The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center


Susan Cunningham, RN:
Down-facing dog is a great pose to have in your list of favorites. 

[Onscreen text:
Susan Cunningham, RN
Yoga instructor]

It's my favorite. It's a great pose for lengthening the spine, for strengthening the core and torso. It's a great pose for opening up the shoulder girdle. It's a great pose for getting your hips to feel fluid, which makes walking, sitting all daily activities better. It also turns you upside-down, which is a great way to calm your nervous system. So, whenever the head is lower than the heart, the body just understands that there's no threat on the horizon. So let's do down dog. 

So, starting on hands and knees, lining up my knees right under my hips and my knees are fist distance apart. My hands are shoulder distance apart and maybe a little bit forward of my shoulders. 

Let's start in neutral. I'm going to find my neutral spine, which means that I'm sort of imagining that my pelvis can rock and roll [tilt forward and backward] in its natural — in the hips and in the spine. So, finding my natural curves of my spine, curling my toes under, and then lifting my hips as high as I can get them, and then pushing into my hands and leaning back into my feet. Now, my heels do not have to come to the floor. 

Let the ribs tuck into the body so that there's no hyperextension like that. So, you're tucking the ribs in a little bit.

Let the head be soft. I have more weight in the thumb and index finger side of my hand. My knees can be bent if that's feeling too intense on my hamstrings, which today it's not. Thanks.

[Onscreen text:
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center]