Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana): Your Full-Body Stretch and Energizer

Downward-Facing Dog is the pose everyone recognises, and the one most beginners do backwards. They chase straight legs and heels on the floor, and end up with a rounded back and sore wrists.

The point of Down Dog is a long spine. Once that is in place, it stretches the hamstrings and calves, strengthens the shoulders and arms, and becomes a place to reset between other poses.

One honest thing: it will feel hard for the first few weeks. That is normal. Bend the knees more than you think you need to, and it gets easier faster.

How to do it

1. Start on hands and knees. Wrists under shoulders, knees under hips.
2. Spread the fingers and press the whole hand down. Especially the base of the index finger and thumb. This is what protects the wrists.
3. Tuck the toes and breathe out as you lift the hips up and back. Aim for an upside-down V.
4. Keep the knees bent, generously. The point is a long spine, not straight legs. Straight legs with a rounded back is the wrong trade.
5. Push the floor away and send the hips towards the wall behind you. Length from wrists to tailbone is the whole pose.
6. Let the head hang and the neck go slack. Look at the feet or the navel.
7. Only now, if the back stays long, start to straighten the legs. Heels drift towards the floor. They do not need to arrive.
8. Hold for five to ten breaths, then lower the knees. Rest in Child’s Pose for a few breaths before the next round.

Make it easier, make it deeper

If the wrists hurt, spread the fingers wider and press more through the knuckles. If that does not help, come down onto the forearms. That is Dolphin Pose, and it asks the same of the shoulders without loading the wrists.

If the hamstrings are very tight, widen the feet and keep the knees bent. You can also pedal the feet, bending one knee and then the other, to warm the backs of the legs.

To go deeper, lift one leg behind you on an inhale, keeping the hips level. This is Three-Legged Dog. Hold for three breaths, then switch sides.

What I watch for

Rounded backs come first. If the lower back curves, the legs are too straight for today. Bend the knees and push the hips up and back until the spine lengthens.

Next, the shoulders. People sink into them and the head drops between the ears. Push the floor away so the upper arms turn outward and the shoulders broaden.

Last, the hands. When the weight rolls to the outer edge of the palm, the wrist takes it. Keep the base of the index finger pressing down.

Where it fits

Down Dog is third in the foundation sequence, after Child’s Pose and before Bridge Pose. Five to ten breaths is enough. In longer classes it comes up again and again as a transition, so the time you spend learning it now pays off in every session.

Start with bent knees. Straighten them later.