Review of Chapter 2 of “Yoga Anatomy” by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews
Since reading this chapter I have thought a lot about my bones and ligaments. I am amazed how last week I was so worried about pain in my hand and now it is healed. I had what I now realized was a repetitive stress injury in between the first 2 metacarpal bones on my right hand. I moved using my computer mouse to my left hand and used a stylus instead of my finger for my screen on my phone and in a week the pain is gone. This pain had been building for awhile, really about 2 months. Now it is fine. Our bones, ligaments, and muscles all have the ability to repair themselves if we seek to be more balance avoiding overuse and under use. I think that is what this chapter tries to emphasize.
The first part of chapter two begins as it should with an overview of the skeletal system, reviewing bones, ligaments, and joints. Much of the chapter is dedicated to discussing synovial joints. Synovial joints are made up of bones that move with each other, the synovial fluid that is between them, and the connective tissue that surrounds and protects the whole structure. The surfaces of the bones in a joint are covered with a layer of “hyaline cartilage”. It cushions and protects. Between the layers of hyaline cartilage, synovial fluid serves as a lubricant and facilitates the sliding between the surfaces of this cartilage. It also seals these surfaces and helps to distribute force.
In describing the joints, the concept of “balanced joint spaces” is introduced. The idea that the whole body system is at place to create this balance is logical but not how we think usually when we try to heal a joint. I’m thinking of my crunchy knee and when it is sore. I use to think of just easing off of it, icing it, and not using it. It was not logical to think of where “blockages” are in movement in the rest of my body in relation to my knee.
The last half of the chapter is dedicated to joint action – flexion (bring body parts toward each other), extension (moving away from each other), lateral flexion (bending spine to one or the other side), and rotation (moving around an axis). Then the chapter goes into detail with what type of movements each limb (hand, wrist, clavicle, shoulder, scapula, foot, ankle, and pelvis) of the body makes. This part along with the next section on movement pathways I feel could be a useful exercise of trying out each movement and then following the pathway listed in the book. The pathways include: head to tail, fingers to spine, toes to spine, and toes to spine.
The final page of the chapter brings home principles to “balanced joint spaces and pathways of weight”. There are 3 principles: 1)Cultivating clear pathways of weight and force can help support balanced joint space and cultivating balanced joint space can help support clear pathways of weight. For me I feel like if my knee is crunchy then hip will start feeling sore . However it begins in my feet with using orthotics to balance the fact that one leg is shorter than the other. When I use my orthotics my whole right side feels better. Alternately, if I do hip releasing poses to reduce some of the muscle tension that builds in that joint, my knee feels less tension and the muscles are less likely to pull on the knee painfully.
The 2nd principle is “Stability in a joint is derived from connectivity, not fixation”. If a joint is overused , there is a need to explore and adjust how movement is being distributed through the whole pathway of weight. Inhibiting movement (fixing it) though is not the same as creating stability in a joint. Healthy tension helps stabilize the joint and to do that you need some movement.
The last principle discussed is “A little movement in a lot of places can help us find balanced joint space.” When all the body is moving and no one part is immobilized or being over used, we get lubrication to all our joints and there is balance and everything learns to move in harmony with each part. Also not discussed in this book but you will find this out if you research more on synovial fluid is that synovial fluid is used to exchange nutrients to the cells in the cartilage and to remove waste. It only does this when it is allowed to move and circulate. It can only do this if you move the joint. It’s not like blood that has a heart to pump it around. You actually have to move a joint for it to heal. You also have to work on balance and finding the sweet spot between under use and over use. I think this is what makes yoga flow exercise so helpful in that you get balanced whole body movement within the postures.