Downward – Facing Dog – Adho Mukha Svanasana
-You can come from a Sun Salutation, or Balasana, also known as Baby’s Pose.
-Once you are in the position the hands and the feet don’t move towards the other. The fingers are expanded and the elbows straight, unless you have hyperextension, in that case it’s recommended to bend the elbows slightly.
-The heels are on the floor, or as close to the floor as possible.
-The knees are straight. Remember this is an active position.
-The abdomen it’s completely in.
-The chin towards your chest. Look at your belly bottom.
-Without moving your hands you push the tailbone away from your body.
–It’s recommended to do Ujjayi breath during the Sun Salutations!!
Benefits:
- This position is use in most Yoga practices. It brings the flow of circulation towards the head stimulating the upper Chakras and glands, Thyroid and Parathyroid, in the neck, the guards of the metabolism, Pituitary and Pineal, in the head.. This has a calming effect on the brain and an energizing effect on the body.
- It can help to relieve stress, mild depression, symptoms of menopause, menstrual discomfort, when performed with the head supported, headaches, insomnia, back pain, and fatigue.
- This pose stretches the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, arches and hands while also strengthening the arms and legs.
- Downward-Facing Dog also helps to prevent osteoporosis, is known to improve digestion and can be therapeutic for high blood pressure, sciatica, sinusitis, asthma and flat feet.
The positions not only have the physical benefits, they also have benefits at a glandular plane. With a steady practice a yogi can balance his neurons and hormone secretions, the ones in charge of balancing the levels of glucose in the body, regulate the sleep cycle, the color of the skin, etc, and it also directly reflect with the estate of mind.