Functional Yin Yoga
Functional Yin Yoga is all about acknowledging skeletal differences.
Within the spine, there are 33 individual vertebrae.
Cervical spine – connects the skull to thoracic spine = 7 vertebrae, C1-C7.
Thoracic spine = 12 vertebrae T1-T12 & also connect to the ribcage.
Lumbar = 5 vertebrae L1-L5 & connect to the pelvis.
Sacrum bone = 5 bones, connects to the 4 coccyx vertebrae (tailbone).
Most of the bend you see in a backbend is done in the lumbar spine & how much you can bend in the lumbar area depends on the shape of our vertebrae.
Functional Yin yoga anatomy means acknowledging how our individual bone structure can play an important part in us being able to access a pose such as the Lotus safely.
Our Femur bones nestle into the hip socket & aid flexion, extension & rotation of the hip joint. When we think about hip internal & external rotation, we consider what is happening at the hip joint & not what is happening at the foot.
For internal rotation, the inner thighs roll inward & towards the back, you are turning your femur (thigh bone) inward towards your pelvis. For external hip rotation…
