• I help people fully inhabit their bodies and guide teachers to do the same • Get access to exclusive videos, articles and teachings from Domini Anne
The Ever-Bending Story
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• 5 minute read The Stories Our Bodies Tell There's something deeply human about our need to categorize and name the world around us,Reader . We divide, label, and organize—creating taxonomies of plants, periodic tables of elements, grammatical rules for language. In anatomy, we've named every bone, muscle, and tissue, constructing intricate maps of the human form. This analytical approach serves us well in many ways. It allows us to communicate precisely, to isolate problems, to develop expertise. When we learn anatomy, we memorize origins and insertions, actions and innervations—creating mental filing cabinets of information. But is this how we truly understand the world? For most of us, understanding comes through story. We make sense of our experiences through narrative. When describing pain, we reach for metaphor: 'it feels like lightning' or 'it's a dull ache.' When teaching moral principles, cultures turn to parables and fables. Even in medical school, students create elaborate mnemonic tools to remember complex systems. Stories, metaphors, and felt experiences create pathways for us to embody abstract concepts. They don't just help us remember information—they help us integrate it, making the intellectual tangible and the theoretical practical. This integration is the difference between knowing and understanding, between memorizing and internalizing. I see this struggle play out repeatedly in my field. When people attempt to learn anatomy—whether to understand their own bodies better or to guide their students—they often end up feeling more disconnected than when they started. Breaking the body down into its constituent parts—isolating muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments—fragments us rather than makes us whole. We gain terminology but in the process, sacrifice our embodied experience. This is precisely where storytelling becomes transformative. When we give these anatomical pieces a history, when we narrate WHY they move the ways they do, something remarkable happens. The information synthesizes into practical knowledge. We suddenly understand not just what's happening in our bodies, but why—and this understanding bridges the gap between theory and practice. Building this relationship between Knowledge and Understanding is My Jam. I've been lying awake at night, designing the curriculum for my upcoming Practical and Applied Anatomy courses this month, and as I was massaging through the class content, it hit me just how important the inclusion of Evolutionary Biology is in this equation. When we understand WHY a joint behaves the way it does in terms of our ancestral history, we no longer need to remember an abstract set of rules or names. We can easily comprehend its function and how it relates to our entire organic structure. This is a plot we can sink our teeth into. It's juicy. We WANT to remember the names of the characters and their motivation—we UNDERSTAND their purpose and are invested in their journey. Our shoulders, feet, and spine become protagonists in an epic evolutionary tale rather than merely labeled parts in a textbook. Suddenly we're not just studying anatomy—we're following the compelling story of how these main characters adapted, specialized, and evolved to create the masterpiece that is human movement. This Week's Video: Evolutionary Movement Patterns For this week's video, I decided to share some of my favorite stories from evolutionary biology and turn them into a framework for several workouts you can explore at home. These concepts can be easily adapted to provide additional insight into exercises you already know, or give context to a specific class—in any movement system you practice or teach. In the video, I explore how our feet reveal the fascinating "hinge, rotate" pattern that defines our joint mobility throughout the body. You'll learn why raising your heels and freeing your ankles reconnects you with your quadrupedal ancestry, unlocking mobility you might never have known you had. And we give a toast to the remarkable history of our shoulders — supporting us as we walked on all fours, suspending our bodies as we swung from tree to tree, and now serving as the versatile structures they are today. Each stage of this evolution left its mark on our anatomy, and understanding this story gives us powerful insights into how to develop truly functional shoulder strength. The best part? You'll experience these concepts through movement, not just theory. From quadruped heel raises to assisted pull-ups, each exercise connects you with your evolutionary heritage while building practical strength and mobility. Upcoming Courses: Bringing Anatomy to LifeIf these evolutionary stories spark your curiosity, I invite you to join me for a deeper exploration in my upcoming courses: Practical Anatomy for Movement Instructors | March 17-April 14 Applied Anatomy for Gyrotonic Instructors | March 20-April 17
Closing Thoughts When we shift from memorizing body parts to understanding evolutionary stories, anatomy becomes not just accessible but fascinating. These narratives connect us to our ancestral past while illuminating our present movement potential. Whether you're a movement professional or simply someone who wants to understand your body better, approaching anatomy through story changes everything. As you explore this week's video, notice how understanding the "why" behind your movement patterns transforms them from exercises into expressions of your inheritance—movements your ancestors have been perfecting for generations. There's something powerful about moving with context. Until next week, Domini Anne |
Domini Anne
• I help people fully inhabit their bodies and guide teachers to do the same • Get access to exclusive videos, articles and teachings from Domini Anne
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