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| Did any of you yoga teachers out there take classes in anatomy or related subjects? If not, how do you help students avoid the injuries? I can sometimes advise someone on what postures to skip/modify from my own experience or from that of other people, but on occasions, I find my suggestions are limited to "if you feel pain, ease off". I wouldn't mind taking a course or reading a good book that might help me in giving more useful instructions to others.
Any suggestions and thoughts you guys could give me on this matter will be sincerely appreciated.
Edited by mkotya 2005-01-22 10:07 PM
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| My training was through Integrative Yoga Therapy (www.iytyogatherapy.com), and they place a very strong emphasis on anatomy, alignment, and modifications. If you don't have the means to take a full 200 or 500 hr training from them, they do recommend the book "Anatomy of Hatha Yoga" by David Coulter. There's also a DVD called "Anatomy of Yoga" by Paul Grilley that they actually require for their 500-hr Professional Yoga Therapist training. I believe both are probably available right here on Yoga.com!
Another thing I have been reading, with some success, are the manuals in the medical reference area of my local bookstore (mine happens to be Barnes & Noble, but I'm sure all bookstores have this). A lot of these are very technical and required reading for med students. Others contain the same info, but watered down a bit for those of us who are not in medical school but just want to know!
Good luck!
Jean |
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Expert Yogi
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| mkotya - it is a VERY good idea to have some anatomy background. Our TT program requires it both for trainng and ongoing teacher education. One way to start if you are on your own is to get the Anatomy Colouring Book and work through it starting with places where you personally have had injuries or difficulties. I think another thing that has helped many teachers is working with different body work people, again on their own issues. Nothing better than delving deeply into your own hamstring injury (or whatever) and getting anatomy lessons from someone who has has to study it for years. Physio's for example, do actual cadaver dissection so they REALLY know what goes on in the muscles and other tissues. Not something I am willing to do, but I can use their expertise to help my own work  |
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| Hi tourist and Jean, thanks to both of you for your comments. |
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| I would have to agree with the whole opinion that it's a very good idea to have a strong background in anatomy. You don't neccessarily have to have to take a teacher training course that has to have a strong emphasis on anatomy (although any good course should) to have a strong understanding of anatomy. It's okay to draw upon knowledge outside of what you learned in a teacher training as it gives you some insight into your yoga instruction. I myself have a background in massage and holistic medicine, which totally enriches my understanding of the human body greatly. Also, because I have been working in an athletic club environment and have been studying for my personal training exam, that as well has given me a good understanding of the human body. It also just helps to read up and do your homework as much as you can (the old stand-by, Gray's Anatomy is a good reference or just hopping on the internet and doing some reading is helpful too.). In addition, just be really observant of how your and other people's bodies work in different ways--you'd be surprised how your understanding of body mechanics can increase just by really tuning into and observing those around you closely.
I hope this helped and answered your question.
Edited by itchytummy 2005-01-25 2:47 AM
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Expert Yogi
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| Gray's is online at Bartelby.com and is the gold standard of anatomy. A great resource! |
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