ANATOMY: THE NAMES AND LOCATIONS OF PARTS

I unabashedly include anatomy, physiology and biomechanics in my yoga classes (along with Sanskrit and yoga philosophy). To include ideas and terms that are unknown to your students, you need to teach them what these ideas mean.

Two words that deserve discussion are hips and pelvis.

These words do not mean the same thing. A HIP is the joint where your femur (thigh bone) articulates with the ilium (one bone of the pelvis), in the acetabulum (hip socket). That’s the thigh bone moving in the hip socket...those are thigh movements.

A PELVIS is made of 3 bones, your two ilia and your sacrum. The two ilia meet in the front at the pubic bone (actually a joint, not a discrete bone), and at the back, joint with the sacrum. The two ilia and sacrum tend to move as one boney ring (and yes, I am aware that these bones can move upon each other, but rarely would we instruct someone to move them independently). Since the sacrum is at the base of the spine, the lumbar vertebrae tend to be included in many pelvic movements.

So...where the thigh bone meets the pelvis: hip, or hip joint.

Then....the 2 pelvic bones (ilia) that house the femurs, and the sacrum that is part of the spine.

The only real reason it’s worth being persnickety about these terms is because they do different things.

PHYSIOLOGY: WHAT THE PARTS DO

Here’s a list of movements at the hips and pelvis, and a list of poses in which you can explore them. Be mindful: most poses are comprised of COMPOUNDED MOVEMENTS (more than one movement simultaneously) in the joints, especially around the hips. The more complex the pose, the more movements are compounded. For example: padmasana (lotus pose) includes flexion, external rotation and abduction. 

And, if a pose is asymmetrical, even more things are happening. Think triangle…can you identify each movement in both of the hips, and the pelvis?

Lastly, consider that these are both actions (you are in motion) and positions (holding it in place). And, the basis of neutral (think the idealized tadasana) is the blank page on which these are drawn.

HIPS

Flexion of the hip: femur forward

Extension of the hip: femur back

Adduction of the hip: femur towards midline

Abduction of the hip: femur away from midline

Internal rotation of the hip: femur turns towards midline

External rotation of the hip: femur turns away from midline

PELVIS

Shift of the pelvis: lateral movement of the pelvis

List of the pelvis: slanting or unleveling the pelvis

Rotation of the pelvis: twisting the pelvis

Anteversion: forward tilt of the pelvis

Retroversion of the pelvis: backward tilt of the pelvis

Anterior displacement of the pelvis: forward shift of the pelvis

Posterior displacement of the pelvis: backwards shift of the pelvis

Sacrum nutation: small forward tilt of sacrum

Sacrum counternutation: small backward tilt of the sacrum

Anterior and posterior unilateral displacements of sacrum (not necessarily safe to create): the sacrum rotates within the illia

HIPS IN POSES

Utthita hasta padangusthasana for hip flexion (lifted leg)

Pristhasana for hip extension (back leg)

Garudasana for adduction of the hips

Utthita hasta padasana for abduction of the hips

Utthita trikonasana for internal (back leg) and external rotation (front leg) of the hips 

PELVIS IN POSES

Ustrasana for anterior displacement of the pelvis

Jack-knifing or piking into a handstand for posterior shift of the pelvis

Vrksasana for list of the pelvis

Virabhadrasana 1 for twist of the pelvis

Cow/cat for anteversion and retroversion of the pelvis

Bhujangasana for nutation of the sacrum

Paschimottanasana for counternutation of the sacrum

Janu sirsasana to imagine unilateral anterior/posterior displacement of sacrum