How to Do Downward Dog: A Comprehensive Guide to the Yoga Pose

Downward dog — or Adho Mukha Svanasana in Sanskrit — stemmed from the classical sun salutation, “Surya Namaskar,” which becomes part of the Ashtanga yoga family tree codified and promoted by K. Pattabi Jois. This sun salutation is the basis for the contemporary Vinyasa practice, where you “circulation” through a series of choreographed postures with integrated breaths.

Downward dog is frequently thought about a resting posture due to the fact that it’s the posture in a Vinyasa series where you stop moving for a minute and simply breathe. Because of its connection to Vinyasa — among the most popular designs of yoga — down dog is among the most typical and fundamental postures in the majority of yoga classes.

Whether or not down dog is a resting posture is up for dispute. It is, nevertheless, a present that is available and familiar to lots of and provides a little an obstacle. It’s likewise a home-base posture that moves your focus and needs you to support yourself while bearing your weight in your upper body.

Read on to learn more about down dog, how to do it, advantages and variations.

• ‌What is down dog?‌ It’s typical yoga posture where you turn your body into an inverted “V” utilizing your upper body to support your weight. According to‌Yoga Anatomy‌ authors Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews, down dog is categorized as a “balanced inverted arm assistance posture.” The position of having your head listed below your heart is what makes down dog an inversion, and supporting your body with both your limbs on the ground makes it a great way for novices to prep for other arm-support postures.
  ‌Who can do down dog?‌ While it can be difficult, down dog is a relatively available posture that the majority of people can do, even if they’re brand-new to yoga. However, the posture is most available for individuals with healthy wrists and shoulders and versatile hamstrings. There are lots of variations and adjustments to help make down dog much easier for those with minimal movement.
• ‌What muscles does down dog work?‌ Downward dog enhances your arms, shoulders and upper back. Some of the muscles hired to support you in down dog consist of: serratus anterior, rotator cuff, deltoids, biceps, triceps muscles, in addition to different muscles in your hands and feet. Some of the muscles that may feel extended consist of: hamstrings, calves, latissimus dorsi and deltoids.
• ‌How long should you hold down dog?‌ There is no set duration for holding down dog. If you’re including down dog in your practice as part of a Vinyasa-design circulation, holding the posture for 3 to 5 breaths need to suffice.

Inversions increase your heart rate, increases your metabolic process and enhances flow. But there are likewise more subtle advantages to down dog. Like all inversions downward dog is a psychological and physical shift in viewpoint that challenges your balance, stability, coordination and focus.

It’s normally very little of an obstacle for the majority of people to discover stability and ease when standing upright in mountain posture (Tadasana). So, how is stability possible while upside down, folded in half and supporting your weight with only your upper body?

The response: You can discover stability and ease in any yoga posture one breath at a time. In in this manner, down dog develops strength through the obstacle of keeping your calm while doing the relatively difficult.

Storme Sundberg, Phoenix-based yoga instructor with more than twenty years of experience, says the the expedition of this paradox is the main advantage of down dog — and practicing yoga in basic. She advises asking yourself these concerns upon each go back to down dog:

1. Where is the strength and where is the resistance?
2. How can I provide myself grace in this minute?
3. How does my down dog progress throughout the session?

Downward dog needs extending yourself in all instructions while pushing down and raising at the very same time. Here are a couple of ideas for discovering the physical positioning in your body,

Sundberg keeps in mind that developing good positioning is crucial to keeping healthy joints for a long-lasting practice.

“The clearest method for me to do this is to discover the positioning points from Tadasana and use them in all postures,” she informs LIVESTRONG.com. “When I’m upright, it’s not so difficult to keep good form. When I fold myself in half and stretch myself in 8 instructions, it’s a little less simple.”

What’s the trick? Ground into your structure, hug into your midline, lift and extend your spinal column and breathe.

The impulse for lots of people when attempting to support themselves in challenging yoga postures is to “lock” or hyperextend their joints. Locking your joints is simple and develops stability without hiring any of the musculature around the joints, according to Kaminoff. While it develops stability, locking and stacking your joints likewise makes them less mobile, which can lead to poor positioning. For example, locking your knees in down dog frequently leads to individuals pitching their weight too far forward, making it near difficult to push the weight back and extend completely through the arms.

Soft joints help with muscular stability while still permitting the joints to be mobile, so you can discover extension and build strength in the upper body. The bear crawl is a good workout for having fun with this duality of soft joints supported by muscular stability. Bear crawls likewise heat up your arms in preparation for down dog.

Just due to the fact that down dog is an arm-support posture does not imply all your weight must remain in your upper body. Your feet are still part of your assistance and the posture is both more sustainable and available when you disperse your weight equally into your structure.

Play with flexing your knees and moving your weight around to discover your center. Lengthen your knees from this centered place and notice if and where you move out of alignment, then back off just enough to reconnect to your center of gravity. You’ll be working hard but you might also find yourself feeling light and strong.

In addition to being an inverted arm-support pose, downward dog is a backbend because of the extension through your upper back. If you experience tightness in your upper-middle back — the thoracic spine — you might find it especially hard to extend your arms and find spinal extension.

Warming up with a bit of breathing in cat-cow pose (Bitilasana Marjaryasana) or cobra pose (Bhujangasana) variations can help prepare your upper body for the backbend. If your hamstrings are tight, flexing your knees will create space for even distribution of your weight so you can extend your arms and spine.

Bearing weight in the upper body is one of the biggest challenges of downward dog — it’s not something most people are used to and it can put a lot of pressure on the wrists and shoulders. However, there are a few modifications you can try to relieve some of that pressure.

If you have broader shoulders, try placing your hands wider on your mat to give yourself a more stable base. If your wrists hurt when bearing weight and no amount of adjusting seems to help, try lowering onto your forearms. If you’re not into bearing weight in your upper body at all, child’s pose (Balasana) is a gentle downward dog alternative.

Here are some other modifications for building strength in your upper body while relieving some of the pressure from your joints.

Challenge your balance and core strength even more by lifting one of your legs behind you with this downward dog variation. This variation is likewise practiced commonly as a space-creating transition from down dog to a low lunge posture in many Vinyasa-style classes.

This down dog variation helps build strength and flexibility in your shoulder girdle without putting any pressure on your hands or wrists.