Yoga anatomy: the body parts teachers name

When a teacher says "draw your shoulder blades down" or "engage your core", this is where to look. Each guide explains the muscle or bone, what it does in the poses and how to train it.

All 9 guides, A to Z

Fascia and Yoga: What Yin Yoga and Foam Rolling Do to Fascia

Fascia and Yoga: What Yin Yoga and Foam Rolling Do to Fascia

Fascia is the web of connective tissue that wraps and links your muscles, bones and organs. Yoga, and Yin Yoga in particular, can make that tissue feel less stiff: long, passive holds and slow rolling on a ball or foam roller increase your range of motion for a while after you practise. What the...
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Yoga anatomy: the body parts teachers name
Quadriceps and Yoga: Quad Anatomy, Stretches and Strength

Quadriceps and Yoga: Quad Anatomy, Stretches and Strength

The quadriceps femoris, the quads, is the large muscle group on the front of the thigh. It has four heads: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and vastus intermedius. All four straighten the knee, and the rectus femoris also flexes the hip. In yoga you stretch the quads by bending...
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Yoga anatomy: the body parts teachers name
Latissimus Dorsi (Lats) and Yoga: Anatomy, Stretches and Pain

Latissimus Dorsi (Lats) and Yoga: Anatomy, Stretches and Pain

The latissimus dorsi, or lats, is the widest muscle of the back. It runs from the lower half of the spine, the back of the pelvis and the lowest ribs to the front of the upper arm bone, and it pulls the arm down, back and in toward the body. In yoga you stretch it every time the arms go...
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Yoga anatomy: the body parts teachers name
Psoas and Yoga: Hip Flexor Anatomy and the Poses That Help

Psoas and Yoga: Hip Flexor Anatomy and the Poses That Help

The psoas (said "SO-as") is a deep hip flexor that runs from the sides of your lower spine, through the pelvis, to the inside of the upper thigh bone. Together with the iliacus it forms the iliopsoas, the strongest muscle for lifting the thigh toward the trunk. In yoga you stretch it in poses...
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Yoga anatomy: the body parts teachers name
Glutes and Yoga: Glute Anatomy, Poses to Strengthen and Stretch

Glutes and Yoga: Glute Anatomy, Poses to Strengthen and Stretch

The glutes are the three muscles of the buttock: gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. The maximus extends the hip, the way it does when you stand up from a squat or lift your hips in Bridge Pose. The medius and minimus hold the pelvis level when you stand on one leg. In yoga you...
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Yoga anatomy: the body parts teachers name