Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) Step-By-Step And Benefits

 Health Benefits

Down Dog relaxes the shoulders and hips and strengthens the legs and ankles. It also lowers the heart rate and revitalizes your brain. Besides that, the pose promotes circulation in the body.

 Psychological Benefits

 What I Like About This Pose

Down Dog is an all-in-one-solution pose to get rid of your muscle stiffness caused by prolonged desk work. Firstly, it relaxes the lower back and shoulders. It also has a great stretching effect on the legs, which helps to relieve stiff legs. Because of its relaxing effect, this pose is also good for stress.

I do Down Dog when I feel that my lower back is a bit tired or heavy.

 Down Dog Step-By-Step

STEP

Lie face down and place your hands on the sides of your chest.

STEP

Stand on your toes, raise your hips, extend your arms and
exhale as you raise your hips upwards.

Keep the legs hip-width apart and the arms shoulder-width apart.

If less flexible: stand on your toes.
If more flexible: heels on floor.
Tailbone: raise your tailbone towards the ceiling. The pose can be deepened by imagining that there is a string hanging from the ceiling, which pulls your tailbone upwards.
Knees: raise your knees. Thighs: push towards the back.
Arms: press palms into yoga mat and rotate wrists
from outside to inside. Turn the upper arm outwards.
Legs and arms: keep straight. Back: stretch.

STEP

Try to keep your weight 50:50 in front and behind.

Hold the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on your yoga experience.