Hi and welcome to “Yoga with Penny!”
The Downward Dog Posture is a yogi’s best friend and this month I will teach you how to do one. This posture is the pinnacle of all yoga postures and the most common because it teaches us to have respect for our body. The reason is our Downward Dog needs to be felt for perfect alignment. This requires great patience and effort because in finding perfect alignment, we need to learn what feels right and wrong in our body. But don’t worry, we will still have fun along the way discovering what works best for us in our very own Downward Dog Poses.
When you are ready, let’s get started.
Begin by lowering to your hands and knees.
Position your hands below your shoulders, your knees below your hips with your toes tucked under.
Spread your palms wide and straighten your arms.
Press your palms and feet into your mat and gently lift your hips.
How does the pose feel? If it doesn’t feel right, lower and try again.
Try to keep your head between your arms, with your ears at your biceps.
You may bend your knees if your legs feel tight.
Try and look at your knees if you can and try to keep your heels on the mat.
Breathe deeply for a few counts, then lower to your hands and knees.
Try again a few more times.
Got a stuffy nose or clogged sinuses? Downward Dog Posture helps by clearing mucus and opening up nasal congestion. If you suffer from asthma it may improve your symptoms.
The Downward Dog Posture is the most common yoga pose, known for stretching and strengthening our whole body. As a weight bearing exercise this posture also helps with arthritis symptoms while gently building shoulder and upper back strength. Even our rotator cuff located in our shoulder benefits by the stretching of our arms over head. Because our heart sits above our head in Downward Dog, blood circulation and brain function get a boost, thus both energizing and calming our body while leaving us with a dewy complexion. The Downward Dog Posture certainly helps us to build and maintain good posture too. With a all these great benefits it’s no wonder why all dogs do it and it gets it’s Downward Dog name.
keep calm and yoga on
penny
