Over the weekend, my kids went to a movie at our local theater. This place is great and they also run a coffee shop. After getting the kids settled into the dark theater seats to watch “Sing,” I plugged my laptop in at a little table near the front counter and focused my attention on the next section in my Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) anatomy module. I studied bones and joints, which was fascinating. I know this course won’t be quick at the rate I’m going, but I’m happy when there is a free and clear hour and a half to study.
Some of my reflections:
I have a fear of learning more, learning enough to speak knowledgably about the body and its movements. Which feels similar to the fear of being an imposter. Every new grain of knowledge informs an experience I’ve had or wondered about in the past. I’m so curious about all of it and my thoughts are feeling excited; so even if I keep all of this knowledge to myself, it is valuable.
Suture – when bones are healing, or plates of the skull form together the parts of bone become stitched with collagen which is the most abundant protein in the body. This is called a suture. Sutra is a Sanskrit word, which means a rule or aphorisms on a specific subject. Patanjali was a sage in ancient India who wrote the Yoga Sutras which
The words suture and sutra share the same root, meaning to stitch or to sew.
And I ask myself how these ideas are related. Am I stitching yoga into my life like a patch or a repair? Or maybe I’m actively sewing a new garment; one tailored to my needs within a framework of yoga’s rules and truths.
Questions that came up during the reading –
- Why does sitting make our back and legs stiff?
- Since I work full time at a desk job, how often should I stand up and move around and what types of movement will help me best?
- What can I learn to help my loved one recover from a knee injury?
- Why do I get aches and pains in certain areas of my body? Are these areas joints or muscles or connective tissue or bone?
We stimulate bone tissue growth with weight-bearing exercise, impact sports like running, or other forms of putting stress on the bones. This is contrary to what so many people have said about how running is going to hurt my body and do more harm than good. HUH!! But too much too fast without recovery time or variation, can cause injury because it can overwhelm our body’s ability to adapt.
Connective tissues are tied tightly together with muscle and become stronger with use. Connective tissues = ligaments, tendons, fascia. These respond in similar to bones, when loaded and stressed in a progressive way so they become stronger over time.