Yoga for Arthritis

Yoga is an antidote to arthritis, write Loren Fishman, MD, and Ellen Saltonstall in this comprehensive guide to using yoga to treat this painful and often debilitating ailment.

By Carol Krucoff

Yoga for Arthritis, by Loren Fishman, MD, and Ellen Saltonstall. W.W. Norton; wwnorton.com

Yoga is an antidote to arthritis, write Loren Fishman, MD, and Ellen Saltonstall in this comprehensive guide to using yoga to treat this painful and often debilitating ailment. Arthritis is caused by the inevitable pounding, grinding, and bumping that the body experiences, which add up to damaged cartilage between the joints. The result is joint pain and instability as well as reduced flexibility.

The authors know their subject well.Fishman is a physician, a longtime student of B. K. S. Iyengar, and the president of Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York. Saltonstall is a certified Anusara Yoga teacher, licensed massage therapist, and senior certified teacher of the Kinetic Awareness bodywork system. Intended for yoga practi-tioners, yoga teachers, and health care professionals, the book is a careful blend of yoga and science. The authors present a medical overview of arthritis and an introduction to yoga history, philosophy, and physiology. However, most of the book is devoted to descriptions and photographs of asana—such as variations on Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)—considered therapeutic for people with arthritis. One chapter presents a series of 20 all-star poses helpful for a number of joints; others focus on poses specific to certain joints or to conditions such as scoliosis and ankylosing spondylitis. Even though the postures described are inspired directly by both Iyengar and Anusara yoga, readers are encouraged to honor the "happy diversity of schools of yoga" to treat arthritis.

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