Anatomy: Do I need to memorize all the anatomy terms?

This is an extremely common question in our community. Something to remember as you go through the lectures is that we need a basic understanding of anatomy as yoga teachers but you don’t need to remember everything! You likely won’t use these anatomical terms in your yoga classes but they might help if you decide to study more anatomy in the future! Having this basic understanding of how the body moves will help as you get to the Asana section, further on in the course. As you progress through the course, important things to retain will be cues for yoga poses, alignment and safety cues, the more practical aspects of yoga. It's a lifelong journey of learning for all of us, so take your time. A tip we often give is to let the videos play while cooking, cleaning, etc., and see what information sinks in. Then move on to other sections and intermittently return to the anatomy section and review and absorb when you're in the mood for that type of content.

Here are a couple of useful resources that have been recommended by the Alumni community to aid in retaining the anatomy content of the course. These include a colouring book, flashcards, and an app.

• The Yoga Anatomy Colouring Book by Kelly Solloway. There are flashcards at the back of the book that are useful with asana on one side and the bones/muscles on the other.
• Vincent Perez Anatomy Quick Study Flash Cards.
• An app by Visible Body with great 3D visuals.