I’ve just completed an anatomy and physiology course for yoga instructors, and I would like to share some thoughts with you. Why should a yoga instructor have at least a basic understanding of the human anatomy?
First, I believe that every self-respecting yoga instructor should know how to conduct classes competently, taking into consideration unique physiological characteristics of people who come to his class. It is unreasonable to expect from everyone to do a pose the same way.
Second, the attitude towards a person who can speak not only about chakras, energies, pranas, and karmas, but also about physiological processes confirmed by scientist and researchers, is completely different. Everyone comes into yoga for a different reason. Knowing the basics of anatomy, a yoga instructor communicates successfully with people who are interested in physical aspects of yoga.
And the most important reason (for me) is that the brain gets soooooo busy digging dipper and dipper into all these scientific studies and researches that it forgets about me. And I.... find myself interested in turning my attention towards more subtle processes I hope to experience someday. Is it really true that hatha yoga helps to develop such sensitivity of internal structures that we can hear how each individual cell of our body works? Is it possible to feel the flows of our prana? They say it is ... I should check.