, but  has chocked this book full of good information for the experienced yogi. Also very helpful to those who have been injured or developed some condition and needs to modify their practice.

The charts of the basic yogic theories and ideas are beginner friendly and the descriptions of the various schools of yoga are in my opinion pretty “spot-on”.  The book makes a full circle from beginning to end helping the reader remain injury-free.  There is a wealth of reference material for a yoga teacher.  What a treasure!

McCall gives us an incredible list of 40 ways yoga heals, but then goes on to address each of these ways and making them understandable and believable.  My favorite of these ways was the last one, #40; Yoga Encourages Involvement in your own healing.  This is so true and so powerful for one who has pain or injury. So often conventional medicine does not allow the patient to get involved in their healing more so doesn’t’t encourage them to think they have any power or control in the illness. Yoga certainly does that!

I recommend this book for you if you are injured and are a yoga practitioner, or if you would like to use yoga in your healing process.  Yoga teachers would benefit greatly from reading this. Especially those who are accustomed to “one pose fits all” teaching.