down dog! stay! breathe!

You know I love yoga and this is still National Yoga Month and I promised more yoga so here goes.

Adho Mukha Svanasana the pose we all love to hate and hate to love. Downward-facing Dog is probably the most popular and most recognized pose in yoga. I have never taken a class or done a podcast/DVD practice that didn't have Down Dog in it.  It is a great pose for aiding digestion, relieving insomnia, strengthening your arms and energizing the body in general. 

This is also a pose that I see a lot of people do wrong. So even though it's a simple pose and common I think it's a good one to check in with from time to time and reset our positioning.

Down Dog really starts on all fours. Your hands should be right under your shoulders and your fingers should be spread and even. The middle finger should be pointing straight to the front of your mat.

**Hands are a trouble area for a lot of people. You need to root down through your fingers, not through the heel of our hand. Your fingers should act almost like suction cups with your mat. If some walks over to you they shouldn't be able to lift your fingers off the mat. You need to fan the pressure across the hands and not have it all sitting on your wrists. If you are having trouble with yoga, check your hands!

Draw your shoulder blades onto your back. Inhale ad lift your hips while lengthening you back, spine and hips. Straighten your legs to complete the pose. 

You should hold the pose for a few rounds of breath. If you are not able to straighten your legs it's okay. Down Dog with bent knees is totally fine. I often start a practice with bent knees in Down Dog and then by the end I am able to straighten my legs.

Here's a great video for correcting Downward Facing Dog.

Another thing to remember with yoga is that everyone goes at their own pace, or they should at least, I recently read that some people are trying to get competitive yoga in the Olympics but I'm hoping that's a joke. 

Anyway, take your time and work into and out of all poses slowly. Yoga is YOUR TIME to find your CENTER and BALANCE and it should be fun.

namaste!

martha