your practice
ANATOMY56
february/march 2019yogajournal.com.auYOGA IS A WONDERFUL WAY to
decompress your spine and sustain
freedom of movement in
multiple directions, at various speeds,
and under different loads—something
we all need daily. To fully utilise your
movement potential, though, it’s
important to add other types of
multidimensional movements to your
repertoire, including spiralling of your
spine and a combination of side
bending (lateral fl exion) and rotating
your spine and rib cage. Unlike
standard twisting, a two-dimensional
movement that happens in one plane
(the transverse), spiralling is a three-
dimensional motion that’s repeated in a
rhythmic manner. You circle your spine
around and actively lengthen it upward,
and then you let it recoil to its initial
length. As you repeat these actions,
you’ll promote healthy fascia
(connective tissue) in your back and
shoulders, between your abdominal
muscles, and all around your ribs.
Three-dimensional movements can
also de-stress your shoulders and neck.
Your rib cage is the base of support for
your shoulder girdle and your head,
and by enhancing the three-
dimensional expansiveness of your
thorax, you expand that base. This
means your shoulder blades and
collarbones can rest more easily on
your ribs, which decreases the
workload of the associated muscles and
fascia. Less work for these myofascial
structures means more freedom of
movement in your shoulders and neck.
One of the best exercise
combinations to support ease of
movement in your upper body ispracticing side bends along with
shifting your pelvis and spiralling your
thorax in a slow rhythm (see exercises
over page). This lengthens and
strengthens all of your abdominal
muscles, as well as your spinal
extensors and rotators. The prime
movers include your internal and
external obliques (abdominal muscles
that run diagonally and fan around
your torso); your erector spinae (the
iliocostalis, longissimus, and spinalis
muscles that run along your spine like
long, resilient cables); and the
quadratus lumborum (a deep, square
muscle between your lowest rib and
the rim of your pelvis that is often
tight). The dynamic stabilisation of
your pelvis and spine is supported by
your pelvic fl oor and transversus
abdominis (the deep abdominal
muscle, along with its fascia, that
wraps around your waistline like a
corset); your multifi di (deep core
muscles that run along each side of
your spine and are prominent in your
lumbar spine, or lower back); and your
rotatores (even deeper muscles that
run along your spine and are most
prominent in your thoracic spine, or
midback). In this sequence, the
quadratus lumborum is actively
lengthened, strengthened, softened,
and mobilised—exactly what it needs
to allow adaptability and freedom of
movement in the lower back,
adaptability in the rib cage, depth of
breathing, and connectedness of the
legs and spine.
Because the exercise combination
on the following pages includes hip
extension and hip fl exion as well asside bending of the spine in both
directions, you’ll actively lengthen and
soften your hip-fl exor muscles and
their fascia. The hip fl exors range from
the inside of your thighs all the way to
the outside of your hips (including the
gracilis, adductor longus, adductor
brevis, pectineus, psoas major, iliacus,
rectus femoris, sartorius, tensor
fasciae latae, and gluteus medius
anterior). Of particular importance is
the psoas major, a hip fl exor with a
close relationship to your diaphragm
and kidneys. The psoas and diaphragm
are linked through fascia. In this way,
your psoas connects hip-joint
movement and breath, which is
essential for optimal movement
functionality on and off your yoga mat.
Moving up your body, the muscles
all around your shoulders are
lengthened and strengthened when
you side bend and spiral. These
movements strengthen your deltoid
muscles, which move your shoulder
superfi cially; your rotator cuff muscles
(supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres
minor, subscapularis), which
dynamically stabilise the head of your
humerus (upper arm bone); and your
scapular stabilisers (trapezius and
serratus anterior). And they lengthen
your chest muscles (pectoralis major
and minor), your broadest back
muscle (latissimus dorsi), and his little
brother (teres major). When you reach
forward and down during a side
stretch and spiralling exercise, you
promote healthy fascial glide between
your subscapularis (the rotator cuff
muscle that is on the underside of the
shoulder blade) and serratus anteriorImprove spine and
rib-cage mobility
Multidimensional side-bending and spiralling movements can help. By Karin Gurtner
ILLUSTRATIONS: MICHELE GRAHAM; PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DOUGHERTY; MODEL: KARIN GURTNER; CLOTHING: MODEL’S OWN