Yoga Therapy ─ Foundations, Methods, and Practices for Common Ailments

Mark Stephens, best-selling author of Teaching Yoga, Yoga Sequencing, and Yoga Adjustments, gives yoga teachers and students a practical resource for learning how to adapt yoga practices to best accommodate and heal a wide array of common injuries and ailments. Surveying historical writings on yoga, ayurveda, and other early approaches to health and healing, Stephens distills this received wisdom of ancient and modern practices for more insightful and practical application in today's world. He applies these insights to healing musculoskeletal injuries; promoting a healthy reproductive system; addressing mental, emotional, and behavioral difficulties; and working with a variety of physiological diseases and disorders, ranging from asthma and diabetes to stroke and vertigo. A final chapter suggests ways to use yoga to address health conditions in order to continue to live an extraordinary life. An extensive glossary of asanas and asana contraindications provides a quick reference for learning what to do--and not do--for each of the 63 specific conditions covered in the book. 

Yoga Therapy is a practical manual with a systematic approach of considering the nature of each health condition and the specific asanas, pranayamas, and meditations most helpful in healing it. Rather than adopting a narrow medical model of healing as the reduction or elimination of symptoms, Stephens invites the reader to relate to health as a continuous, dynamic process of self-care in which the qualities of personal experience and social connectivity matter. He illustrates that how we live our lives--including our emotional states, nutrition, sleep, relationships, and sense of purpose--is reflected in our sense of balance (or imbalance) and wellbeing (or disease). Comprehensive, accessible, and informed by Mark Stephens's decades of deep study, practice, and teaching of yoga, this will become an indispensible reference for anyone who wants to modify their yoga practices for healing and well-being.

Described by Yoga Journal as "the teacher's teacher," MARK STEPHENS, a certified yoga therapist and member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, is the author of the international bestsellers Teaching Yoga, Yoga Sequencing, and Yoga Adjustments. Practicing yoga for over 25 years and teaching for over 20 years, Stephens has trained over 2,500 yoga teachers worldwide. He founded Yoga Inside Foundation in 1997, establishing therapeutic yoga programs in over 300 schools, treatment centers, and prisons across North America, receiving Yoga Journal's 1st Annual Karma Award in 2000 for this work. With a deep background in multiple yoga philosophies and methods and extensive study of human anatomy, biomechanics, and physiology, Stephens brings an integrated perspective to yoga therapy that makes yoga a more efficacious tool for healthy living. He lives in Santa Cruz, California, and teaches globally. Learn more at www.markstephensyoga.com