Anatomy of Yoga for Posture and Health
By Nicky Jenkins and Leigh Brandon
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Anatomy of Yoga for Posture and Health - Nicky Jenkins
PART 1 – OVERVIEW OF ANATOMY
ANATOMICAL DEFINITIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
Anatomy has its own language and, whilst technical, it has a basis in logic, originating from the Latin and Greek root words that make it easier to learn and understand the names of muscles, bones and other body parts. Whether you’re a yoga instructor or student, using the correct terminology enables you to interact with other professionals and professional materials.
Like most medical terms, anatomical terms are made up of small word parts, known as combining forms, that fit together to make the full term. These ‘combining forms’ comprise roots, prefixes and suffixes. Knowing the different word parts allows you to unravel the word. Most anatomical terms contain only two parts: either a prefix and root or a root and suffix.
For example, if you take the terms subscapular and suprascapular, the root is ‘scapula’, commonly known as the shoulder blade. ‘Supra’ means ‘above’, hence ‘suprascapula’ means something above the shoulder blade, and ‘sub’ means ‘below’ indicating, in this instance, something below the shoulder blade.
Common prefixes, suffixes and roots of anatomical terms
SYSTEMS OF THE BODY
The human body can be viewed as an integration of approximately 12 distinct systems that continuously interact to control a multitude of complex functions. These systems are a co-ordinated assembly of organs, each with specific capabilities, whose tissue structures suit a similar purpose and function.
This book illustrates and analyzes the systems that control movement and posture, namely the muscular and skeletal systems, often referred to jointly as the musculoskeletal system.
The other systems are the cardiovascular, lymphatic, nervous, endocrine, integumentary, respiratory, digestive, urinary, immune and reproductive systems.
The muscular system
The muscular system facilitates movement, maintenance of posture and the production of heat and energy. It is made up of three types of muscle tissue: cardiac, smooth and striated.
Cardiac muscle forms the walls in the heart, while smooth muscle tissue is found in the walls of internal organs such as the stomach and blood vessels. Both are activated involuntarily via the autonomic nervous system and hormonal action.
Striated muscle makes up the bulk of the muscles as we commonly know them. The skeletal system includes the tendons that attach muscle to bone, as well as the connective tissue that surrounds the muscle tissue which is called fascia.
A human male weighing 70 kg (154 lbs) has approximately 25–35 kg (55–77 lbs) of skeletal tissue.
Muscle attachments
Muscles attach to bone via tendons. The attachment points are referred to as the origin and the insertion.
The origin is the point of attachment that is proximal (closest to the root of a limb) or closest to the midline, or the centre of the body. It is usually the least moveable point, acting as the anchor in muscle contraction.
The insertion is the point of attachment that is distal (furthest from the root of a limb) or furthest from the midline or centre of the body. The insertion is usually the most moveable part, and can be drawn towards the origin.
Knowing the origin and insertion of a muscle, which joint or joints the muscle crosses and what movement is caused at that joint or joints, is a key element of exercise analysis.
There are typical features on all bones that act as convenient attachment points for the muscles. A description of typical bone features is given in the table opposite.
IllustrationTypical features on a bone
The word ‘skeleton’ originates from a Greek word meaning ‘dried up’. Infants are born with about 350 bones, many of which fuse as they grow, forming single bones, resulting in the 206 bones of an adult.
IllustrationIllustrationThe skeletal system
This consists of bones, ligaments (which join bone to bone) and joints. Joints are referred to as articulations and are sometimes classified as a separate system, the articular system.
Apart from facilitating movement, the primary functions of the skeletal system include supporting the muscles, protecting the soft tissues and internal organs, the storage of surplus minerals and the formation of red blood cells in the bone marrow of the long bones.
Integrated systems
The body’s systems are completely and intricately interdependent. For movement to take place, for example, the respiratory system brings in oxygen and the digestive system breaks down our food into essential nutrients. The cardiovascular system then carries the oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles via the blood to facilitate the energy reactions that result in physical work being done.
The lymphatic and circulatory systems help to carry away the waste products of these energy reactions, which are later converted and/or excreted by the digestive and urinary systems. The nervous system interacts with the muscles to facilitate the contraction and relaxation of the muscle tissue. The articular system of joints allows the levers of the body to move.
IllustrationThe femur (thigh bone) is about one quarter of a person’s height. It is also the largest, heaviest and strongest bone in the body. The shortest bone, the stirrup bone in the ear, is only about 2.5 mm long. An adult’s skeleton weighs about 9 kg (20 lbs).
BODY PLANES AND REGIONS
When learning anatomy and analyzing movement, we refer to a standard reference position of the human body, known as the anatomical position (see illustration below). All movements and locations of anatomical structures are named as if the person were standing in this position.
Regional anatomy
This book is a technical labelling guide to the different superficial parts of the body. In anatomical language, common names such as ‘head’ are replaced with anatomical terms derived from Latin, such as ‘cranial’ or ‘cranium’.
Within the different body regions there are sub-regions. For example, within the cranial region are the frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal sub-regions.
Anatomical planes
The body can be divided into three imaginary planes of reference, each perpendicular to the other.
The sagittal plane passes through the body from front to back, dividing it into a right half and a left half. The midline of the body is called the median. If the body is divided in the sagittal plane, directly through its median, this is known as the median sagittal plane. The coronal (frontal plane) passes through the body from top to bottom, dividing it into front and back sections.
The transverse (horizontal) plane passes through the middle of the body at right angles, dividing it into a top and a bottom section.
An anatomical cross-section of the internal structures of the body can be viewed in any one of these planes, which are also described as ‘planes of motion’, as the joint movements are defined in relation to one of the three planes. Understanding into which plane an anatomical cross-section is divided will help you know what you are looking at and from which viewpoint.
IllustrationANATOMICAL TERMS
There are standard anatomical terms that describe the position or direction of one structure of the body and its relationship to other structures or parts of the body.
The human body is a complex, three-dimensional structure. Knowing the proper anatomical terms of position and direction will help you to compare one point on the body with another and understand where it is situated in relation to other anatomical features.
These terms are standard, no matter whether the person is standing, seated or lying, and are named as if the person were standing in the anatomical position (see previous page). The terms of direction should not be confused with joint movements (see pages 17–20).
Anatomical terms of position and direction