66 Yoga anatomY
The poses in this book are arranged by a starting position that is determined by the base
of support. Any asana can arise from a variety of starting positions; we have tried to use
the simplest entry points for each pose:
Standing—Supported on the soles of the feet (page 71)
Sitting—Supported on the base of the pelvis (page 125)
Kneeling—Supported on the knees, shins, and tops of the feet (page 163)
Supine—Supported on the back surface of the body (page 181)
Prone—Supported on the front surface of the body (page 211)
Arm support—Supported on the upper limbs (page 223)Skeletal Joint analySiS
After identifying the base of support for the asana, we analyze movement in the skeletal
joints, asking the following questions:
In the axial skeleton
What is the spine doing?
Is it maintaining a shape and moving through space, or is it actually articulating?
If the spine is articulating, what is the joint action?
If the spine is not articulating and is moving through space, what is actually articulating?In the appendicular skeleton
What joint is the focal joint (the point of focus)?
Is the focal joint articulating or moving through space, or both?
If the focal joint is articulating, what is the joint action?
If the focal joint is moving through space, what is actually articulating?
Please note, because the images are moments isolated from the full phrase of movement,
there is no way to know the sequence in which the movements were made. The order in
which things are listed is not any indication of what sequence is best, appropriate, or most
effective. There is no single correct way to get into or out of these poses, and each choice
you make will give rise to a different experience.
MuScular SySteM analySiS
Once it is clear what the main joint actions are, then we can consider the muscles. This is
a more complex process because we have to take into account the relationship to gravity
and other major points of resistance to determine which muscles to include as possibly
being involved.
To narrow down the muscles to focus on, we ask the following questions:
In articulating joints
What is the joint action? What causes the joint action?
Is it going with gravity so that the weight of the body or the limbs creates the joint
action? (If so, we’re looking for eccentric muscle actions to modulate the pull of gravity.)