Somewhere in this thinking is the notion that a hamstring has ‘become short’, a hip has ‘become stiff’ or the core has ‘become weak’, as if these areas have an independence from the rest of the human being and have decided to behave in an unhelpful way. This is nonsense. If an area of the body appears tight or weak or stiff, it is generally because

Gracovetsky emphasises that the human form is entirely designed for mobility, not for stability. His spinal engine theory (see also notes and further reading) is like water in the overheated arguments of a dry biomechanical desert.

Is the tension you experience when you reach your edge in a yoga pose due to the makeup of your fascia? Maybe. And, just as our fascia is uniquely constructed, so too are our ligaments and joint capsules. All these tissues have the capacity to contract, and that capacity is uniquely determined by nature and nurture, by our biology and our biography

There are three major components to our anatomy that are of particular interest to us as yoga teachers (and students): muscles, fascia/connective tissue and bones. In a very straightforward way we can say that muscles generate forces to move us, fascia resists tensile forces and shapes us, and bones transmit forces to take the burden off muscles.