The downward facing dog works as a warm up pose, a transitional pose, a resting pose and also a good warm down after both forward bends and back bends. It’s also a key pose in the Sun Salutation yoga sequence also called Surya Namaskar.

Benefits
As common or easy as this pose may seem, its benefits are numerable-
It increases the strength and flexibility of the shoulders and stretches the hamstrings, calf muscles (gastrocnemius and the soleus) and Achilles tendons and acts as an overall body stretch and strengthening pose. The posture is known to relieve the symptoms of menopause, improve digestion, relieve headaches, insomnia, back pain and fatigue. It’s even known to help prevent osteoporosis.

How to  do Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)

• From a position of all fours with your wrists under your shoulders and knees in line with your hips. Curl your toes under and lift your backside towards the ceiling.
• Elongate the spine and straighten the knees, spreading the fingers evenly and pushing down from your forearms.
• Let your head hand and try lowering your shoulder blades and broaden the collarbone. Look at your stomach.
• Pay attention to stretching the thighs and arms but using the abdominal muscles to keep the weight off them look towards your feet making this a resting pose.
• Try lowering your heels to the floor as much as you can.

Tips and Corrections to Perfect the Pose
If you feel pressure on the outer edge of your hands while in Adho Mukha Svanasana, lift you pinky fingers so the force is duly exerted through the index finger. If your wrists hurt, try to create space between the wrists and the arms.To do this, push your fingers into your yoga mat that should lift the pressure off the palms. Lastly, if your heels have a tendency to roll inward, rotating your legs, you have to pay close attention and look to your feet before entering into the final pose. This should help correct the alignment.

To Deepen The Pose and increase the stretch in the backs of your legs, lift slightly up onto the balls of your feet, pulling your heels a half-inch or so away from the floor. Then draw your inner groins deep into the pelvis, lifting actively from the inner heels. Finally, from the height of the groins, lengthen the heels back onto the floor, moving the outer heels faster than the inner.

Variations
As a variation to the traditional pose and a little extra challenge, inhale and raise your right leg parallel in-line with your torso and hold for 30 seconds, keeping the hips level and pressing through the heel. Release with an exhalation and repeat on the left for the same length of time-

Another variation is the wide-legged adho mukha svanasana, with the legs spread wide apart-

Adho mukha svanasana with pincha mayurasana arms, where you’re on your fore-arms and heels lifted-

And Parivrtta adho mukha svanasana, where you twist your body and with your left hand, hold your right ankle and repeat on the other side-

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*Photo Credits: photos by BeckyKP, whatnot, tarnalberry, Kelly Loves Whales on flickr

1. Muladhara (Root Chakra)
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)

This chakra located at the base of the spine is the force that keeps us connected to this Earth and is the base of our existence. It is associated with the feeling of groundedness. The backbend asana called the Setu Bandha Sarvangasana or Bridge pose which requires your feet to be firmly grounded while the spine raised, opens up and focuses energy to this root chakra.

• Lying flat on your back, hands palm down by your sides, bend your knees and bring your feet close to your bottom making sure your feet are parallel on the yoga mat.
• Pressing your feet firmly against the ground, lift your hips up towards the ceiling.
• Interlace your fingers under you, straighten your arms and press them down on the to mat to raise your back and chest higher.
• Roll your shoulders and draw your chest towards your chin.
• Stay and breath
• Release the pose, by releasing your hands back into the palm down position beside you, then bringing the your upper, middle then lower back and hips down. Knees are still bent
• Allow your knees to touch and rest

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2. Svadisthana (Sacral Chakra)
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

The second chakra known as the sacral chakra is your sensing power station, connecting you to your feeling sensitivities or your inner child. It is situated in lower abdomen and womb area. Bhujangasana or the cobra pose emphasis that region and helps open up this second chakra.

• Lie flat on your stomach, palms face down on either sides just under your shoulders, elbows touching your body.
• Without using your hands for support, start lifting – forehead, nose, chin, shoulders and chest up as much as you can using your back muscles.
• Once you reach a point where you can’t go up higher, press your palms down on the floor and using your arm support slide your chest forward and higher. Your elbows should be touching your sides and not away from your body.
• Make sure the pelvic bone and your legs are not raised but firmly touching the ground
• Roll your shoulders back, opening the chest further, look upwards without cranking your neck and breathe
• To release the pose, using your arms support lower your body back down, face down and rest with your hands besides your shoulders.

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3. Manipura (Solar Plexus Chakra)
Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

The Manipura chakra located in the area of the navel is associated with Will and Power. Dhanurasana or the bow pose is a great way of energizing this chakra as it works the region of the body where the pancreas, adrenal gland and digestive system is located.

• Lie flat on your stomach, arms stretched out by your sides.
• Reaching your arms back, take a hole of your ankles and breathe  normally.
• On an inhalation, lift your legs up from the thighs and your torso will raise too. Try not using your arms to pull you legs.
• Lift your torso higher, opening up your chest and breathe deeply while holding the pose.
• To release- lower your thighs until they are touching the floor and let go of your ankle to rest.

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4. Anahata (Heart Chakra)
Ustrasana (Camel Pose)

The heart chakra is the power house of the human energy system and the center of love and healing. It is also your link between body and spirit. The Camel pose or Ustrasana, raises your chest towards the sun and is excellent for opening this chakra.

• Start from a kneeling position
• Extend your arms behind you and as you open up your chest looking up and then backwards
• One at a time, take a hold of your heels while keeping your hips pushed forward so they are inline with your knees.
• Let you head fall back and open your throat, your chest towards the sky and breathe.
• To release, bring your head up and let go of your heels one by one coming forward until you are back in a kneeling position.
• Rest in vajrasana sitting on your heels.

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5. Visuddha (Throat Chakra)
Matsyasana (Fish Pose)

The Blue throat chakra is the center of our communication and rules the neck region including the thyroid, throat, trachea, neck vertebrae and mouth. It is also associated with the shoulders, arms, and hands, there fore Matsyasana or the fish pose is a good posture to open up and call attention to the neck and throat region.

• Lie on your back arms by your sides and slowly come up onto your elbows.
• Positioning your arms under your back as close together as possible, palms pressing down on the floor near or even under your buttock, with your weight on your elbows, lower your body back
  while puffing your chest.
• Looking backwards drop the crown of your head onto the floor and open up your throat.
• Hold and breathe, pressing your forearms and elbows to raise and open your chest up further.
• To release, push up on your forearms and elbows to raise your head off the floor. Then gently lower your body and head to a sleeping position.

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6. Ajna (Third Eye/Brow Chakra)
Seated Yoga Mudra

The third-eye chakra located in our forehead, between the eyes is the key to our wisdom, learning and putting things in perspective. This seated mudra helps open up the tird eye and stimulates the brow chakra.

• Start in Vajrasana (sitting on your heels) back straight.
• take your hands behind you and interlace your fingers pulling your arms down and your chest up to straighten your spine further. Roll back and squeeze your shoulder blades together, opening up your chest.
• Now bend forward from your hips keeping your bottom firmly seated your arms still locked behind you. Allow your back to round over your knees and put your forehead (third eye) to the ground.
• Slowly raise your arms up behind you so your hands are reaching towards the ceiling, shoulders still rolled back and arms straight.
• Hold this position and breathe
• To release, lower your arms back down to your behind and slowly raise your body back to the seated position.

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7. Sahasrara (Crown Chakra)
Continued from Seated Yoga Mudra (6th Chakra Pose)

The Crown Chakra is our connection to our spiritual nature and rules the entire connects to the central nervous system. Meditation in full or half lotus or even the headstand pose called Salamba Sirsasana helps stimulate the crown chakra. However from the seated mudra pose explained in the 6th chakra you may continue the following steps that focus on the 7th chakra – the crown chakra.

• Before releasing the your arms down from the last pose, from the same postion lift your buttocks up off your heels to come onto your knees.
• Roll your head from the forehead to come on the crown of your head, continue to keep your arms overhead and stretched.
• Focus on the crown of your head as you hold the pose and breathe.
• To release, come back to you forehead and lower your bottom back to your heels in a seated position and release in the same way explained in the 6th chakra posture.

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*Photo Credits: Photos by tarnalberry and Kelly Loves Whales on flickr

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Surya Namaskar or the Sun Salutation is a 12 step sequence of Hatha Yoga Asanas often performed as a warm up exercise before a Yoga session. Each of the 12 poses performed in a rhythmic sequence brings a different vertebral movement to the spinal column. The positions are tuned to the inhalation or exhalation of each breath and improves circulation, stretches the body making it limber and also strengthens it. A full round of Surya namaskara consists of two sets of the twelve poses starting alternating with starting the starting leg through the series. In some sessions, 12 Surya Namaskaras are performed at one practice. However, if you’re new to Yoga and just starting the practice for the first time, it is generally started with 3 to 6 Namaskaras per day and gradually increased to 12 Namaskaras.

Here’s a Step by Step on How to do Surya Namaskar: all you need is a Yoga Mat and you are good to go:

Step 1: Pranamasana (prayer pose)- Stand erect with your chest out, feet together, knees pulled up and thighs tight like in Tadasana. Bring your hands forward, in front of your chest as if in prayer, elbows straight and not drooping.

Step 2: Hasta Uttanasana (raised arms pose)- On inhale, stretch your arms up over your head, palms still together. Then arching back as far as you can go, stretch with your arms apart for next pose.

Step 3: Uttanasana (standing forward bend pose)- While exhaling, swing down from the hips keeping your upper body and torso straight.Without bending the knees place your hands on either sides of your feet flat on the mat, head as close to your knees as possible.

Step 4: Aekpaadprasarnaasana (equestrian pose)- Inhale bring the right foot to the back of the mat on the toes like a lunge. Using your finger tips for support and the left leg at a right angle start bending the extended leg at the knee towards the floor and look up.

Step 5: Dandasana (plank pose) - Retain your breath and extend your left leg back on your toes side by side your right without moving the position of your hands and leg at all. Palms flat on the mat, keep your spine straight and elbows locked. Do not let your head or hips drop. It should look like you are about to do a push up.

Step 6: Ashtanga Namaskara (Salute with 8 limbs pose)- Exhale, bending your elbows towards your body and going down as low as you can at the shoulders while keeping the rest of your body perfectly stiff exactly like a push up. Once down near the floor, bend and drop your knees, chest and forehead to the ground lightly touching in that order. Your hips and pelvic should still be raised. Eight points should be touching the floor in this step- forehead, chest, and two palms, both knees and both feet.

Step 7: Bhujangasana (cobra pose)- Inhale, while swinging your body forwards, straightening your arms, stretching your shoulders upwards and lowering your hips down to the ground. Lift your chest upward and arch your back and look up towards the ceiling.

Step 8: Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog pose)- Exhale and without moving your hands and feet, tuck your toes and raise your hips and backside up. Elongate the spine and straighten the knees, spreading the fingers evenly push down from your forearms and try to put your heels down to the ground pushing back the thighs. Let your head hang and try lowering your shoulder blades to broaden the collarbone.

Step 9: Aekpaadprasarnaasana (equestrian pose) - Lunge forward while inhaling and bring your right leg in between your hands repeating the position in Step: 4

Step 10: Uttanasana (standing forward bend pose)- On exhale, bring the left foot forward next to the right and forward bend into Uttanasana (Step:3).

Step 11: Hasta Uttanasana (raised arms pose)- Straighten the back and raise your arms above your head, palms joined and repeat Step:2

Step 12: Pranamasana (prayer pose)- Lower your hands in down to your chest as in Step:1.

* Photo credits: Photos by Joseph RENGER on Wikimedia commons & tarnalberry on flickr

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