Course Description

This course will provide you with an overview of the muscles that flex the hip, including the major flexor of the hip, the psoas. General anatomical terms, an outline of the muscles involved in hip flexion, sequences, red flags and applying the information to teaching will all be reviewed. The course will conclude with a short quiz to test your knowledge.


You will get a Completion Certificate after full completion of the course that you can use for CEU submission.


After this course, you will be able to teach yoga and practice yoga with a better understanding of the muscles that flex the hip.

Founder, Bare Bones Yoga Karen Fabian

Hi! My name is Karen Fabian and I'm a yoga teacher, an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance, a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider and I have two certifications through NASM in Sports Medicine, as a Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist. My mission is to help yoga teachers master the fundamentals of anatomy so that they can confidently share it in their cues, sequences and their answers to student questions, all so they can increase their confidence, impact and deepen their connection with their students. My background in anatomy comes from my undergraduate education in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Counseling at Boston University, my clinical work as a Rehabilitation Counselor and Social Worker, my professional experience in health care and over 15 years of teaching experience.   I've written 3 books on yoga and anatomy and I work with teachers all over the world helping them better understand movement so that they can teach confidently and grow their impact. I also teach classes and workshops and contribute to teacher trainings in many locations around the globe. When I started teaching back in 2003, I used to sit in my car outside the studio and force myself to go in. Armed only with what I was trained to say, I felt ill-prepared and inauthentic. I wanted things to spontaneously flow from me but all I had was the ability to mimic what my teacher had told me to say. Fast forward to now, and granted, I've had many years of experience but what made the biggest difference was mastering the essential components of anatomy for yoga. Doing this allowed me to create my own cues using words that are authentic to me, answer student questions with a depth of understanding they needed in order for me to be of real service and cut back on time prepping for class because I could just show up and teach without having to spend hours writing out a sequence and then practicing it. Most impactful was how I felt and feel to this day: confident, excited to show up for people, enthusiastically sharing lessons about the body in the form of yoga teaching and loving that it's a way for me to earn a living. My passion is helping yoga teachers master anatomy so they too can love teaching, love sharing with their students and grow their impact.

Course curriculum

    1. Welcome!

    2. About Karen Fabian

    3. What We Are Going to Cover

    4. How To Apply This To Your Teaching

    5. Introductory Statement from Karen Fabian

    1. Anatomy Overview

    2. Key Anatomical Terminology

    3. Key Bones

    4. Involved Joints

    5. Major Muscles

    6. Chapter Summary

    1. Sequencing Overview

    2. How to Build A Sequence

    3. Poses that FLEX the hip on one side and EXTEND the Other

    4. Poses that FLEX both Hips

    5. Poses that EXTEND both Hips

    6. Themes for Classes Focused on Hips

    7. Sequence Sample 1

    8. Sequence Sample 2

    9. Chapter Summary

    1. Working with Tight Hip Flexors

    2. Working with Hypermobile Students

    3. Stretch and Strengthen

    1. "Sitting in" the Lower Back in Lunges

    2. Allowing the knees to widen beyond Hip Width in Backbends on the Belly

    3. Pushing the Shin Forward towards the front edge of the mat in Pigeon Pose

    4. Turning the Feet Out in Backbends on the Back

    1. Test Your Knowledge

    2. Summary

    3. Thank You!

    4. Thank You from Karen Fabian

About this course

  • $35.00
  • 31 lessons
  • 0 hours of video content