FIGURE 1.52 The shoulder joint uses only rolling when a little abduction occurs but includes sliding as well when the movement is larger. The knee requires a similar motion, as shown in figure 1.53. When the femur flexes over a fixed tibia, it rolls downwards, but the condyles slide forward on the tibial plateau. When it extends, it has to roll up,

Rather than dogmatically insist that no one should ever feel a stress in the tendons, it may be more skillful to teach your students to differentiate between healthy stress and what it feels like, and unhealthy stress and the pain that usually accompanies

Remember, one model posits that the purpose of our ligaments is to restrain a joint from moving too far and damaging itself. However, we have seen that often, our range of motion and mobility is too restricted; we are not in danger of going too far—we are suffering from not being able to access our natural and normal range of movement. The only way

Mechanoreceptors sense stress. When we apply a stress to our body, whether through movement, posture or gravity, through tension or compression, through yoga or other exercise, through massage or through daily living, the stress reaches and affects our cells.

There are typically few anatomists in yoga classes, so most teachers can get away with saying, “Extend your arms up,” but better might be: “Raise your arms to the sky.”

anytime we refer to the hips or movement of the hips, we will mean movement at the hip joint or hip socket. Another anatomical term that we will use interchangeably for the hip socket is acetabulum.

During your time as an embryo, your fingerprints were being shaped by your mother’s movements, which in turn changed the pressure and flow of the amniotic fluid surrounding you.

In general, we can propose the following philosophy on exercising joints: 1. When a joint is bearing a load, restrict its range of movement: stiffen the joint—engage the muscles. 2. To increase a joint’s range of movement, move it to its natural limits when it is not bearing a load: relax the muscles.

(whereby in the face of imminent danger, we freeze or faint), or, especially in women, a tend-and-befriend response (whereby in the face of danger, we seek out the company of others120). Such responses are adaptive; they help us to survive, and they helped our ancestors avoid