Not only is yoga great from overall fitness, getting to know the various postures and their names makes it fun. Downward facing dog, or adho mukha svanasana as it’s called in Sanskrit, is one of my favorite yoga postures, and for good reason. The posture offers many benefits for both body and mind for busy teens, including:
- Strengthens arms and legs (better for those form-fitting clothes)
- Stretches the back, hamstrings, calves, Achilles tendon and plantar fascia
- Calms the brain, relieving stress and tension (think midterm stress!)
- Improves digestion (forget the fries)
- Energizes the body, mitigates fatigue (get more sleep too)
- Relieves insomnia and headache
Getting Down
Downward dog pose offers an ideal opportunity to check in: what’s going on with the breathing; is the breathing steady and controlled or has it become rapid and shallow? What’s going on with the body; has it loosened up at all, feeling less tight, less tense? Based on what your body tells you, you can modify your postures or your pace as you progress through class. Turning inward and evaluating like this is part of what separates yoga from more traditional, mainstream forms of exercise.
In an exercise boot camp or spin class you might be expected to place any consideration for your physical, mental and emotional states aside and just exert yourself, whereas yoga encourages moderation and modification. You push yourself to your edge physically if it feels right for you; otherwise you take it down a notch or two. And avoid injury or over-taxation of the mind and body in the process.
Tips for Downward Dog Pose:
- To practice downward facing dog – down dog, for short – do the following: Start on all fours on the mat (or floor), palms pressed into the mat, wrists directly under shoulders, knees directly under hips, shins and tops of the feet in contact with the mat.
- Press into palms, engage core and lift knees off the mat. Draw heels towards the mat as you lengthen the legs, taking the bend out of the knees (if hamstrings are very tight, keep a little bend in the knee to release any strain). Middle fingers are pointing forward towards the front of the room and fingers are splayed wide, like starfish. Feel contact between the mat and all points of the hand: palms, fingers, outside edges of the thumb.
- There is a tendency to bend the spine, caving the chest towards the floor and compressing the lower spine; think instead about creating a long and straight spine. Press palms firmly into the mat and shift the hips towards the crease where the back wall and ceiling meet.
- Draw triceps in, creating an expansion across the upper back. Head stays between the arms; gaze should be at your legs.
Down Dog modifications/variations:
- Place hands on blocks.
- If you have wrist issues, lower forearms to the mat to come to dolphin pose. Slide a strap around the upper arms to keep the distance between them fixed; press the arms outward against the straps to create resistance. This provides stability as you use resistance to build strength.
- If you’re just looking to stretch out the legs and back, or get a little reprieve from a stressful situation, come into down dog for a few breaths. Because the pose forces you to shift your gaze away from the action of a room, it allows you to disengage and turn inward. Since it is an inversion, it reverses the flow of blood, promoting healthy circulation and energizes the body.
Downward facing dog is a great posture on its own or as a component of a more complex series of poses. Its benefits are easily accessible and are particularly pertinent to anyone whose fitness routine, lifestyle or body mechanics lends itself to tightness in the hamstrings, calves and heels. Having taught yoga to high school runners and having been a runner myself, I can attest to down dog’s ability to sooth existing irritations in the leg muscles and tendons and keep injuries at bay.
P.S. I regularly take a break from work or study, pop out of my desk chair and into downward facing dog for a couple minutes, whenever I’m feeling a lack of energy or an excess of tightness or soreness in the lower back or legs. It’s a pacifying posture on many levels and as such, should be a regular component of your at-home or in-studio yoga practice.
Meghan Meade is a twenty-something health coach, yoga teacher, high school track coach, freelance writer and an aspiring personal trainer who documents her experiences with transitioning into the health and wellness world on her blog, www.strugglemuffins.com.
This article has been reviewed by Dr. Tara Cousineau, Ph.D.
