Protect the Vertebral Column

Have you ever wished you knew more about anatomy so you could help your students more effectively as well as deepen your own practice? Maybe you have felt unsure about where to learn more? Or maybe you are intimidated about how to learn more about anatomy and how it affects movement, specifically in yoga asana? Then this course is made just for you!

In this professional training, we will focus specifically on the vertebral column using lecture and demonstration. An emphasis will be on the immediate application of what we learn to the art of practicing and teaching yoga.

We will pursue such concerns as what makes each region different, how specific poses affect each region, and how we can teach in ways that both protect and healthily move the vertebral column.

We will study each section of the vertebral column individually and then note how the column interacts with the pelvis and shoulder girdle.

In this program, you will experience:

• Morning sessions that explore theory and active asana so you can feel the principles at work in your body and observe it in others.
• Afternoon sessions that are focused on quiet asana so we can understand what part the vertebral column plays in pranayama, meditation, and restorative practice.

The spine is at the core of the body as well as being the basic structure through which we practice asana and move our energy. Please join us for this dynamic program.

NOTE: This program is open to yoga teachers and serious students.

NOTE: It is strongly suggested that participants review the relevant anatomy of the vertebral column and muscles of the back in the required text below.

Reading: Judith Hanson Lasater, Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana, Chapters 3–7