Yoga Anatomy

These poses help to awaken the psoas, activating different parts of the muscle so that it’s ultimately easier for the brain to fire it up.

When yogis talk hips, it's generally about opening them. But your hips CAN be too open... Learn why balancing strength and flexibility in the hips is so important.

Do you practice yoga regularly but still feel “stuck” in certain spots? Senior Yoga Medicine teacher Allison Candelaria created this muscle-and fascia-freeing flow to tune up the lateral sides of your body.

Annie Carpenter dove deep into the core at YJ LIVE! San Diego, offering accessible alignment cues and a creative sequence to help maximize core stability.

Whatever the root cause of your slumping, your yoga practice can help alleviate any resulting pain or dips in mood by bringing more balance to the muscles in your chest, upper back, and neck.

With so many yoga methods and lineages to choose from, confusion about asana alignment is common. Here, Yoga Medicine teacher Dana Diament uses smart anatomy to debunk some common alignment myths.

Balancing forces is particularly crucial when it comes to addressing the feeling of “tightness” many of us have in our hips.

To work on activating the muscles of the hips to find more balance, try this sequence.

These poses help release tension from the belly, ribs, and back. Try them before belly breathing—or any pranayama practice.

It’s yoga’s unofficial arms-overhead anthem. But Yoga Physics founder Alexandria Crow is on a mission to ban this widespread cue. Here, she breaks down what you need to know.

Learn how to prep for—and properly prop—Supported Shoulderstand, for a happy, healthy neck.

Do you practice yoga regularly but somehow still feel “stuck” in certain spots? Senior Yoga Medicine teacher Allison Candelaria created this fascia-freeing flow to find more mobility in the backside of your body.

We can't blame you if you've never given your fascia a second (or first) thought. Senior Yoga Medicine teacher Allison Candelaria explains why you will want to start now though.

Common yoga cues intended to protect the knee during practice focus on the quadriceps, but Ray Long, MD, says they’re missing some other key muscles.

A simple, mindful big-toe adjustment can create stability in the bones, ligaments, and muscles of the feet, enhancing the mind-body connection and creating a secure foundation for safe and comfortably aligned poses.

Relieve hard-to-release back tension by unlocking your QL muscles.

Get to know the different ways your muscles contract to power up your asana practice.

Our writer spent a day with Annie Carpenter at YJ LIVE! and came away with a newfound respect for her feet. Use this sequence as your owner’s manual.

Got low back pain? Adopt these three slow, subtle yoga strategies from Tias Little to get more relief out of each practice.

Practice these backbends and inversions for increased flexibility and strength and feel the freedom of greater range of motion in your chest and shoulders.

This minor muscle is a major player in backbends. Expand it—and its web of connective tissue—for greater range of motion in your chest and back.

Twisting poses are a top cause of SI joint injury. Learn how 
to safely anchor yourself before moving into your next twist.

Western research is now proving what yogis have known all along: Breathwork can deliver powerful mind and body benefits. In this three-part series, learn how and why to take better advantage of it both in practice and in life.

Do you have open hips? While that might let you get into advanced postures, too much range of motion can actually work against you. Here are 3 steps to go from hypermobility to stability.

Healthy movement in your tailbone may 
influence your whole spine.

Your wrists bear weight in so many yoga poses—not to mention every time you do a vinyasa. These 8 poses can help you keep your wrists pain-free.

By nature, our wrists are particularly prone to injury. Learn how to protect them in your practice.

A strong, balanced backside is key for a stable and pain-free practice. Learn the anatomy of this important muscle.

Once you understand the anatomy, you can delve into making its parts work together more intelligently. Here, Tiffany Cruikshank teaches how to fire all its muscles at once.

Get to know the anatomy and better understand the actions of your body's most vulnerable joint to prevent injury intelligently.

Is sacroiliac joint dysfunction causing your back pain? Here’s how to tell, plus the best poses for relief.

Almost all sports injuries are caused by imbalance in the body, says Sage Rountree. Here she explains how to achieve balance throughout the hips for greater comfort and freedom in your activities.

We all experience flexibility in some areas more so than others. Sage Rountree discusses the importance of balance in and around the hips and offers poses that help to create opening where needed.

You can resolve sacroiliac joint discomfort in the same place it started—on the mat.

The surprising key to soothing sciatica and lower back pain is a muscle you may never have heard of—the piriformis.

Leslie Kaminoff never expected his humble yoga book to make a splash in 2007. But the book, co-authored with Amy Matthews, sold out its first printing in a month and shot to Amazon's Bestsellers...

Leslie Kaminoff never expected his humble yoga book to make a splash in 2007. But the book, co-authored with Amy Matthews, sold out its first printing in a month and shot to Amazon's Bestsellers...

Alignment is essential for the health of the knees. Unfortunately, practicing Triangle Pose too often without its counterpose can create an imbalance in the joint. Lean how to stay safe.

Strengthen your lower back, free yourself from back pain in seated poses, and skillfully deepen your forward bends.

Skillfully incorporating anatomical language into your classes can increase your students' awareness of their bodies and their asanas.

Work the small muscles of your inner thighs—often overlooked in yoga—to find ease in all sorts of poses.

Help even your stiffest students get the most from sidebends.

A toned backside is a beautiful thing, especially when you learn to relax your posterior hip muscles.

Learn how to modify and teach students who tell you about a sprain, strain, or pain.

Check out Julie Gudmestad's author page.

Learn how to keep Trikonasana from being a pain in the neck.

To soar skyward in Shoulderstand, press your arms strongly into the earth.

While neck rolls and stretches can be great for calming stressed students, they're not safe for everyone. Here, discover the two things you should be wary about, and how to teach yoga exercises for the neck safely to your students.

If yoga is such a gentle practice, why are so many people getting hurt? Learn how to honor yourself and your limitations to prevent yoga injuries.

Learn how to guide your students to bear weight on their hands with mindfulness and hand positioning tips so they avoid injury and gain upper-body strength.

Important as it is, stretching is easy to misunderstand or overdo. Help your students—and yourself—learn the basics behind this crucial element of yoga.

A footloose approach isn't always for the best. Teach your students to firm up their feet for strong balance poses.

Check out Julie Gudmestad's author page.

Not an anatomy geek? Learn why it's worth your time as a yoga teacher to study anatomy, especially the actions of flexion and extension.

Good posture is possible even without your mom nagging you. One key is stretching and strengthening the muscles around your shoulder blades.

There are many myths about joint cracking. Here's what you need to know.

Check out Richard Rosen's author page.

If you want your yoga to build strong, stable, balanced legs, it's important to work the feet properly—even when you're not standing on them.

Learn some theories about the origin of SI pain as well as practical ways to help your students prevent or treat problems.

Tight calves can interfere with your practice in ways you might not suspect, but frequent stretching can improve calf flexibility.

If backbends are a struggle for your body, you may try these preparatory shoulder-openers.

Yoga gives us deeper breathing awareness–and brings greater concentration to the parts of the body that allow us to exhale and inhale fully.

Learn how yoga can help you prevent slouching—and the depression, shallow breathing, tension, and headaches that often go with it.

Check out Phil Catalfo's author page.

Understanding the mechanics of your feet in yoga and the patterns in your foot health is the first step to establishing a solid foundation in your practice.

Reconsider how you define healthy abdominal muscles. Think strong, not hard.