A Happy New Year to you all.
After feasting over the Christmas period, this is a great posture to ease away any tension and to stimulate the digestive system.
Best wishes
Izzy
January Posture of the Month Adho Mukha Svanasana
Benefits
- Stretches the backs of the legs
- Improves co-ordination
- Lengthens the spine
- Opens the upper back
- Stimulates the digestive system
How to do it
I like the way Peter Blackaby suggests approaching this posture as it’s a relaxed and controlled approach:
- Begin in an all-fours position, hands under shoulders, knees under your hips
- Gently roll your weight back onto your toes
- Continue to move your weight back and away from your hands until you feel your knees lifting from the floor
- Keep the knees bent
- Ensure you are minimising pressure on the shoulders and the wrists
- Don’t worry if the legs are not straight
- Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed
- Ensure that you have lightness in the wrists and space in the upper back – this is more important than straightening your legs, especially in the early stages of learning the posture
- To come back down, lower you knees gently and with control to the floor and return to your all-fours position
Things to watch
- Work gently and develop a sensitive approach to the posture
- Remain focussed so that you can relax and lengthen your spine
- Ensure the weight is light on your wrists
Here is a link for more info about the posture including contra-indications. The description of how to go into the posture is not as I have described it: http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/downward-facing-dog/
Izzy Ixer
British Wheel of Yoga Dip Yoga Tutor and Coach
You can find out more about Izzy here and about yoga at the Centre here
Twitter @IzzyIxer or @IzzyYoga