Test yourself, July, 2001

Note: For each of the following questions (one for each chapter in Anatomy of Hatha Yoga), please answer in 100 or fewer words using complete sentences.

11. In a lunging posture, what is the role of the quadriceps femoris muscle, and what is the technical term for describing its gross mode of operation as its muscle fibers become more active during the course of coming into the lunge?

12. What is the significance of minute ventilation as compared to alveolar ventilation in yoga postures?

13. Why and how should novices be cautioned to stabilize the lumbar region while doing double leglifts?

14. What is the most fundamental issue (high school physics) regarding standing forward bends, especially for novices, and why is this the case? Finally, what are the two main possibilities regarding how standing forward bends are supported?

15. Anatomically, what stops us from bending backward very far at the hip joints, and what is the significance of this anatomical design (same feature) for forward bending at the hips?

16. Under what circumstances and why is bending forward from the waist reasonable, and under what circumstances and why is bending forward from the hips desirable?

17. Anatomically, what limits spinal twisting in the lumbar region?

18. What are some of the more prominent differences between how a beginner and an advanced practitioner handle their body weight while coming into the headstand?

19. What are the most important cautions for safely learning the classic shoulderstand?

20. What are the boundaries of the four triangles with respect to the right tetrahedron that is formed by the classic meditative sitting postures?