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| Picture by Lauren L Poole |
If you go to any Yoga class we do this pose over and over again. When your a beginner it can feel repetitive and harsh on the shoulders and wrists. This pose has so many benefits as it is an inversion, reversing bodily fluids as well as strengthening and stretching so many parts of the body. This like any posture can take an hour to learn and a lifetime to perfect, once nearly perfect the advanced practice can be performed. Also when in a yoga workout class like mine, your constantly moving and resting here for a few breaths lets students catch their breath and bring their heart rate down. You don't have to stay in downward facing dog, you can go into a modification for a few breaths or even child's pose. Below i go into a lot of detail on this posture (taken from various sourced). I wright these to refresh my memory and learn new things from reading, if you find it interesting too then great, share it or let me know if there is anything to add:-)
Adho Mukha Svanasana (AH-doh MOO-kah shvah-NAHS-anna)
adho = downward, mukha = face, svana = dog, sana - posture
Basic Positioning
- Fingers wide, hands hip width apart and as flat as can be
- Micro bend in elbows and arms rotating outwards
- Shoulders away from the ears and back spread and press chest down
- Feet hip width apart, quads engaged and inwardly rotating
- Tailbone lifts high, heels press down
- spine lengthening and spreading
- Look somewhere between your knees or belly button, whatever is comfortable
This is a combination of info from various sources listed below, as you can see a lot of muscles and to work together to hold this pose, you could argue that all of our muscles have to do something at all times to keep us in good posture.
- Wrist extenders: These short be so so flat on the floor, every part of the palm and fingers firmly pressing on the floor. The flatter it is the easier the pose. this is essentially wrist extension.
- Forearm pronator (Pronator Teres & Pronator Quadratus): Elbows should not hyperextend to allow the forearm to pronate slightly
- Rotator Cuff muscles (Teres Major & Infraspinatus): these turn the elbow eyes forward by outwardly rotating the upper arms.
- Serrates Anterior: This lengthens and engages to stabilise the scapula by upwardly rotating and adducting it.
- Rotator cuff: To stabilise the shoulder joint
- Trapezius: This will help lengthen are arms and press are chest down to the ground. Huge muscle with many functions, all of it is either stretching or strengthening.
- Inward rotation of upper legs (Tensor Fascuae Latae, Gluteus Medius, Gluteus Minimus): Helping to stabilise the pelvis and keep hips up and back
- Anterior Pelvic tilt (Errector Spinare, Iliopsoas & Rectus Femoris): Tailbone high
- Upper leg adductors: As if your squeezing a block between your legs
- Tibialis anterior: Flexes your foot
- Pectoral Muscles: These are used for lifting your arm so they are being worked isometrically
- Deltoids: Lift our arms up
- Obliques & Latissimus Dorsi: : We lengthen the side of our body. we dont want to use the latts as it will work against us as it internally rotates the arm.
- Core (Rectus abdominis) : Pull your core in to activate the Mula Bandha
- Intercostals muscles: Our chest opens and spreads and presses down
- Quadricep (Rectus Femorus): Pull knee caps up
- Pelvic floor: contracts and lifts up
- Triceps: pushing your arms down to the floor
- Neck: Flexes forward
- Hamstrings, Gastroc, Soleus: All of the back of the legs stretch
- Biceps: Lift the arms up
Once your readt, you can add these to the posture, ill write on these separately soon
- Advanced Pranayama with Breath retention
- Gasing at the third eye dristi
- Engaing Mula uddiyana and jalandhara bandhas
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| Pic by Yoga Bee Vintage |
- Strengthens the immune system
- Improves the flow of energy and aids recovery. Hence often called a resting pose
- Opens and wides and lengthen the back and shoulders, releasing tension and knots.
- Builds strength throughout the body
- Removes fatigues and rejuvenates
- Having your head lower than you heart encouraging the circulatory system to pump fresh blood through the body, flushing toxins, regulating blood pressure, and boosting immune health.
- Stimulates the four upper chakras
- Changes direction of blood and lynth circulation and helps us see things from a different angle
- Wight baring on arms and spine helps strengthen the bones in the upper body
- reduces pain in back as it lengthens the spine
- Pulling navel into the spine or abs in will encourage the digestive function of the spleen, liver, and kidneys.
- All of the above are releases of stress, stress is big cause of illness and unhappiness there for releasing stress and ultimately preventing and healing illness is a benefit
1: Go down onto for forearms to take the weight off the wrists (writs or shoulder injury)
2: Use a chair or prop and place your hands on there to reduce the weight on the wrists (writs or shoulder injury)
3: Plank will work the core, shoulders and wrists (writs or shoulder injury)
4: Knees down, hips above knees in puppy dog will have less weight on everything. (wrist or shoulder injury, pregnant)
5. Slightly bend the knees (this is if there is tightness at the pelvis and lower back causing curve of lower back or if pregnant)
6. Shorten stance. (if super tight but may mean more curve of lower back which is not good)
7. Lengthen stance for very flexible but this put more weight onto the extremities
Assisting
1. From the front press both hands either side of the lower spine, pressing up and back to put more weight into legs and away from the arms and shoulders
2. From behind, grab the hip bones or trocante (where leg connects with hip) and rotate the hips forward and back.
3. From the front, place hands onto the lower back and lower down so chest is on the back, the hands then go onto the hip to rotate forwards (tailbone high), check stomach that the Banda is locked.
4. From behind with a strap around the back of the sacrum and allow it to hang down over each side of the hip, then pull each side of the strap through the legs and deep into the each side of the groin (do not cross the straps). then pull the straps back, this pulls the groin back and inwardly rotates the hips, then pull up into the sit bones to widen sit bones. (see image below)
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| Use a strap to help - from video clip on TreeofLifeYoga youtube channel |
Yoga Anatomy 2nd addition, Adho Mukha Svanasana section
http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/downward-facing-dog/
http://www.gaiamtv.com/article/asana-anatomy-downward-facing-dog
http://www.alexandani.com/blog/yoga-pose-of-the-week-downward-facing-dog/
http://www.activebeat.com/fitness/8-lesser-known-benefits-of-downward-facing-dog/
