6. Adho Mukha Svanasana

Adho-Mukha Svanasana

Adho-Mukha Svanasana is the sanskrit term for downward-facing dog

Description

The preparatory position is with the hands and feet on the floor, hands under the shoulders, fingers spread wide, knees under the hips and typically about seven inches apart, with the spine straightened and relaxed.

Verbal Cues

1. Come onto the floor on your hands and knees. Set your knees directly below your hips and hands slightly forward of your shoulders.

2. Exhale and lift your knees away from the floor. At first keep the knees slightly bent and the heels lifted away from the floor. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of your pelvis and press it lightly towards the pubis.

3. Then with an exhalation, push your top thighs back and stretch your heels onto or down toward the floor. Straighten your knees but be sure not to lock them. Firm the outer thighs and roll the upper thighs inward slightly.

4. Firm the outer arms and press the bases of the index fingers actively into the floor. From these two points lift along your inner arms from the wrists to the tops of the shoulders.

5. Adho Mukha Svanasana is one of the poses in the traditional Sun Salutation sequeneces

Benefits:

1. Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression

2. Energizes the body

3. Strengthens the arms and legs

4. Helps prevent osteoporosis

5. Improves Digestion

6. Relieves headache, insomnia, back pain, and fatigue

7. Therapeutic for high blood pressure, asthma, flat feet, sciatica, sinustis