What is the best way to get to know the body from the inside out?
Written by Jacob Tyson, DPT - Physical Therapist, Yoga Instructor
While countless hours spent poring over anatomy textbooks in physical therapy school was helpful for learning the names of all of our internal structures, the most meaningful anatomy lessons have been on my mat, alone with my body and breath. Without complementing textbook knowledge with movement, there will be little relevance to real life. However, movement alone is also not enough- without having some background knowledge of the intricacies of our structural body, there may be blind spots in our awareness as we move through our day or move on our mat. This is why informed movement is so important- it can help one to avoid injury and move more efficiently.
Having a better sense of the biomechanics and anatomy of the physical body can help to improve mind-body connection and kinesthetic awareness by allowing us to move with intention and embodied intuition. For example, one might lack awareness that, unlike the hip or the shoulder which move in all planes, the knee is designed to perform sagittal plane movement alone, known as flexion and extension. By better understanding the structure and function of the knee, we can move the knee with intention, rather than trying to force it into a position that might be detrimental to our joint health. The same awareness can be applied to all individual joints, which we can integrate into whole body movement as well.
Through PhysiYoga Fluid: From Ground to Crown, I hope to share the anatomical knowledge I have in the context of a dynamic movement experience. These yoga classes will contain tidbits of relevant anatomy and kinesiology as we shine our awareness throughout different areas of ourselves. We will start to form an embodied understanding of how our parts move separately, together, and relation to our connection to the earth and to gravity. By starting from the ground and working our way up to the crown, we will learn more about ourselves, help to prevent unnecessary injuries, and develop the knowledge and tools to get the very most out of our yoga and movement practices.
I hope to see you on the mat!