Category: Anatomy

Yoga anatomy video: Knee alignment in Warrior II
By Categories: Anatomy, Anatomy answers, Asana, Health, Practice, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Just put up a video clip from my first knee workshop last Tuesday at the Shala, about preventing patellofemoral pain in Warrior II. If you missed last Tuesday, I’ll be doing two more workshops about the knee. This Tuesday, February 4, we’ll go over repetitive stress injuries and what happens when you hyperextend your knee….

What happens when you stretch a muscle? (Part 2)
By Categories: Anatomy, Anatomy answers, Asana, Flexibility, Physiology 1 Comment

In the previous post in this series, I described how stretching temporarily affects muscle tissue. This segment begins a discussion of long-term changes in flexibility. Ultimately, lasting gains in flexibility have more to do with your nervous system than with your muscles. More on that in the next post, but first, let’s look at an alternative hypothesis, namely…
Hanumanasana

What happens when you stretch a muscle? (part 1)
By Categories: Anatomy, Anatomy answers, Asana, Flexibility, Health, Physiology, Research Tags: 3 Comments

  “What happens when a muscle stretches?” This frequently asked question — a perennial query during anatomy trainings — deserves a few blog posts, especially as the mechanism is often misunderstood. Stretching targets muscles in two ways. First, it directly affects muscle and connective tissue itself. As you’ll see in this post, those effects are temporary and short-lived.  Stretching…

Yoga anatomy answers: How do your collarbones and shoulder blades move when you lift your arms overhead?
By Categories: Anatomy, Anatomy answers, Asana Leave a comment

Another yoga anatomy video. This one was prompted by a question from a student about how the collarbones move when your raise your arms overhead, as in urdhva hastasana. The same movements happen in poses like handstand and downward-facing dog. Hope it’s helpful. If you have questions you’d like me answer in future videos, let…