Five Tips to Elevate Your Downward Facing Dog
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog) is a foundational pose in yoga, especially in vinyasa-style practices, but despite its frequent appearance, it’s often misunderstood. Some view it as a resting pose, but there’s more complexity to it than that. While it can become restful with time and practice, it’s an active posture requiring engagement, alignment, and intention. Below are five tips to help you elevate your downward-facing dog, creating a more supported, aligned, and easeful practice.
1. Know the Energy and Purpose of the Pose
Many people refer to downward dog as a resting pose, but it’s much more than that. It serves as one of the best spinal decompressions we get in yoga practice. Rather than focusing only on chest opening, think of it as an opportunity to lengthen the spine and give it some relief from the pressure we place on it in our daily lives—whether from sitting, standing, or walking.
The key is to move your hips up and back, creating traction through the spine. This positioning is vital for decompressing and giving your spine space to breathe.
2. Use Your Hands Correctly (Hasta Bandha)
The foundation of downward dog begins with your hands. This practice of hastabandha, or hand lock, creates stability and helps protect the wrists. Spread your fingers wide, pressing into the pads of your fingers (including the thumb) and the perimeter of the palm. The center of your palm will lift slightly, almost like a suction cup.
Think of this engagement like gripping the mat—not with tension, but with balanced effort and ease. This helps take some pressure off the wrists and builds grip strength. The action of pressing your hands into the mat and simultaneously away from your head helps facilitate spinal decompression, enhancing the effects of the pose.
3. Find External Rotation in Your Upper Arms
To support the proper alignment of your shoulders, focus on externally rotating your humerus bones (upper arm bones). Turn the inner creases of your elbows forward, which places the shoulders in a strong position to support your body weight.
If you’re highly flexible in the shoulders, it can be tempting to collapse your chest, which might feel good momentarily but takes away from the structural integrity of the pose. For those who are less mobile in the shoulders, bending the knees can help shift some of the weight from the shoulders and facilitate spinal lengthening.
4. Neutralize Your Pelvis
A neutral pelvis in downward dog allows the spine to maintain its natural curve. You can achieve this by engaging your core and finding a slight internal rotation in your femur bones (thigh bones), which encourages the pelvis to come into a neutral position.
Engaging your pelvic floor (moola bandha) and drawing your navel toward your spine helps lift and support the pelvis. You can also bend your knees to reduce strain in the low back and hips, allowing the spine to lengthen more easily and bring the shoulders into a better position.
5. Prop It Up
Yoga props are incredibly helpful for refining your downward dog. Here are a few ways to incorporate props:
Use the wall: Stand a few feet away from a wall, place your hands on it, and walk them down as you hinge your hips back. This version reduces pressure on the wrists and shoulders while allowing you to focus on spinal lengthening.
Support the wrists: If wrist extension feels uncomfortable, place the heel of your hand on a folded yoga blanket or use wrist wedges to reduce the angle of extension.
Elevate your hands: Using blocks under your hands can help with spinal decompression by lifting the hips and supporting the length of the spine.
Ground your heels: If your heels are close to the ground but not quite touching, place a folded blanket under them to create a sense of grounding and help straighten the legs.
No matter where you are in your practice, these tips will help bring balance, ease, and integrity to your downward-facing dog. By focusing on these small adjustments, you’ll create more strength, mobility, and presence within the posture. Yoga is a practice of constant discovery, and even in the most familiar postures, there is always more to explore and refine.
For more tips on alignment, deepening your practice, and refining your yoga technique, check out the Yoga Teacher Training program at True Love Yoga. Whether you’re looking to enhance your personal practice or learn how to teach others, our 200-hour training program provides the tools, knowledge, and community to support your journey.
