How to Do the Downward-Facing Dog Position

The posture we are going to do is Downward-Facing Dog with help from Buster. So the first thing we need to get is the correct distance between the hands and the feet. Very important. So a good way of distinguishing that is going into the child’s position. So in the child position your knees are together and you are sitting on your heels. And you take your hands as far away is possible from you. So this is the distance between the hands and the feet. The next thing we are going to work on is just the hands. So make sure that your hands are as far away possible from you and look at look at your fingers, spread your fingers as wide as possible and root your fingers down into the mat make sure each fingers rooting down. Notice the little finger side but also the thumb side. From here you want it come on to your knees and then lift the knees off the floor and take your tail bone, your buttocks up towards the ceiling. Make sure your feet are hip-width apart. You want it push your heels down towards the floor. And relax your head. Good, take your chin in and relax your face. From here you want to make sure you breathe. With each inhale you want to take your tail bone up towards the ceiling. And with each exhale, you are going to move? With each exhale you are going to elongate the spine. With each inhale you going to pull the tail bone up to the ceiling and with each exhale you are going to elongate the spine.

The next thing we are going to look at is the movement of the arms as we are downward facing dog. So come in to your posture and then from as you root your hands into the ground you want to start lifting your elbows up toward your armpits. So literally pull your elbows up towards your armpits and so you feel that you are stretching through your arms pull your armpits in towards each other rotate them in. As if they are looking in towards each other. From here you are going to look at the backs of the legs. The hamstring. The hamstrings are the things that hurt at the back of the legs. So if you feel that you are in too much pain. You want to bend your knees slightly as you bend your knees you are going to take away some of the pain from the back of the legs. Then you want to work with the long spine by pulling the tail bone up. If you feel that your legs you can—if you feel that you can straighten your legs and straight the knees and start to lift your buttocks from the back up towards the ceiling. So each time will going to try to make it into an upside down V. Each time lifting the buttocks working the thighs, elongating through the arms and lastly relax your hand. Keep breathing here, inhaling and exhaling. After you finished your posture come into child’s position.


Transcription by: Scribe4you Transcription Services