"Bachin Alignment" may be the key to understanding yoga: I believe you can learn more about yoga from these two Bachin Charts than from any other single reference.
During the 1940's, medical artist Peter Bachin developed several significant charts. One is called The Muscular System, which shows muscles and tendons in remarkable detail. Another is The Skeletal System, which shows bones and ligaments likewise in remarkable detail. In addition, The Skeletal System illustrates The Plumb Line, or how your skeleton presents when the soft tissue of your body is in perfect balance throughout your body.1
The Skeleton and the Plumb Line
Click on chart to view enlargement
 When you were young and when your body was undoubtedly in better balance than it is now, you had no trouble standing directly upright. The strength and flexibility of the muscles in the front of your body were in near-perfect balance with those in the back of your body. Nothing pulled you forward or backward. You were on the plumb.
Look again at both Bachin charts. The muscles shown in “The Muscular System” are in perfect balance, front and rear. The plumb line drawn on “The Skeletal System” runs directly through the center of the body and reflects this soft-tissue balance.
Click on Chart to view enlargement:
 Those examples are the ideal because when that balance occurs, your skeleton, not your muscles, supports your body upright. What does this mean? Stand up for a moment. Stand as straight as you comfortably can. Now lean forward, just shifting your weight forward but keeping your heels down.
Stay there for a while. What do you feel in the front of your body? Bring your head a little bit farther forward. Feel the “loading up” of the muscles on the front of your shins? Your thighs? Imagine standing imbalanced like this all day long. Every day. Year after year.
Many of us do. Not intentionally, of course. You may have had an accident, or other trauma, or simply gotten used to poor posture. Whatever the cause, as imbalanced soft-tissue chronically contracts over time, your body will adapt or accommodate to the discomfort of the loaded and soon to be very tight muscles. After a while, you will no longer feel the discomfort. You will simply become fatigued well before your day is over. And you won't understand why.
Well, here are a few reasons why:
The first one is very simple: If the muscles in your body are imbalanced, and the tighter ones, say, in the front of your body are trying to overcome the weaker rear muscles, they are constantly fighting each other to keep your body erect. It's so subtle that you don't notice it, but this is one reason why you are so tired well before the end of your day.
The second is a bit more complicated: When your body is out of balance and chronically tight, your body can't absorb proper nutrition. This accelerates your fatigue and causes your body's soft-tissues to become tighter. As you find your body becoming tighter and more lethargic, it becomes more difficult to exercise and you feel even more tired. At this point, many people gain weight because they just begin taking in more calories than they expend.
Conclusion:
When your body is off the plumb, your muscles are no longer in balance. You become chronically tired; your strength, endurance, and flexibility decline. You lose your once good posture. By using appropriate yoga as a tool, you can take active responsibility for getting yourself back on the plumb.
The beauty of an appropriate yoga practice is that, over time, you can "encourage" your body to again move "in the direction of balance and union." What can be better for enhancing your health?
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1Bachin Charts are used by permission of the Anatomical Chart Company, Skokie, IL.
The Anatomical Chart Company has its origins in the charts meticulously painted by the medical illustrator Peter Bachin during the 1940s and 50s. Bachin, born in Austria in 1897, came to America by hiding between potato sacks on a ship.
Approximately three years were spent painting each of the 5 original anatomical charts in the collection, of which the Skeletal System and Muscular System remain the company's best-selling charts. (See www.anatomical.com/)
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