Pose Down: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Upward Facing Dog Pose

My latest pose descriptor for myyogaonline. Upward Facing Dog - a classic.

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog)

Benefits

• Expands chest and shoulders
• Strengthen muscles that control the shoulder blades
• Stretch hip flexors and core musculature
• Strengthen low back musculature
• Relieves some forms of low back pain
• Therapeutic for asthma sufferers to open the accessory muscles of breathing

Contraindications

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or tendonitis of the wrist
• Low Back pain aggravated by extension
• Pregnancy

Step by Step
Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (OORD-vah MOO-kah shvon-AHS-anna)
urdhva mukha = face upward, svana = dog

1. Lie on your stomach with the tops of the feet on the floor. Place your hands beside your rib cage with fingers spread wide, finger tips below the line of the chest.
2. Press into the hands, feeling the ball joints of the fingers (under the knuckles) in contact with the mat. Squeeze the elbows by your side, roll the shoulders onto the back body, and reach out through the top of the head.
3. Draw the low belly towards the spine, create a slight inward rotation of the thighs, and press the toenails into the mat.
4. On an inhale, press into the palms, imagining you are sliding your body along the earth. Lift your torso and hips off the mat, so that it is only the tops of the feet and the palms in contact with the earth.
5. Tuck your chin in slightly, lengthening the top of the neck near the skull, and reach out through the top of the head but keep your gaze down your nose. Imagine the back bend coming from your heart centre, sending the sternum forward, while keeping the drawing in of the low belly.
6. Breathe comfortably in and out or transition to your next pose.

Modifications / Cautions

• Avoid rolling in the tops of the arms bones or shrugging , both of which can lead to impingement of the rotator cuff muscles in the shoulder. Instead, squeeze your elbows close to your side, rolling the shoulders onto the back body so that you are broad across the collarbone and send the shoulder blades down the back, increasing the expansion of the chest and the space for the neck. You should not feel any pinching sensations in your shoulders.
• If you are experiencing wrist pain, ensure a broad and open connection with the shoulders (as above). Distribute the weight evenly into the hands and all five fingers, avoiding compression at the wrist itself. The wrists should be stacked under or slightly in front of the shoulders.
• If you are experiencing low back pain, instead of focusing on the action of extension or back bending, think more about length through the spine, reaching out through the top of your head to grow longer. Draw the low belly in to support the low back. Connect all 10 toenails to the earth, pressing the feet into the floor. You can also use a block between the thighs to squeeze and activate the adductor muscles of the groin, often relieving pressure in the low back. Avoid gripping through the buttocks, but allow a gentle contraction.
• If you have neck pain, keep the head level and look straight forward.

To learn more about Dr. Robin visit www.stayactive.ca