8 suprising benefits of downward facing dog and how to practice it

​EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DOWNWARD FACING DOG

I love downward facing dog especially in kids yoga. The amount of times I see one and two years old children just naturally taking on this pose is amazing. In this post we look at the benefits of this pose, how to do it and how to make it fun!

​SANSKRIT: ADHO MUKHA SVANASANA

Sanskrit is the language of yoga and is the language in which many historic yoga texts were written. We don't usually go into this in children's yoga but it is always nice to connect back to it's roots and learn about the history of a pose/practice. 

Benefits

• Strengthens the upper body and legs
• Can help to tame tantrums
• It counts as an inversion, where we are seeing things from a different perspective 
• It can help wake you up when you are feeling fatigued 
• Improves flexibility 
• It is good for the circulatory system as it encourages blood flow around the body 
• Reduces stress as we take a moment for ourselves
• Can be easily modified 

How to Practice Downward Facing DOG

Start in a table top positions, on your hands and knees. Knees should be below hips and hands in line with shoulders. Walk the hands forward slightly, turn elbow creases towards the front of your mat and press into all 10 fingertips. Curl your toes in under and gently lift your hips up. Your knees can stay bent or work to straighten them bringing your heel to the ground or towards the ground. Relax your head and neck and be sure to hyperextend the arms, so that you are creating a downward V shape. 

Fun in this pose

This pose doesn't have to be a Dog, it could be a tent, a unicorn or a tunnel! It can be anything you imagine it to be! It is also fun to pair it with other poses like:
Dog to Frog or Downdog to Updog.

It can also be fun to partner up and take turns in taking the dog for a walk or creating fun ways to do a Downward Dog as a partner pose!
If you would like to see a post on doing that, let me know! 

Enjoy!

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