Yoga Instruction

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Anatomy of Movement Training For Yoga Teachers

Anatomical terms of movement are used to describe the actions of muscles on the skeleton. Muscles contract to produce movement at joints – where two or more bones meet.
As in anatomical terms of location, the terms used assume that the body starts in the anatomical position. Most movements have an opposite – they have been paired up for ease of understanding.

Yoga Instruction

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Medial and Lateral Rotation

Medial and lateral rotation describe movement of the limbs around their long axis:

  • Medial rotationis a rotating movement towards the midline.
  • Lateral rotation is a rotating movement away from the midline.

Elevation and Depression

Elevation refers to movement in a superior direction (e.g shoulder shrug), depression refers to movement in an inferior direction

Yoga Instruction

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Pronation and Supination

This is easily confused with medial and lateral rotation – but the difference is that pronation and supination can occur only when the forearm in semi-flexed.

  • Pronationmoves the palm of the hand so that it is facing posteriorly (your forearms are pronated when typing on a keyboard).
  • Supination moves the palm of the hand so that it is facing anteriorly (your hands are supinated when holding a bowl of soup).

Dorsiflexion and Plantarflexion

Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion are terms used to describe movements at the ankle. They refer to the two surfaces of the foot; the dorsum (superior surface) and the plantar surface (the sole).

  • Dorsiflexionrefers to flexion at the ankle, so that the foot points more superiorly
  • Plantarflexionrefers extension at the ankle, so that the foot points more inferiorly

Opposition and Reposition

A pair of movements unique to humans, these apply to some additional movements that the hand and thumb carry out

  • Oppositionbrings the thumb and little finger together.
  • Repositionis a movement that places the thumb and the little finger away from each other.