The next issue is
ON SALEon the
18th of January 2018
Life in Balance
Seeking more equanimity and happiness in 2018? Learn how to
tap into the purusharthas – or yoga’s four aims in life – to reach
your goals and usher in more joy.
STICK WITH YOUR INTENTIONS
A Kundalini-inspired sequence that can help you release bad habits
and boost your will-power and well-being as you usher in 2018.
The Art of Impermanence
How to live more fully by learning to let go.
Essential Anatomy
Understand the anatomy of the neck and the cause of neck pain.
Find balance with yoga to cure it.
Home Practice
How to move from Urdhva Hastanana to Adho Mukha Vrksasana
Next Month
Don’t want to miss an issue? Subscribe at http://www.yogajournal.com.au/subscribe
BODY OF KNOWLEDGE:
ANATOMY OF THE HAMSTRINGS
Your hamstrings are a collection of four muscle bellies (with only three
names) on the posterior (back) thigh. They originate (attach) on the ischial
tuberosities (sit bones) and run down the backs of your thighs. There
are two hamstrings in each medial thigh (the inner back side) and one
in each lateral (outer) thigh. All three attach by long tendons crossing
the back of the knee to the lower leg—and they’re all bi-articular,
meaning they connect and affect the function of two joints: the hip
and knee. Your hamstrings work to flex (bend) your knees, extend
(straighten) your hips, and posteriorly tilt your pelvis.1 BICEPS FEMORISThis two-headed muscle is in the outer portion
of your thigh. The long head begins on the ischial tuberosity (bottom
of the pelvis), and the short head is nestled against the lower half of
your femur. Both converge at a tendon on your outer knee (at your
fibula). This muscle externally rotates your hip. It also externally
rotates your bent (flexed) knee.
2 SEMIMEMBRANOSUSThis muscle begins as a thick membranous
tendon (hence its name) on your ischial tuberosity (sit bone) and
attaches just behind your inner knee. It also serves as a fascial
anchor for the largest of your inner thigh muscles: the adductor
magnus. The semimembranosus muscle internally rotates your hip.
It also internally rotates your lower leg at the flexed knee.
3 SEMITENDINOSUSThis muscle begins on your ischial tuberosity
and tapers into a long tendon that attaches on the innermost portion
of the front of your knee. This muscle internally rotates your hip,
and when your knee is bent, it internally rotates your lower leg.ISCHIAL
TUBEROSITY