All sessions are recorded so replays will be available

DATES:

10am-12pm UK time

September 28th

October 1st

October 5th

October 8th

October 19th

October 22nd

October 27th (Tuesday)

October 29th

All sessions will be recorded so you can catch up if you cannot make all the session. Please commit to at least 50% of live sessions.

INVESTMENT:

Couse costs £200. 

TIME: 

This course is 16 hours interactive zoom sessions plus 4 hours home study (further reading, exploring concepts we have introduced) All sessions must be attended but if for any reason you cannot join us they will be recorded. 

CERTIFICATION: 

This course is certified by Shanticentre Training School and Accredited by the Independednt Yoga Network as 20 hours CPD.

DETAILS: 

This course is designed as a refresher course for Yoga Teachers or as a 20 hour course as part of a Teacher Training Programme. It is also for Yoga Practitioners interested in deepening their experiential knowledge of anatomy. 

It is also great for massage therapists wishing to familiarise themselves with the anatomy necessary for deep tissue work.

It guides students through from basic to more challenging concepts of the way the body works and shows how different bodies work differently. In this way, this course helps to prevent teachers giving careless cues to all bodies, and helps them to see the student practising in front of the and enabling them to understand that body from a knowledgable point of view, to help individuals from the right pose for their body grounded in a sound understanding of the anatomy.

This course shows that there is no right or wrong way to practice necessarily and gives the yoga teacher or practitioner the tools needed to deliver sound anatomical advice, including many different options to promote safe practice with total respect for what feels right to the practitioner. In this way, I feel that by studying this course teachers have less risk of causing injury in yoga classes and are given tools to help the yoga practitioner learn for themselves what feels right for their body.

The first Yama of ahimsa is respected throughout this course as it delivers a means for practising safely and carefully, moving away from standard cues and a 'one pose fits all' way of delivering yoga classes.

Section 1 covers the bones and bony prominences found in the body, anatomical terms, connective tissue, the function of bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons, an introduction to fascia, muscle movements, types muscle contractions and the structure of the spine. (2 hours)

Section 2 looks at the shoulder joint and the deep stabilising muscles of rhomboids, serratus anterior, subscapularis, supra spinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor. (2 hours)

Section 3 looks into muscles of the hip joint: gluteus maximus, psoas, gluteus medius and the tensor fascia latae, the IT Band and the adductors and external rotators. (2 hours)

Section 4 is Q and A plus an experiential practical Yoga Class incorporating what we have learned so far.

Section 5 looks into the muscles of the back: the erector spinae and the quadratus lumborum, and then the muscles of the core: the rectus abdominis, the obliques and the transverse abdominis. We also look at the diaphragm.  (2 hours)

Section 6 looks at the muscles of the legs: the Quadraceps and hamstrings, gastrocnemius and soleus.  (2 hours)

Section 7 finally looks at the muscles of the arms and trunk: the latissimus dorsi, teres major, pectoralis major and minor, the trapezius, the deltoids, biceps and triceps.  (2 hours)

Section 8 is Q and A plus an experiential practical Yoga Class incorporating what we have learned so far.

4 hours Home study is included to try to help integrate this knowledge. Reading and re reading the notes, Recommended reading and implementing the knowledge as soon as possible. 

Here is a video explaining a few details of the course: 

https://youtu.be/kfeeW1CHcCM

Practical Skills

This course gives many practical skills for putting anatomy concepts into an experiential realm. 

We have theory sections which include experimentation with and palpation of the muscles, looking at specific yoga poses and breaking them down in a group setting, as well as yoga asana practice and 2 full classes which incorporate the theory as we go along. 

The yoga teacher or practitioner is given the practical skill of knowing which muscles are working in the poses, which direction the muscles fibres are moving and all in relation to gravity. 

The skills they learn on this course help them to be able to break down poses and bodies in a practical way and decide what might work better. 

As well as this it gives them the practical skill of being able to convert a pose into a much more accessible version for the person in front of them if they are struggling in some way and in danger of injury. 

Being able to understand which muscles are working, how and why, they are then able to translate that back to alternative poses better suited for the practitioner.

We have lectures, palpation of muscles,  'asana labs' and experiential yoga classes to put it all into practice.

Knowledge

I have studied over 100 hours of Anatomy on top of my Yoga trainings, with David Kiell, Tiffany Cruikshank and Judith Hanson Lasater and wish to honour all of them in my teaching of this course. 

The knowledge given on this course is of certain specific muscles and their function in familiar yoga poses. 

Of course, there are many more muscles that can be taught but this course presents only 6 main muscles (or groups of muscles) per section, starting from the more unfamiliar deep stabilisers and moving towards more familiar superficial muscles. 

We recap every section before we go on so gradually the unfamiliar concepts become much more familiar as the course moves forward. 

We look at the muscles specifically in the realm of yoga poses and even more specifically in the 'intention' of the yoga pose. 

We come to understand that cue-ing the pose is the way to bring forward different intentions you may have for the pose in different teaching circumstances. 

The students of this course gain a sound knowledge of the mechanics of the body in relation to yoga postures and adjustments and learn how to look ever deeper into the magical world of anatomy, knowing that the body is constantly evolving and the anatomy of it is extremely complicated the deeper you delve into it.

I strongly recommend that the students continue to learn anatomy as I have found from experience that you have to learn and relearn the concepts before they take hold. There is further reading offered, as well as a chance to repeat the training at their leisure as the sessions will be recoreded.

Practice

I am passionate about anatomy, but this came from my severe lack of knowledge about it following my initial Yoga Teacher Training. I realised how little I knew and when I started studying it seemed so complicated.  

I initially believed that anatomy was just not for me, that I was a much more spiritually based yoga teacher and left it at that. But I continued to slog away with it as I realised that ironically my spiritual approach to teaching yoga was sending me students who were much less physically able and sometimes quite ill. 

I realised that I needed much more knowledge to be able to help them to safely practice yoga and to use yoga for their own healing. The more I delved into the anatomy the more excited I became about being able to reach more people and use yoga to help more people. 

I have also come to realise that sound anatomy knowledge gives people the tools to be able to help themselves, to move away from total surrender of the body to 'guru', and more towards people taking their bodies into their own hands. 

This enables people to say no to practising damaging types of yoga for their own bodies, and gives them permission to do things differently in classes without feeling guilt or shame. 

In short, I find this whole area liberating, fascinating and deeply spiritual as we experience the sense of awe and wonder the complicated systems that make up this human body. The more I learn the more I want to learn, and I hope this inspires people to learn more self awareness of this divine form we have.