YOGA ANATOMY "written by a student of YTTC-200."

The last few weeks we have been discussing the anatomy of yoga. The Biology course I teach involves very little of the muscular system, but as a Biology major in college, I learned the name of every muscle, bone, joint and then some in a six-credit, intense summer course. It’s been a while since I have used that information so it has been incredibly helpful to re-study anatomy in the context of yoga. When I learned it the first time, I rarely took the opportunity to actually flex, extend, rotate, pronate, adduct, etc my limbs to feel the movement at the joints, see the shortening and lengthening of muscles and experience the feeling of individual prime movers and synergists.  Relearning while completing each action is tremendously helpful in truly understanding the movement and its purpose. 

It has also helped me gain a new understanding of the purpose of each pose; whether it be to stretch and release or to strengthen a muscle. In the Key Poses of Yoga text, it is particularly interesting how Ray Long illustrates moving the origins and insertions of muscles to deepen a pose such as janu sirsasana. By initially bending the knee, then using the arms to pull back the foot and finally contracting the quadriceps, the pose can be intensified much more than if one just bends over with legs already straight. This is one example how the conscious control of the skeletal muscles signals unconscious responses to movement.

I am also looking forward to more detail about proper alignment in the correct plane of movement. At the end of class last week, someone asked the question about teaching our students proper alignment at the beginning. I can see why this would be fruitless since most people are very unaware of the positioning of their bodies.  When I take weightlifting classes twice per week, I notice the form of the other students (the walls are covered in mirrors). When doing exercises like lunges and deadlifts, I think that they are going to hurt themselves with such awful form. They round their backs and lock their knees during deadlifts or lean forward and allow their knee to go way forward over their toes in a lunge, for example. The teacher gives verbal clues about the proper form but many of the participants still don’t realize they are doing anything wrong. After taking this yoga course for 8 weeks, I am still working on the proper alignment of beginner and intermediate poses but I feel have have significantly improved. With practice the poses are becoming more natural without thinking about the steps. 

Overall, I have really enjoyed joining my love and interest in Biology with my yoga practice. I’ve experienced yoga classes with many teachers, online and in person, with many styles. I have always found it helpful when the teacher includes instruction on which muscles are the focus of the pose, where you should feel the most intense stretch, or even what you should not be feeling unless you are doing a pose incorrectly. Although most novice yogis may not have a deep understanding of human anatomy, they will have knowledge of their own injuries or areas of pain. It is very important that a teacher understands the limits of her students, but also knows the poses that can help strengthen or loosen problem areas so they can improve their practice. 

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