For both types of students and all others, downward dog pose is perfect to observe and correct imbalances in your body. For some people, this pose is about stretching and opening; for others, he learns to stabilize your joints with muscular effort. For everyone, Downward Dog uses the strength of your arms and legs to completely and uniformly stretch your spine. It stretches your hips, hamstrings and calves, because it strengthens the quadriceps and ankles. It opens your chest and shoulders and tones your arms and abs. He even tones your hands and feet, to prepare for poses and balances standing arm.
The two main dog
downward movements are common: raise arms overhead and stretch your legs at a
right angle to your torso. But when you combine these movements and try
to hold them upside down against gravity, they become more difficult. The
installation becomes a laboratory where you observe your body's patterns.
Where are you weak? strong? Green house? flexible? Practiced
consciously, Downward Dog can train you to balance the strength and flexibility in your
entire body. To start, focus on the upper body. If your shoulders
are tight, your job is to open your chest, stretch through your armpits and
straighten your arms. If you are flexible here, resist the temptation to
press your chest towards the floor to experience more extensible. This
tends to compress your spine and back of your shoulders. Instead, engage
your arms and upper abs, aligning the upper back to lengthen your spine and
create a single diagonal line from your wrists to your sitting bones.
Then check with your
lower body. If your hamstrings are tight, they can pull your hips down
and force your back to round. In this case, practice with your knees bent
active at first. If you have already opened hamstrings, it can be easy
for you to lift your hips towards the ceiling. Do not overdo this
movement and oversee lower back. Instead, strengthen your legs and your lower
abdominals to lengthen your spine.
As you practice downward
dog over the years, perhaps you can develop strong muscles as you did before,
or start stretching the flexibility of an acrobat. Whatever the qualities of
your body, if you work with energy and awareness, your inner Self will be
aligned, and it will shine through with power and grace.
See also 3 ways to face down dog feel better for
you
Practical 2-Minute
Even if you do not have
time for a full practice from home, do Downward Dog daily for 1-2
minutes. Use poses as a daily check-in: notice where you are flexible,
waterproof, or tired, and see what feels different every day. Take the
opportunity to set your mind and connect to your breath.
First step: the child's position
Discover the range of
movement in the shoulders by stretching your arms in the child's position.
Establish
Start by child position
with your big toes and knees apart; rest your forehead on the mat.
1. Stretch your
arms in front of you with your hands shoulder width apart.
2. Press your
hands firmly down into the mat and lift your forearm up.
3. Gently roll the
outside of your arm and you feel an expansion into the upper back, establishing
external rotation in your shoulder joints.
4. Press your
inside hand and thumb down, to create internal rotation in your forearms.
Refine
With your fingers
spread, make sure that the folds of your wrists are parallel to the front edge
of your carpet. First, press your hands firmly down and lift your forearm
until you can feel your shoulders connecting to your shoulder blades on your
back. Then, from your shoulders, rotate the outer arm muscles down,
spreading your shoulder blades apart. You may notice that your inside
hand becomes less earth as you do it. In this case, press more firmly
with the thumbs and domestic hands.
Finally, strengthen your
forearms toward each other to straighten your elbows, your arms and then create
a dynamic force in your arms.
Finish
Now press your hands
into the carpet like you're trying to push away from you. You will feel a
little more space in your shoulders and your spine and hips will lie far from
your arms. Take a full breath in this length, then rest.
Step Two: Dog facing down, change
Work your legs to
stretch and align your spine in a dog practice a downturn in holding your body
weight with your arms, shoulders and core muscles.
Establish
1. Start in
the child's position with your arms straight in front of you.
2. Curl your toes
under and lift your hips and back, keeping knees bent and the high well-heeled.
3. Push up and
back with your thigh muscles and especially repress the upper thighs.
4. Keep your hands
rooting and work your arms, just like you have practiced in the first stage.
Refine
Make sure that your feet
are on hip width and distribute your weight evenly between all 10 toes to keep
your ankles aligned. Strongly press up and back with the top of your
thighs until you feel your hips ongoing development with them. If your
hamstrings are very flexible and you press your sitting bones toward the
ceiling too high, you can begin to oversee the lower back. In this case,
you will need to gently curl your tailbone down and lift your lower abdomen to
bring the spine back to neutral. If, on the other hand, your hamstrings
are tight and you are rounding your lower back, bend your knees a little and
try your bones sit top corner.
Finish
Now try "walking
your dog." Keeping your strong arms and two heavy hips, straighten
one leg at a time, and try to press your heels back down to earth.
Imagine being able to breathe down the back of your legs to help lengthen your
hamstrings and calf muscles. Bend both legs and down again to rest in the
child's position.
Final Installation: facing down Dog
Establish
1. The position of
the child, curl your toes under and push up and back down in the face dog.
2. Place your
hands shoulder width apart with the folds of the wrist parallel to the front
edge of your carpet. Farm and straighten your arms.
3. Keep your feet
hip-width apart and the outer edges of your feet parallel to each other.
4. Strengthen your
legs: Lift the kneecaps; press the top of your thighs and back; Press your
heels down.
Refine
Check in with every part
of your body. Rooting your hands evenly. Raise the forearms and
away from the mat and gently press the shoulder blades down your back.
Lift your ribs before the bottom up to the tops of your thighs and firm up the
front of your torso. Press the top of your thighs and back and anchor
your heels down. If possible, straighten your legs, firming the muscles
as if they were entwined bones of the leg.
Finish
Feel the length of your
spine and take a few deep breaths. Move your awareness of each specific
muscle groups to each of them and then to every cell in your body.
Stabilize your attention to your entire being: strong, even and luminous.
Adjust yourself
Follow these tips to get
the best dog gone down:
Shoulders
If you have tight
shoulders, place your hands slightly wider than your shoulders and your hands
slightly outward angle.
Elbows
Protect your elbow
hyperextension by pressing your inner arm away from each other until your
biceps undertake.
Neck
For placement of healthy
neck, bring your online ears with your arms to align your neck and head along
the same line as your spine.
Hamstrings
If the back of your legs
are tight, bend your knees or try walking your feet as wide as the carpet.
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