Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
aka: Upward-Facing Dog
(OORD-vah MOO-kah shvon-AHS-anna)
urdhva mukha = face upward (urdhva = upward
mukha = face)
svana = dog
Exercise: Draw your legs close together with your feet pointing straight back. Keep the back of your neck long as you curl your head and look up. Press your knuckles and fingertips firmly against the floor keeping your arms tight.
Physical Benefit: Improves posture.
Mental Benefit: Energizes the mind.
The upward facing dog pose
The upward facing dog pose, or urdhva mukha svanasana, is one of the many postures of the sun salutation sequence. You can also perform this healing pose independently.
Advantages
Urdhva mukha svanasana represents the three root words of the pose. In Sanskrit, urdhva means "upward", mukha means "face", and svana stands for "dog".
This asana is sometimes confused with Cobra Pose. The big difference is that while both are reclining postures where the yogi is raised up on the arms, upward facing dog pose uses straight arms and lifts the belly from the floor. The cobra posture requires the practitioner to bend the elbows and keep the belly on the floor.
Benefits of upward facing dog pose include:
* Stretches the chest, lungs, abdomen, and back.
* Relief of symptoms of asthma, depression, fatigue, and sciatica.
* Stimulates internal organs.
Take caution if you are pregnant, have frequent headaches, or carpel tunnel syndrome.
Step Into the Pose
1. Lie on your stomach, arms at your sides.
2. Open your palms and bend your elbows, keeping the arms close to the sides.
3. On an inhale, straighten the arms and all at once, raise your torso and legs a few inches off the floor.
4. Draw strength from the core of the body by firming but not tightening the lower body.
5. Open the chest by drawing the shoulder blades down into the back.
Beginner Tips
Bend at the small of the back, and don't go back so far as to put strain on the area. Also, don't scrunch the shoulders up to the ears.
Anatomical Focus
* Wrists
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Therapeutic Applications
* Sciatica
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Benefits
* Improves posture
* Strengthens the spine, arms, wrists
* Stretches chest and lungs, shoulders, and abdomen
* Firms the buttocks
* Stimulates abdominal organs
* Helps relieve mild depression, fatigue, and sciatica
* Therapeutic for asthma
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Contraindications and Cautions
* Back injury
* Carpal tunnel syndrome
* Headache
* Pregnancy
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Beginner's Tip
There's a tendency in this pose to "hang" on the shoulders, which lifts them up toward the ears and "turtles" the neck. Actively draw the shoulders away from the ears by lengthening down along the back armpits, pulling the shoulder blades toward the tailbone, and puffing the side ribs forward. If you need help learning this, lift each hand on a block.
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Modifications and Props
Often it's difficult to keep the legs strongly suspended above the floor. Before you move into the pose, position a thick blanket roll below your top thighs. When you are in the pose, lightly rest your thighs on this roll as you press the tailbone closer to the roll.
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Partnering
A partner can help you learn about the lift of the chest in this pose. Come into position with a strap looped around your back torso (across the shoulder blades) and under the armpits. Have your partner sit in front of you, a foot or so away, and grip and pull the ends of the strap, while at the same time pressing his/her feet lightly against the fronts of your shoulders. Release the heads of the upper arm bones away from this pressure as you dig the shoulder blades into the back, away from the strap.
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Preparatory Poses
* Bhujangasana
* Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
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Follow-Up Poses
* Backbends
* Urdhva Mukha Svanasana will help you learn to lift the chest in poses like Tadasana and Virasana.
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Deepen The Pose
To increase the strength and lightness of this pose, push from the backs of your knees along the calves and out through the heels. The tops of your feet will press more firmly against the floor; as they do, lift the top sternum up and forward.
* Wrists
► ▼
Therapeutic Applications
* Sciatica
► ▼
Benefits
* Improves posture
* Strengthens the spine, arms, wrists
* Stretches chest and lungs, shoulders, and abdomen
* Firms the buttocks
* Stimulates abdominal organs
* Helps relieve mild depression, fatigue, and sciatica
* Therapeutic for asthma
► ▼
Contraindications and Cautions
* Back injury
* Carpal tunnel syndrome
* Headache
* Pregnancy
► ▼
Beginner's Tip
There's a tendency in this pose to "hang" on the shoulders, which lifts them up toward the ears and "turtles" the neck. Actively draw the shoulders away from the ears by lengthening down along the back armpits, pulling the shoulder blades toward the tailbone, and puffing the side ribs forward. If you need help learning this, lift each hand on a block.
► ▼
Modifications and Props
Often it's difficult to keep the legs strongly suspended above the floor. Before you move into the pose, position a thick blanket roll below your top thighs. When you are in the pose, lightly rest your thighs on this roll as you press the tailbone closer to the roll.
► ▼
Partnering
A partner can help you learn about the lift of the chest in this pose. Come into position with a strap looped around your back torso (across the shoulder blades) and under the armpits. Have your partner sit in front of you, a foot or so away, and grip and pull the ends of the strap, while at the same time pressing his/her feet lightly against the fronts of your shoulders. Release the heads of the upper arm bones away from this pressure as you dig the shoulder blades into the back, away from the strap.
► ▼
Preparatory Poses
* Bhujangasana
* Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
► ▼
Follow-Up Poses
* Backbends
* Urdhva Mukha Svanasana will help you learn to lift the chest in poses like Tadasana and Virasana.
► ▼
Deepen The Pose
To increase the strength and lightness of this pose, push from the backs of your knees along the calves and out through the heels. The tops of your feet will press more firmly against the floor; as they do, lift the top sternum up and forward.
