Course Description

This course will present you with 3 yoga practices and the anatomy behind each one. Each practice about 25 minutes in length. They are geared towards all levels of students and beginners will find that my teaching style is fairly slow and steady so you will be able to build your knowledge base if you are new to yoga. This course is designed for yoga teachers who want an easy to understand explanation of the key aspects of anatomy in particular sequences. Because the course provides you with lecture, practice, anatomical images and downloadable documents with the actual sequences, you can begin teaching these sequences right away. The course will also work well for yoga students who have an interest in practicing on their own and/or have an interest in the anatomy behind the practice.

In order to do each practice, it's helpful to have your mat, along with at least one cork block. I prefer the cork blocks over the foam blocks (although I use a foam one here just due to availability). If foam is all you have, so be it. I'd also suggest having a towel or yoga strap as well.

Along with each sequence, I will provide you with a brief lecture that goes with each practice. The practices focus on hips, shoulders and backbends and I recorded a custom lecture for each practice to walk you through some of the anatomy related to the practice. I also include a number of images for each practice to give you a visual (beyond the skeleton I have with me for the lecture) of the involved muscles and joints. Learning the anatomy of the practice really involves a number of mediums: there is practicing yoga, feeling it in your own body; there is looking at images of the muscles and bones, using a skeleton to bring it to life on some level, palpating muscles on a friend, even going to the cadavar lab if you are lucky enough to be able to participate in that level of exploration. Here I've used practice, lecture and images as some of the components to help you learn. I even include the sequences in writing, should you want to refer to them in that format. You can download the documents and print them out.

Please also note: for Yoga Teachers, this course does qualify for CEU (non-contact hours) credit. Please refer to this page on the Yoga Alliance website for details. I have estimated this course will take you 4 hours to complete. The content is falls under the Anatomy category, which is one of the core educational categories as designated by Yoga Alliance.

Refer to these sequences and practice them as much as you want. As a teacher, you can use these sequences in your teaching. I hope you find this informative and helpful to your practice and teaching, and I hope for everyone, these practices help connect you to your body, inform you about how it works and help you feel better overall!

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!

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. About Karen Fabian

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. What Are We Going to Cover

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. How To Apply this to your Teaching

    1. Sequencing and Choosing a Theme for Yoga Practice and Teaching

    2. Teaching with an Anatomical Focus

    1. Anatomy Lecture

    2. Anatomy Images

    3. Hip Practice

    4. Hip Sequence Notes (sequence in writing)

    1. Anatomy Lecture

    2. Anatomy Images

    3. Practice

    4. Shoulder Sequence Notes (sequence in writing)

    1. Anatomy Lecture

    2. Anatomy Images

    3. Practice

    4. Backbends Sequence Notes (sequence in writing)

    5. PDF on Yoga Sequencing: Here's a downloadable PDF that will help you build a yoga sequence with ease

    1. Test Your Knowledge

    2. Summary

    3. Staying Connected

About this course

  • $95.00
  • 22 lessons
  • 1.5 hours of video content

Reviews

5 star rating

Learn the Anatomy, Practice it. Teach it: 3 Yiga Sequences

Lisa Mooney

This yoga anatomy course was great! Karen has focused on shoulders, hips and backbends and has provided three videos (that are available to download) showing...

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This yoga anatomy course was great! Karen has focused on shoulders, hips and backbends and has provided three videos (that are available to download) showing the sequence you would use to teach a class. Along with each video there is a printout of the sequence. These will be so beneficial for teaching as well as delivering a powerful practice to my students! I am currently in teacher training and I can't wait to explore these sequences and share them with my fellow yogis in my teacher training class. If you haven't taken the first two courses yet I highly recommend them. Thank you Karen for sharing🙏🏻

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5 star rating

Enjoyable and useful

Marie Breen-Smyth

As a yogi with an interest in anatomy and physiology I found the course useful and enjoyable. The teaching is focused on three different areas offering seque...

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As a yogi with an interest in anatomy and physiology I found the course useful and enjoyable. The teaching is focused on three different areas offering sequences to address muscles in each area. I would recommend the course to any yoga teacher or practitioner who wants to learn more about targeting specific muscles and the application of yoga techniques to such targeting.

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5 star rating

The title fits the course exactly.

Theresa Kennedy

I loved the way this course is presented. I'm an anatomy geek and I loved learning about the anatomy first. Having an education background, it makes so mu...

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I loved the way this course is presented. I'm an anatomy geek and I loved learning about the anatomy first. Having an education background, it makes so much sense to have the anatomy first, allowing you to study the parts of the body that you will concentrate on in the sequence before putting it all together. After watching the practice videos, I realized this is exactly how I envision myself teaching! As someone who is just beginning the teacher training, this course helps to explain the importance of learning the proper anatomy and alignment so that we can be successful teachers and create a safe and exciting environment for our classes. I learned much about the hips, shoulders, and back. I look forward to many more courses!

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5 star rating

GREAT course for new and established teachers alike

Linda Fitzgerald

I've been teaching yoga for about 4 years, and group fitness for over 20. I found this course to be a great refresher as an established group fitness teacher...

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I've been teaching yoga for about 4 years, and group fitness for over 20. I found this course to be a great refresher as an established group fitness teacher, and as a fairly newer yoga teacher, a great "tune up" of sorts, as well as learning new sequencing and alignment cues. Very easy to follow, and Karen has a solid knowledge of anatomy and brings it into each of the 3 sequences. Looking forward to more online courses Karen!! Linda Fitzgerald

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5 star rating

Very informative!

Krystal Laharty

A perfect resource for instructors (and students), both new and experienced!

A perfect resource for instructors (and students), both new and experienced!

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4 star rating

Hips, Shoulders & Backbends

ruth anne triebner

Very informative, loved the easy to understand anatomy & having it applied to a variety of poses. Will definitely do more courses.

Very informative, loved the easy to understand anatomy & having it applied to a variety of poses. Will definitely do more courses.

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4 star rating

Accessible approach to anaotmy for yoga teachers

Robyn Bell

Karen Fabian offers a really accessible approach to teaching anatomical-focused yoga classes through this online training (with her "Anatomy for Yoga Te...

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Karen Fabian offers a really accessible approach to teaching anatomical-focused yoga classes through this online training (with her "Anatomy for Yoga Teachers" e-book being the perfect companion to the course). With aspects for all learning styles, this course incorporates the major movements, joints and muscles in the body in relation to our yoga practice, with diagrams, easily digestible explanations, helpful videos and finally - guided yoga practices so that you can feel what is happening in your own body with a new awareness. I loved the quiz at the end, being able to solidify the knowledge I had gained throughout the course - there are some muscles and their actions that I have always struggled to remember that have now managed to sink in! I love Karen's safe and informed approach to yoga - I feel this knowledge is so valuable for yoga teachers.

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