During my eight week mindfulness course I learned some basic yoga poses and I have recently started to incorporate yoga into my daily life. I’ll do some poses in the morning after I finish my meditation and I have begun taking yoga classes every week.

There are a couple of things about yoga that I like. First, it is a meditation in itself. Each asana, or pose, is an opportunity to connect with the breath and the body. Second, it’s not about getting anywhere. Yes, as my practice has advanced (which is not much!) I have been able to enter into poses with more ease, however, just like meditation, some days I can do ‘more’ than others. So, like meditation it has helped me to relax into my body and be comfortable with where I am, right here and now with no expectations of where I ‘should’ be.

I thought I’d start sharing some yoga poses on this blog. Perhaps you can start a yoga practice of your own!

Today, the pose I’m going to discuss is the Downward Facing Dog, which is called Adho Mukha Savanasana (adho = downward, mukha = face, svana = dog) in Sanskrit. As depicted in the photo above, you’ll probably recognize this familiar pose.

How to do it

Many time this pose is used as a transition pose or even a resting pose. For purposes of this article, I’ll describe how to do it as a stand-alone asana.

First, start on your hands in knees with your legs and arms perpendicular to the floor and your back parallel to the floor. This is sometimes called the table pose. Keep your hands spread and firmly planted on the mat…almost as if you’re pressing through the floor.

On an exhale, slowly lift your knees off the floor and straighten your legs. While doing this, continue to make sure your hands are firmly planted on the mat as well as keeping your elbows turned in so they are not flared out.

Slowly press each heel towards the floor. If you are just beginning with this pose it might be helpful to first alternate pressing each heel toward the floor in a bicycle (alternating) fashion. Work with each leg and be mindful of what you’re feeling. Make sure to listen to your body and ease into the stretch. At the same time you should be straightening your spine by pushing back while lifting your pelvis upwards. Your head should be between your forearms.

Feel the stretch. Where do you feel it in your body? Make sure to breathe in a relaxed fashion while holding the pose. You can end the pose by slowly bending your knees back towards the ground back into the table pose.

Benefits

There are numerous benefits from doing this asana:

• It strengthens the whole body, including: hands/wrists, arms, shoulders, back and legs
• Can help in decreasing chronic back pain
• Elongates the back. If you sit in a chair all day, this is particularly helpful as we many times unintentionally hunch over and tense up while we’re sitting at a computer
• Improves posture
• Improves digestion
• Has been said to help in relieving stress and even symptoms of depression

Photo Credit: myyogaonline