// Why is it SO important to understand the anatomy of the hand as a yoga teacher? //

It is common to prioritise certain aspects of being a yoga teacher - but you can’t escape needing to know certain aspects of anatomy to be able to make your teaching practice safer, but also more beneficial for the student.

Hopefully by now you understand how passionate I am about believing all teachers should be competent with functional yoga anatomy to be a safe teacher.. today I will go through another example of why..

If you look at the picture of the hand, you will see how small the bones of the hand really are. If you aren’t instructing cues such as “spread through the fingers”, “spread through the palm of the hand”, “stiffen through the fingers”.. we could be compressing some of these little bones.

Overlying the bones of the hand are important neural, vascular and connective tissue structures that if we place weight through the hand without spreading through the fingers and stiffening the fingers, it could be damaging for the hand and the wrist.

Next time you are instructing your students in downward facing dog or plank pose, remember the important structures of the hand, and the small bones that make it up- and don’t forget to cue to protect our hands too!

I hope these tips inspire you to explore your practice with more curiosity and care. If you have any questions, or if you’d like more resources on spinal health, feel free to reply ~ I’d love to hear from you!