Bija had been talking to us alot about the T12 - the lower part of the thoracic spine - and training us to keep the spine neutral so we don't become hunchbacks - since as she points out, "no one likes being around a hunchback." Seeing the model of the spine, it finally clicked for me why having good posture is so important - it was pretty exciting! I could see how hunching over and slouching puts pressure on your lower spine and over time can put too much pressure on your lumbar disk. I once read something that said while you sit at your desk all day to think of your heart as a headlight that needs to face forward. I put a "heart light" post-it on my desk to remind me which has helped me. I was pretty intrigued by the spine and read more about it in "Yoga Anatomy." I learned a ton in a few pages - I don't think I ever realized that fish have straight spines and humans have 4 curves (primary - thoracic & sacral and secondary - cervical & lumbar) to the spine (and other animals range in between). But my mind was totally blown when I read that a fetus in the womb have only primary curves to their spine based on the curvature of the womb and that it is actually the process of moving through the birth canal that creates the secondary curves. (Made me wonder about C-section babies?) Babies can't hold their heads up because their cervical spine is still developing and once this curve fully forms, we can sit upright! We can walk upright when the lumbar spine develops and straightens out. I can't believe I never knew this!
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