Exploring the potential for yoga as a healing experience, Spiral Bound: Integrated Anatomy for Yoga studies the physical expression of movement by examining the body's anatomical structure as it has evolved since birth. Author, Karen Kirkness, weaves together threads of development to see how our morphological constraints arise in the earliest moments of life, and how this rotation lays the spiral groundwork for rotational kinematics that encompass all tissue.

Linking theory to practice in a conversational style, Spiral Bound is richly illustrated with full colour photographs and drawings that bring biomotion to life for yoga teachers, therapists and yoga practitioners. An artist and yoga anatomy investigator holding two master's degrees, one in fine art and the other a Master of Science in Human Anatomy, Kirkness' imagery and conceptual work revolves around body culture and somaesthetics and her hands-on teaching experience offers a more personal touch to Spiral Bound.

Karen Kirkness explains her passion for writing the text and making anatomy accessible: I put my heart and soul and then some into this book, and my message will hopefully come through crystal clear: anatomy is accessible. A living science that emerges through each of us, our bodies are interconnected with nature through the filamentous structure. In time, we can learn to tap into that inner wisdom so that, with practice, we may reinforce the directives of nature that originally shape our body plans.

This book brings together basic embryology with kinesiology to offer a practical movement guide called the Five Filaments. I'm talking about spirals that flow within organismic constraints how our human bodies form in development shapes the way we move as adults.'


Reviews and Awards

This book will shake you to the core. It is about anatomy and yoga but not in the way we usually think about them. This is no fusty list of time-honoured descriptions and impossible poses but a deep insight into the living body and how it moves the way it does. As an experienced teacher/practitioner of both anatomy and yoga, Karen challenges traditional thinking, introduces new ideas and integrates her subjects into a seamless whole. She pulls them apart before blending a story that comes out of her own life philosophy and will enthral the reader with its details.

Yoga postures are examined in relation to the historical narrative and anatomy that underlies them, and are beautifully illustrated with Karen's own photos and drawings. Along the way, she pulls in embryology, natural geometry, biotensegrity and more, all of which can be explored even further with the online version. Spirals are a fundamental motif in nature and make this book an important resource for every practitioner, no matter what their speciality. It is sprinkled with humour that jumps out at the reader in surprising moments of revelation and is full of witchy, antipatriarchal, and nerdy rebellion What could be a better place to start from? - Graham Scarr, Author of Biotensegrity: The Structural Basis of Life

Karen is a phenomenal anatomy and yoga teacher. Her work is particularly suited for anyone interested in putting the nuances of anatomy into motion thus enabling them to weave her teachings into their practice. Highly recommended! - Aimee Alexandra Schmidt, Cranio-Sacral Therapist, Pilates Practitioner & Yoga Teacher

Human anatomy is often presented as mechanical and gross; Karen shows us that its essence is subtlety and interconnection. A tour de force of creativity and intellectual brilliance to reimagine anatomy in a way that is holistic and deeply embodied. - Paul Fox, Yoga in Healthcare Alliance Promoting Yoga in the UK & Internationally

Karen's book provides an updated approach to understanding anatomy as it applies to yoga through the lens of biotensegrity and holistic human movement. It creates the groundwork for using rotation and spiraling movements within your yoga teaching and practice and moves beyond linear asana. Spiral Bound is a must read for all yoga teachers! - Trina Altman, B.A., NCPT, E-RYT 500, YACEP, Author of Yoga Deconstructed : Movement science principles for teaching

I am blown away by Karen's gifted use of language and story-telling as she guides readers through the embryonic roots of spiral movement, leaving you in awe of the human form, where there are no individual parts, only a magnificent, ever spiralling and pulsing whole. - Eija Tervonen, Somatics practitioner; Spiral Therapist; Spiral Stabilisation trainer

I really enjoyed reading this book. It offers good reading and especially beautiful images to support very well-researched views, presented in a conversational tone that I know readers in fascia will not want to miss. Well done! - Prof Dr. Andry Vleeming, World Congress on low back and pelvic girdle pain

Chapter 1: Across anatomy

Chapter 2: The Five Filaments

Chapter 3: Srotas-kinematics (tubular movement)

Chapter 4: Kinematics come to life

Chapter 5: Acoustics of self

Appendix A: Yoga's missing link

Appendix B: Nonlinear teaching

Online Chapter: Reflection and growth: spiral shareera