When looking at anatomy, it is so easy to get lost in the fancy jargon and the multitude of details, details, and details. "Superior spine" this and "lateral epicondyle" that... Sometimes we get so lost in those details that we don't even remember what we are talking about anymore. So I have found it helpful when teaching anatomy to new yoga teachers to take a step back and look at what I call "The Big Picture". The big picture is just an overview of functional anatomy and an attempt to keep it simple. I find it easier to first get an overview what is going on in general and then come back to fill in the details later. Enjoy the video excerpt about "The Big Picture" from a recent teacher training lecture below. So, let's start at the beginning...
Bones
Our bodies have frames made out of bones. 206 bones coming together to give our bodies a shape. It is where everything else hangs off of or is built on to. This is our main structure. For our purposes, the bones will be as deep as we need to go.
Joints
Put two bones together. Tie them together with some ligaments, and you have a joint. In fact, all of these areas where bones come together are joints. We have joints for movement. For example, if our arms didn't need to bend at the elbow, we would only need to have one solid bone through them.
Muscles
Now, a couple of bones tied together by ligaments won't move themselves, so we need to add some muscles. Muscles attach onto the bones on either sides of these joints and will move these joints. Muscles can only contract or not contract. When a muscle does contract, it will bring whatever bones it is attached to closer together. When that muscle is relaxed and stretched out, those bones go farther apart. And that's it! It is that simple in the grand scheme of things or the big picture. So, if you know generally where a muscle attaches around a joint, you can figure out how that joint moves when that muscle contracts or pulls itself shorter.
Is it really that simple!?
Of course, in reality there are other details involved because our bodies are highly and beautifully complex. There are blood vessels, nerves, fascia, skin, etc. When fascia, joint mechanics, and multiple muscle contractions are involved in a movement, the situation gets a bit more complicated. Nevertheless, having an appreciation of how everything works overall is helpful. Even breaking down highly complex postures or motions, I still sometimes go back to asking myself, "Where are the muscles connected around the joint, and how do those muscles move the joint when they contract?" Here's that short video of me talking about "The Big Picture" at a recent yoga teacher training.
Hope you enjoyed reading and watching!
Namasté
Namasté
Keep it simple graphic from http://info.zsassociates.com
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