Anatomy isn’t just for doctors and healthcare professionals. Basic knowledge about the structure of our bodies and how they work is important for everyone.

So, I promised myself I would get to grips with Anatomy. But the text books were boring and lessons sent me to sleep (no disrespect to my teachers). I didn’t get very far until I came across Body Mapping.

In Barbara Conable’s amazing book, ‘How to Learn the Alexander Technique’, she says that everyone has an idea about the structure of their own body, a kind of inner map, that affects the way we move.

Over 22 years of teaching, Barbara found, “When there is a conflict between the map and the reality, the map will always win”. The mind is shaping and limiting our experience.

You probably have a clear idea of the shape and position of your spine, but are you right?

I wasn't. I thought my vertebrae were the knobbly bits I could feel, just beneath my skin on my back.

In fact those bones are long pointy processes that stop the spine bending or twisting too far. The vertebrae, which support the weight of my upper body and head, are much nearer the middle of my body than I imagined.

I also hadn’t taken into consideration that the natural curves of the spine take it even deeper into the centre of my body. Learning this has changed the way I stand and I no longer get tired as quickly.

The same is true for the top part of your spine in your neck. You've probably seen a model of a human skull and you may at some point have noticed the hole underneath, where the neck joins the head.

Yet, perhaps because of the strong association skulls have with death, we don't always relate what we've seen with what is inside our own heads.

Many of us think our head joins our spine right at the back of the neck and overwork the muscles trying to hold the head up. Perhaps that's why head rests on chairs are so popular.

It isn't only the spine where we often shift our body maps too far to the back.

In one of the anatomy lessons where I managed to stay awake, Danny McGowan showed us the structure of the foot. Most of the class had imagined the weight of the body was balanced right at the back of the ankle. Yet, if you look at this picture you'll see a large bone extends back from the ankle joint.

The ankle is actually on top of an arch, which spreads the weight both forwards and backwards. This is more balanced than the way most of us imagined it.

These are just a few examples of the kind of assumptions we can make about anatomy that can put strain on our muscles and interfere with our ease of movement. If you want to uncover your own assumptions, draw a picture of your body showing bones and joints, then check it against diagrams in books.

Ask yourself detailed questions about each part of the body, such as:

• Where is your neck? See if your first thought included the throat and front of the neck, or just the back of the neck.
• Where are your neck muscles? Do they go round your neck or up and down?
• What joints do you move to rotate or nod your head?

When you make anatomy personal you can gain valuable insights into how your body works and hopefully restore some of the freedom of movement you probably had as a child!