Sue Ransom Yoga

Down dog (adho mukha svanasana in  Sanskrit)  is a BIG whole body pose that is many things. An inversion (head below heart), a forward bend, an arm balance, a restorative pose…You won’t get very far into a yoga practice before coming across it.

What are its beautiful benefits? This posture stimulates the circulatory systems of the body and builds muscle strength. Feel  the wonderful sense of realignment as you lengthen your spine, and the gorgeous stretch to hamstrings and calves.

Easy to see where the name for this one came from – just watch your own or any dog come into this delicious stretch with front legs outstretched, hips drawn back and skywards, back legs straight and the spine lengthened, heart perhaps dipping towards the earth.  In down dog you’re aiming to recreate the shape of a piece of Toblerone with your body 😊Coming into a triangle formed by your arms and torso on one side, your legs on the other, and the earth forming the third side.

Not such an easy one to weave into daily activities as, unlike tadasana, you may get strange looks if you try practicing this one in the supermarket queue. But there are more subtle alternatives. You could try half dog at the wall in a quiet moment in the office to counteract sitting for long periods, or in the middle of a gardening session when you’ve been bending forwards unrelentingly. To do this place palms on a wall a little below shoulder height and walk backwards until you feel a good lengthening of your spine from tailbone to crown. Engage your core so your spine is supported. This version is ideal if it’s best not to take your head below your heart for any reason. And it’s just handy. Take a walk to the back of the plane on a long haul flight when your body’s crying out to move and enjoy this subtle stretch out.

To come into down dog I find it good to work from extended child’s pose, kneeling with head earthwards, but rather than resting forearms on the mat in this position taking your arms to full stretch. Fingers spread, hands an active base of support, inhaling into a tabletop position and turning toes under in preparation to lift hips skywards on an exhalation. I find this sets up a good distance between hands and feet. But have a play – take feet a step closer to hands, a step further away. You’re aiming for a lovely lengthening in the spine. We want hips high and back, head and neck a nice extension of the spine and aligned between shoulders, and shoulders open.

Some tweaks and tips that you might find helpful or like to have a play with include creating a wider distance between hands and feet and having a bend in the knees especially if hamstrings are tight. If it’s a lot for wrists, you could come onto forearms (dolphin pose is down dog on forearms) or perhaps try placing a blanket or towel at the base of your hands to provide a wedge so the angle of your wrists is not so pronounced.  Over time your heels may creep closer to your mat and eventually touch. Or maybe not, and that’s fine. Placing a folded blanket in position for your heels to rest on can feel nice. If down dog feels like a lot, a gentler version with many of the benefits is half dog (puppy), with both forearms and knees on the floor.

To liven things up you could try three-legged dog, lifting one leg up and aiming to keep hips level. Bending the raised leg and stacking hips one over the other continues on nicely. Moving between down dog and a high plank is strength building and heat creating.  We can add a lot of activeness into down dog. However, staying still, holding, breathing deeply just being in the pose is also worth experiencing. Sometimes when we do this, we access another, deeper level in our practice.

Enjoy…

Best to check with your health care professional before practicing yoga. I share yoga in beautiful Tasman Bay near Nelson, New Zealand. Please contact me for more information about weekly group sessions, private sessions, workshops and to book.