Tricks of the Trade: Up Dog

Upward Facing Dog is one of the most common postures in any yoga sequence. It is a key posture in Sun Salutations and is practiced dozens if not more times in any Power, Ashtanga, or Vinyasa yoga class. These reasons alone make proper alignment and modifying as needed, of great importance.

You’ll recognize Upward Dog as the transition point from Chaturanga (low push-up) through to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog). If you’re high plank to low push-up into Up Dog maneuver looks more like a Chatu-Flop attempt to muscle-up, than it does a ‘meditation in motion’—don’t worry. I’ve been there. Keep reading for ways to fluidly connect ‘breath with movement’ while building the strength required for a classic Upward Facing Dog.

Getting There:

1. From Down Dog to Plank and lowering to Chaturanga, actively roll over the toes, allowing the tops of the feet to press downwards into your mat. If you’re not comfortable with the “roll-over-toes” action, just turn your feet over, one at a time, to achieve the same position.

2. To arrive on the tops of the feet, without pulling your shoulders and chest too far forwards, you’ll need to strongly activate the legs. Contract the quadriceps firmly by lifting the kneecaps off the mat, and broaden the soles of the feet. The heels tend to fall out to the sides here if your legs aren’t active. Pull them firmly inwards to stay aligned with the sitting bones.

3. While reaching back and up through the feet and legs, firmly press the full palm of each hand and the length of each finger into the earth. Incorporate a gentle sense of “pressing forward” with the palms to enhance the length in the spine. Your hands won’t move, as they’ll stay glued to your mat, and the rebounding energy from pressing the hands down will help lengthen and stretch the front of the torso.

4. Keep your gaze drawing forwards if you’re a beginner, to minimize tension in the neck. Often people lift their head without bringing the necessary arch through thoracic spine, where the extension should be focused.

5. Breathe. Keep rooting down on the exhalation and lengthening upwards as you breathe in. When the posture begins to collapse (the shoulders move towards your ears or the lower back starts talking), it’s time to take a break. Repeat 1–3 times.

Tips:

Firmly engage your triceps to straighten the arms completely. Although some people have super-lax joints, for most of us, this isn’t a problem. Focus on aligning the upper arm bones (the humerus) over the lower arm bones (the forearms). Stacking the bones on top of each other means less muscular effort is required to sustain the pose.

If the legs feel heavy and dragging rather than light and lifting, then your pelvis will sag, dumping weight into the lower back. For obvious reasons you want to avoid this!

Keep the shoulders moving down away from the ears by drawing the shoulder blades towards the spine. This helps broaden the collarbones, open the chest, and expand the rib cage.