Yoga, Fascia, Anatomy and Movement, Second edition

"Brilliant Like reading the best well kept secrets about the human body freely, clearly and openly!
This is a must read for all movement teachers, practitioners and all curious about the human body!" Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"I am exuberant about this book. It is stunning in its depth, including an historical perspective of anatomy as well as clearly written exposition about the intricacies of human posture and movement. I especially like the exercises for practice that help to bring the text alive. I couldn't be more pleased with this articulate, readable anatomy and movement book. I predict it will become a sourcebook for yoga teachers and other health professionals for years to come."
Judith Hanson, yoga teacher

"From Anatomy to Architecture, from Biomechanical to Biomotional and from Classical to Connected "- speaks to all bodies, in all modalities; in a world seeking unity and connection more than ever.

Yoga, Fascia, Anatomy and Movement was written partly as an appeal for Yoga Teachers to appreciate the depth and breadth of Yoga as a science, a movement practice and a philosophy that fundamentally espouses "wholeness" as the basis of living anatomy and form. Yoga calls for unifying who and how we are; and as teachers - how we can help our clients (who are all different) move better.

Classical Anatomy (in the West) divides the body down into its component parts and traditionally (unchanged for 400 years) reduces its functionality to those parts; usually described in a 2D iconic forms and founded in lever-based mechanics. In the East, such reductionism was never espoused and Yoga, Fascia, Anatomy and Movement covers two huge bases to bridge the difference and upgrade understanding of Yoga, to 21st Century anatomy:

The first is to recognise that the leading edge of Fascia Science changes all those reductionist views (anatomically and biomechanically). It is carefully explained in the first part of the book and shows how the New Science of Body Architecture actually makes perfect sense of yogic philosophy of union and wholeness.

The second is to take this paradigm shift and apply it in practice, to the subtle understanding of the fascial architecture and how that helps us move better. Yoga, Fascia, Anatomy and Movement attempts to ask questions, find suitable research and make all this practical and applicable to teachers and practitioners of all types. (Indeed, it teaches "posture profiling" and creating Class Mandalas, to support this). It is a contemporary yoga teacher's bible.

This book is for those who want to integrate scientific knowledge with practical application in yoga and movement disciplines, as well as yoga therapists and teacher, yoga instructors, bodyworkers, manual therapists, movement educators, anatomy and physiology students, somatic practitioners, fascia enthusiasts.

Joanne's newest book Myofascial Magic in Action: A Movement Practitioner's Guide to How the Body Really Moves (Understanding Fascia) publishes in December 2024.

Joanne Avison is an international teacher of applied structural anatomy for movement and manual practitioners in a variety of fields. She is a professional Structural Integration practitioner, member of IASI (International Association of Structural Integrators) and certified teacher (KMI, Anatomy Trains 1998-2005: Tom Myers' school) and Director of the Art of Contemporary Yoga Teacher Training, London, UK. The school registration (2006 onwards) qualified as an RYS-500, with Yoga Alliance (US), European Yoga Alliance and Indian Federation of Yoga. As an advanced Yoga Practitioner and Certified Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT (Certified by International Association of Yoga Therapists), Joanne appreciates the art, craft and science of yoga and body architecture. Her Master's degree in Spiritual Sciences has deepened her understanding of yoga and the philosophy behind it, that relates closely to how the physical body integrates and animates form. For Joanne the study of philosophy and anatomy are not necessarily separate, which is a unique approach to integrated practice.

Joanne is also trained in Craniosacral Therapy, continuously working in ART (Autoimmune Response Testing) and FSM (Frequency Specific Microcurrent) to further her studies in complementary health and complementary medicine. She is also a graduate of the CMED Institute, USA. After over 20 years of manual and movement practice, she appreciates deeply the resonance field(s) the body animates as a living form.

As a member of the Biotensegrity Interest Group (BIG), Joanne is fascinated by the application of biotensegrity principles to the understanding of the human blueprint and natural structural organisation in motion. Her writing and workshops are devoted to making this emerging context for human movement applicable and clearly understood. "It makes sense of how we make sense of our world, literally and symbolically."
"BioTensegrity is an emerging context for what I refer to as 'biomotional integrity'. That is - how we move the way we do. Understanding the fascia and the fabric of our form is relatively meaningless, without the architectural organisation of that fabric, explaining how it permits movement and indeed manages the movement forces we move (that move us). We are formed under tension; pre-stressed or pre-stiffened - but what does that mean to us as movement teachers or manual therapists? What are the implications of tensional forces through the matrix of our living, animated form? The fascia is a force transmission system. Biotensegrity offers a very compelling paradigm that makes sense of its many structures and functions and multifaceted assets. It also transforms our understanding of connection and resonance; with ourselves and others."