Addicted to Adho Mukha Svanasana

Yoga in Times Square, via tantaonews.com

Although I often go on and on about my favorite yoga poses (ahem, pigeon pose!), I realize that I've been writing about yoga for quite a while now without mentioning that my all-time favorite pose in the whole wide world is Adho Mukha Svanasana, or Downward-facing Dog. So, today's post is an ode to Down Dog. I just want to talk about it, ruminate on it, and remind all of us why it's such an amazing place to hang out....

Personally, I find Downward-facing Dog to be one of the most transformative poses in my practice, and although it's my home base and I'm always eager to return to it, it's also always changing for me and is slightly different every time that I come into it, which makes it extra-special. To me, Down Dog feels amazing--it's where I go to gather my breath, my mind, and my body, and I like nothing more than a teacher who gives me an assist to take it deeper. But, in my practices both last night and this morning, for instance, I found that the pose had changed for me once again. Because of a newly-acquired hamstring issue (slight pull? but why?), all of the sudden Adho Mukha is  a lot more difficult for me--it's not quite as comfortable, and I have to be more mindful in this pose. But just as I remind my students to do, I've been able to bend my knees slightly to take a bit of the pull out of the hamstrings, and voila! An entirely new posture. This morning I started noticing things about it that I don't usually notice when my legs are straight, and found myself playing around in the pose in a way that I usually don't. Isn't it interesting when a pose that we've been doing for years suddenly becomes new? I love it. I also love hearing my students speak about their own Down Dog experiences.

Often, I hear newbies say that Down Dog is really hard. If you're not used to supporting your body in this position, it is really hard! For beginners, this pose is not a resting pose at all; arms are shaking, hamstrings are pulling, shoulders and arms are burning, hands and feet are slipping on the sweaty mat.  But, then they start to come to class more often, and eventually I hear the same students exclaim, "Down Dog used to be so hard for me, and now it's really starting to feel like a resting pose! Now it feels good!" It's such an exciting feeling when this begins to happen, and I absolutely love to see the progression in my students.

Think Down Dog is a static pose with not much going on? Think it's easy? The next time that you come into this asana, check in on the following:

Photo via confused1326.blogspot.com

-Are your fingers spread wide, palms and fingertips pressing into the earth?
-Are your shoulders broadening, pulling away from your ears, and sliding down your back?
-Are you pressing your heels toward the floor?
-Are you lifting your sitting bones towards the sky?
-Where is your gaze? Try looking between your feet or towards your bellybutton.
-Are you pressing into your hands and shifting your weight back into your heels?
-Are you energizing the arms and internally rotating from your elbow to your inner wrist?

And then, once you have checked in on all of this, ask yourself, where is your mind? Where is your breath? What happens when you deepen your breath? This is where the real challenge of the pose begins...still think it's an easy, mindless pose? ;)

To close, I'd like to share a few of my favorite iterations of the pose. For those of you who practice at home, mix it up by trying some of the following versions of Down Dog the next time you come into it:

-Down Dog Split (or 3-legged dog)
-Turbo Dog
-Take your dog for a walk (pedal your feet out)
-Flip Dog (often said as "you can flip your dog!" or called "wild thing")
-Dolphin (Down Dog on forearms)

And don't forget to have fun! I suggest coming into Down Dog early (in the day) and often. Soon enough, you'll feel more comfortable in this pose than you do standing up :)

With Adho Mukha love & a big fat namaste,
Mary Catherine

P.S. For more amazing information about Down Dog, check out Yoga Journal's super-informative page about the pose here.

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