Movement & Planes of Motion Flashcards
🧍♂️ What is Anatomical Neutral? 🔍 Why it matters:
📖 Definition:
Standard body position used in anatomy:
Standing tall
Arms at sides
Palms facing forward
Feet forward, flat on the ground
It’s the “default setting” for describing where everything is on the body — kind of like the home screen on your phone!
Key terms to orient ourselves when talking about the body
- Superior/ Inferior
- Anterior/Posterior
- Lateral/Medial
- Superficial/Deep
- Proximal/Distal
🧠 Superior / Inferior
📖 Definition:
Superior = Toward the head or upper body
Inferior = Toward the feet or lower body
💡 Think of it like:
“Superman flies superior — up, up, and away!”
“Your shoes? Definitely inferior — way down by your feet!”
🧍♂️ Imagine:
You’re standing tall — your nose is superior to your belly button. Your knees? Inferior to your hips.
Visual Tip: Think of an elevator: going up is superior, going
down is inferior.
🚪 Anterior / Posterior
📖 Definition:
Anterior = Front of the body (where your face is)
Posterior = Back of the body (your backside)
🎯 Quick Trick:
“Posterior = your posterior 🍑”
“Face forward to meet a friend = Anterior”
🧍 Example:
Your chest is anterior to your spine. Your backpack sits on your posterior side.
↔️ Medial / Lateral
📖 Definition:
Medial = Closer to the middle (midline) of the body
Lateral = Further from the middle
🧠 Easy way to remember:
“Middle = Medial”
“Lateral = like ‘sideline’ in sports — it’s off to the side”
🏃♀️ Example:
Your nose is medial to your eyes. Your ears are lateral to your cheeks.
🦴 Proximal / Distal
📖 Definition:
Proximal = Closer to the body’s attachment point (shoulder/hip)
Distal = Farther from the attachment point
🎯 Memory Hook:
“Proximity = Close”
“Distance = Distal”
✋ Example:
Your shoulder is proximal to your wrist. Your fingers? Very distal.
🌊 Superficial / Deep
📖 Definition:
Superficial = Near the surface
Deep = Further inside the body
🧠 Quick Tip:
“Paper cut = superficial. Appendicitis = deep.”
🧍 Example:
Your skin is superficial to your muscles. Your bones are deep to everything!
What is the Sagittal Plane?
A vertical plane that divides the body into left and right halves
Movements: Forward and backward
Key actions: Flexion and Extension
💡 Examples:
Walking
Sit-ups
Bicep curls
🧘♀️ Yoga:
Uttanasana (Forward Fold)
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
🧠 Think:
Imagine you’re standing between two glass walls on your left and right. You can’t move sideways — only forward or backward without breaking the glass. That’s the sagittal plane.
Which movements occur in the Sagittal Plane?
Flexion: Bending forward or decreasing joint angle
Extension: Straightening up or increasing joint angle
🧠 Think: Anything moving forward or backward!
Movements like nodding, bowing, or kicking straight forward — everything that moves front to back.
What is the Coronal Plane?
A vertical plane dividing the body into front and back halves
Movements: Side-to-side
Key actions: Abduction and Adduction
💡 Examples:
Jumping jacks
Side leg lifts
Lateral raises
🧘♀️ Yoga:
Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle)
Tadasana with arm raises
🧠 Think:
Now you’re standing between two glass panes in front and behind you. You can’t move forward or back — only side-to-side without crashing through. That’s the coronal plane.
Which movements occur in the Coronal Plane?
Abduction: Moving a limb away from midline
Adduction: Bringing it back toward the midline
🧠 Think: Movements side to side, like opening and closing a door.
Like flapping your arms like wings or doing jumping jacks — all side-to-side motion.
What is the Transverse Plane?
A horizontal plane dividing the body into top and bottom halves
Movements: Rotational
Key actions: Internal and External Rotation
💡 Examples:
Spinal twists
Turning head side to side
Golf or tennis swings
🧘♀️ Yoga:
Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle)
Matsyendrasana (Spinal Twist)
🧠 Think:
Imagine a belt wrapped around your waist and you’re spinning your upper body left or right — that’s the transverse plane in action.
Which movements occur in the Transverse Plane?
Internal rotation: Rotating toward the midline
External rotation: Rotating away from the midline
🧠 Think: Movements that involve twisting or rotating around your axis.
How does breath connect with flexion and extension movements in yoga?
In yoga, breath is harmoniously connected with body movements to enhance the effectiveness and safety of poses.
Flexion and Exhalation: During flexion movements, such as rounding the spine in Cat Pose or bending forward in Forward Fold (Uttanasana), exhaling helps deepen the pose by allowing a natural compression of the abdomen, facilitating a greater bend.
Extension and Inhalation: During extension movements, such as arching the back in Cow Pose or lifting into Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana), inhaling promotes expansion of the chest and abdomen, aiding in a more extensive and safe stretch of the spine and thoracic area.
PLANES OF MOVEMENT
Fill in the blanks: flexion , extension, abduction, adduction, internal rotation, external rotation, pronation, lateral flexion.
Preeti Ji, lifting her arms above her head is _________ .
Preeti Ji, lifting her arms above her head is “extension”.
Why: Lifting the arms above the head involves moving the arms away from the body, which is the definition of “extension” in the context of the shoulder joints.
Preeti Ji folding forward into Uttanasana is
_______________ at the ________ joint.
Preeti Ji folding forward into Uttanasana is “flexion” at the “hip” joint.
Why: Folding forward involves decreasing the angle between the torso and the thighs, which is the characteristic movement of flexion at the hip joints.
To come into half lift, Preeti Ji _____________ her spine.
To come into half lift, Preeti Ji “extends” her spine.
Why: Half lift requires lengthening the spine and lifting the chest, which involves extending the vertebrae to straighten and lengthen the back.
Fill in the blanks: flexion , extension, abduction, adduction, rotation, internal rotation, external rotation, pronation, lateral flexion.
In a low lunge, Divya’s front knee joint is in ___________, and the hip joint of the front leg is also in _____________.
In a low lunge, Divya’s front knee joint is in “flexion”, and the hip joint of the front leg is also in “flexion”.
Why: The front knee bends to form the lunge, which is a flexion movement. Similarly, the front hip also bends, decreasing the angle between the torso and the front thigh, also indicating flexion.
The hip joint of her back leg in the lunge is in ________________.
The hip joint of her back leg in the lunge is in “extension”.
Why: The back leg remains straight or slightly bent while the torso moves forward, increasing the angle at the hip joint of the back leg, which characterizes extension.
If she sweeps one arm
up and over, across her body in a side stretch, that arm is in ____________________ and her spine is in
_______________.
If she sweeps one arm up and over, across her body in a side stretch, that arm is in “abduction” and her spine is in “lateral flexion”.
Why: Moving the arm away from the body’s midline is abduction. Bending the spine sideways (either left or right) while keeping the pelvis relatively stable involves lateral flexion.
“Lateral flexion refers to the bending of the neck or body toward the right or left side, essentially a side-to-side bending movement. “
Fill in the blanks: flexion , extension, abduction, adduction, rotation, internal rotation, external rotation, lateral flexion.
If Priyanka twists, her spine comes into _____________. As her hands press in prayer twist, Priyanka’s forearms
are in _______________ at the elbow joint.
If Priyanka twists, her spine comes into “rotation”. As her hands press in prayer twist, Priyanka’s forearms are in “Flexion” at the elbow joint.
When Priyanka performs a twist, specifically a prayer twist, two main anatomical actions are taking place: spinal rotation and flexion at the elbow joint. Here’s why these movements occur in the context of a prayer twist:
Spinal Rotation
How it Happens: In any twisting yoga pose, such as a prayer twist, the spine rotates around its longitudinal axis. This action is initiated primarily from the base of the spine and progresses upward. The vertebrae turn relative to one another, facilitated by the twisting of the torso. This motion is supported by various muscles, including the obliques, which contract to rotate the spine, and the multifidus and rotatores, which stabilize the vertebrae during the twist.
Flexion at the Elbow Joint
How it Happens: During a prayer twist, such as in a seated or standing twist where the hands are pressed together in a prayer position at the heart center, the elbows naturally bend. This bending or flexion of the elbows allows the forearms to be brought together and positioned appropriately to maintain the prayer position in front of the chest or heart. The action is facilitated by the contraction of the biceps brachii and the brachialis muscles, which decrease the angle between the forearm and the upper arm.
In Warrior II, in the sagittal plane, the front leg is in ___________ at the knee joint and _____________ at
the hip joint. The back leg is in ______________ at the hip joint.
In Warrior II, in the sagittal plane, the front leg is in “flexion” at the knee joint and “flexion” at the hip joint. The back leg is in “extension” at the hip joint.
Why: The front leg in Warrior II is bent, decreasing the angle at both the knee and hip, indicating flexion. The back leg is straightened, increasing the hip angle, which is an extension.
In the transverse plane, her front leg is in _____________ and her back leg is in __________________.
In the transverse plane, her front leg is in “external rotation” and her back leg is in “internal rotation”.
Why: The front leg’s hip turns outward away from the midline (external rotation), while the back leg’s hip rotates inward toward the midline (internal rotation) to maintain alignment and balance.
In coming into Reverse Warrior, in the coronal plane, the front arm _______________. In coming into a half bind, the back arm _______________.
In coming into Reverse Warrior, in the coronal plane, the front arm “abducts”. In coming into a half bind, the back arm “adducts”.
Why: In Reverse Warrior, the front arm lifts to the side and up, moving away from the body’s midline, which is abduction. In a half bind, the back arm reaches behind the torso and moves toward the body’s midline, which is adduction.
A pose in which both the arms and the legs are in adduction is _______________.
Eagle Pose (Garudasana).
Why: In Eagle Pose, both arms and legs cross over and press toward the midline of the body, engaging the adductors and promoting stability through compression.
A pose in which both legs are in flexion at the knee and hip joint is__________.
Malasana (Garland Pose), Chair Pose (Utkatasana), and Navasana (Boat Pose) — all feature significant flexion at the knee and hip joints. Let’s examine how each of these poses fits the description:
Malasana (Garland Pose):
Leg Positioning: This is a deep squat position where both knees and hips are flexed significantly as you lower your hips towards the floor. The heels may or may not touch the floor depending on flexibility.
Why it fits: Malasana clearly fits the criteria as both knees are bent (flexed), and the hips are also flexed deeply, aligning the thighs close to the torso.
Chair Pose (Utkatasana):
Leg Positioning: In Chair Pose, you bend your knees and lower your hips as if sitting back into a chair, which flexes both the knees and the hips. The torso leans forward slightly to maintain balance, enhancing the hip flexion.
Why it fits: Both the knee and hip joints are flexed as you hold the pose, mimicking the act of sitting down, which perfectly meets your description.
Navasana (Boat Pose):
Leg Positioning: In the full expression of the pose, both knees are straight as you balance on your sitting bones with legs lifted. However, in a modified version (sometimes called Half Boat Pose), the knees are bent, keeping the shins parallel to the floor.
Why it fits: If considering the modified version, Navasana fits because the hips are flexed (as the torso and thigh angle decreases), and the knees are bent. In the traditional version, the knees aren’t flexed.
A pose in which one leg is in anatomical neutral and the other leg is in extension is_______________.
Warrior III (Virabhadrasana III), Natarajasana, and Standing Split — all involve one leg being in extension, but the positioning of the other leg varies in terms of anatomical neutral. Let’s break it down for clarity:
Warrior III (Virabhadrasana III):
Leg Positioning: One leg is extended straight back and lifted, clearly in extension. The standing leg remains straight and supports the body, technically in a neutral position, though actively engaged to stabilize the pose.
Why it fits: This pose fits the criteria where one leg is in extension and the other is in neutral as the standing leg holds the body’s weight without bending at the knee or hip significantly.
Natarajasana (Dancer’s Pose):
Leg Positioning: The lifted leg is held in extension as it’s pulled backward by the hand, bending at the knee. The standing leg is also relatively straight (can be slightly bent for balance), serving a supporting function similar to anatomical neutral, but with more active engagement and potential slight bending for stability.
Why it fits: Similar to Warrior III, the supporting leg is primarily in a neutral stance, although it requires active engagement and may not be completely straight.
Standing Split:
Leg Positioning: One leg is lifted high behind the body in extension, often as high as flexibility allows. The standing leg is straight, holding the body upright, similar to anatomical neutral.
Why it fits: This pose also aligns with your description, where the standing leg remains in a neutral position — fully extended but actively supporting the body.
List 3 poses which require flexion of the spine:
All forward fold poses generally involve flexion of the spine. In yoga, forward folds are categorized into two types: standing and seated. Both types encourage the spine to flex forward, which compresses the front of the body while stretching the back of the body, including the spine, neck, and hamstrings. Here are three examples of poses that require flexion of the spine, illustrating both standing and seated forward folds:
Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana)
Description: In this pose, you stand with feet hip-width apart, exhale, and hinge at the hips to fold forward, bringing your chest towards your knees and your hands towards the floor. This pose emphasizes the lengthening and flexion of the spine as you allow gravity to pull the head toward the ground.
Why Flexion: The action of hinging at the hips and moving the upper body towards the legs directly involves spinal flexion, as the space between each vertebra decreases on the anterior side.
Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)
Description: Sitting on the floor with legs extended forward, you inhale to lift and lengthen the spine and then exhale as you fold forward from the hips over the legs. Hands can rest on the legs or reach the feet.
Why Flexion: Similar to standing forward folds, the seated forward fold involves bending forward from the hips, which flexes the spine. This pose is particularly effective in stretching the lower back and hamstrings.
Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Description: From a kneeling position, sit back on your heels, then bend forward to rest your forehead on the floor, arms extended in front of you or alongside your body.
Why Flexion: This pose involves a gentle rounding of the spine as you fold your torso over your thighs. It’s a restorative pose that allows for mild flexion of the spine and helps to relieve tension in the back and neck.
All these poses share the common characteristic of spinal flexion, which is beneficial for stretching the back muscles, enhancing spinal flexibility, and calming the nervous system. These poses also vary in intensity and focus, providing options for different levels of flexibility and therapeutic needs.
List 3 poses which require extension of the spine:
Cobra Pose(Bhujangasana) The spine arches back as the chest lifts off the ground.
Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
Similar to Cobra but with more intense back extension, supported by the arms.
Camel Pose (Ustrasana)
The spine extends as the body bends backward, hands reaching towards the heels. All the backbends
A pose or arm variation that requires internal rotation of the arms is:
Reverse Prayer Pose (Paschima Namaskarasana).
How it Happens: In the Reversed Prayer Pose, the hands are brought together in a prayer position behind the back. To achieve this, the arms must internally rotate at the shoulder joints. This means the upper arms rotate inward so that the palms can meet behind the back with fingers pointing upwards. The internal rotation is significant because it allows the forearms to also rotate and the palms to press together fully, fingers pointing upward along the spine.
A pose or arm variation that requires external rotation of the arms is:
Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana arms)
External Rotation of the Arms in Cow Face Pose
Upper Arm (Raised Arm)
How it Happens: For the arm that is raised overhead (typically the right arm if the right knee is on top, and vice versa), external rotation occurs at the shoulder joint. This movement involves turning the arm outward, so the thumb points backward as the arm is raised. When the hand reaches down behind the head to approach the lower back, the upper arm must rotate externally for the palm to face outward and allow the fingers to point downwards, ready to clasp the other hand. This external rotation is facilitated by the infraspinatus and teres minor muscles, which are part of the rotator cuff group.
Lower Arm (Lowered Arm)
How it Happens: The arm that goes behind the back from below (opposite to the raised arm) also involves a slight degree of external rotation to position the palm to face outward and up the back. As the lower hand reaches up the spine to meet the upper hand, the elbow points directly down, and the shoulder rolls forward slightly, facilitating the grip.
A pose that requires adduction at the hip joint and rotation in the spine is:
Revolved Triangle Pose (Parivrtta Trikonasana)
In this pose, the legs are adducted as they are pressed together and stabilized, while the spine rotates due to the twisting action of the torso, aligning the shoulders perpendicular to the legs. This rotation is accompanied by the stabilization and inward movement at the hips to maintain balance and alignment, demonstrating both adduction and rotation.
