Downward Dog: Adho Mukha Svanasana To Increase Flexibility

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Downward Dog Adho Mukha Svanasana to Increase
Flexibility Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing
Dog Pose) is the "quintessential yoga pose" that
you practice countless times throughout your yoga
class. This foundational yoga asana is often
practiced as part of a flowing sequence of poses,
especially Surya Namaskar.
The asana is commonly used to assist beginning
practitioners to become comfortable in the pose
but is deceptively challenging and complex. The
best-known pose you learn as you begin a yoga
practice and you end your class with it. It acts
as a transitional pose and is also commonly used
in modern yoga as an exercise that works on your
entire body and requires a lot of
strength. Because this pose stretches the
hamstring and calf muscles in the backs of the
legs, strengthening the arms and legs.
Practicing Down Dog can help bring more blood
flow to your brain and build better balance and
flexibility. Just be sure to practice it
carefully and timely. What's more, the
Downward-Facing Dog Pose pose is a favorite for
all yoga yogis because it is included in
Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, and Vinyasa Yoga flows
and originates from the
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• Iyengar school of yoga. It helps boost energy in
  the body and hence can be included in flow yoga.
• Adho Mukha Svanasana Meaning
• Adho Mukha Svanasana pose is an intermediate
  level yoga pose. In which the body is moved
  upwards in a reversed "V" shape position.
• It is derived from the Sanskrit words "adha"
  meaning "under", "mukha" meaning "face" and
  svaan meaning "dog", and asana meaning "posture".
  This posture resembles that of a dog when it
  bends forward. There are many amazing benefits of
  this asana which make it extremely necessary for
  you to practice it every day.
• Steps To Do Adho Mukha Svanasana
• First of all, choose a quiet place.
• Lie down on your stomach, keep your feet close
  together and bend your toes and rest them on the
  ground.
• Now keep both hands down and come in the
  Marjariasana, rest the toes and palms of both
  feet on the ground.
• Spread the fingers of both hands and distribute
  equal weight on the hands. Keep both hands in a
  parallel line and come in the position of hand
  bandha.
• Bend the knees a little, now take a breath and
  fold the hands inside, try to bend the head in
  between both hands.
• Now try to straighten the hands, straighten the
  hands as much as possible, and the palms should
  be away from the torso. Hands should not be near
  each other but at the right distance, only then
  the shoulders will open.
• Keep lifting both knees up and straightening
  them, try to keep the legs straight while
  raising the buttocks.
• Straighten the knees and keep the toes and palms
  of both feet sticking to the ground. Make an
  inverted V shape. If the foot rises above the
  ground, keep the towel folded.
• Press the hips back and raise both feet parallel
  and keep them in a straight line. Whether your
  heels can touch the ground or not is up to your
  flexibility.

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• Pull the head inward as much as you can and
  stretch it as much as you can. This will put a
  strain on the back of your foot.
• Stay in this position for a while, hold your
  breath for 10-20 seconds and try to see the toes
  of your feet in this position. Do not raise the
  toes of the feet.
• Leave the head forward in a relaxed position.
  Keep your gaze looking down.
• Maintaining the position of the hands and feet,
  open your shoulders without any pressure.
• But take care not to stretch the spine too much
  or bend it from side to side.
• In the perfect position of the asana, there
  should be space between the abdomen and the
  thigh.
• Now while exhaling back, bring the head above the
  middle of both hands. Bend the feet from the
  knees and come to the position of Vajrasana or
  Sukhasana.

Benefits of Adho Mukha Svanasana to Increase
Flexibility Adho Mukha Svanasana tones the
muscles of the arms and legs of the hands, opens
the shoulders and stretches the shoulders by
stretching the shoulder muscles. Stretching the
spine and straightening the legs, new power is
transmitted to the feet by feeling the stretch
and stretching from the bottom of the head to the
ankles of the feet leads to stretching of the
whole body. In Adho Mukha posture, the hips of
the body are actually raised and the head is
lowered below the heart. Due to this, the force
of gravity is applied on the opposite side, due
to which fresh blood flows and due to this the
blood circulation is better. Oxygen supply to
your brain helps you to increase your memory and
sharpen your mind The effect of downward
breathing is not only on the external organs but
also on the internal parts of the body. It
benefits the internal organs of the stomach and
it cures digestion related problems. Precautions
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While doing every asana, we have to take care of
some precautions. If we are not careful, many
times we also get to see the opposite effect, so
while doing Downward Facing Dog Pose, keep the
following things in mind

• Before doing this asana, you should warm up a
  little.
• While doing the asanas, do not put more than your
  capacity and unnecessary stress.
• Do not do asanas if there is pain or injury in
  the shoulders, hips, arms, waist, and arms.
• It is not considered appropriate to do this asana
  in the problem of heart disease and slip discs.
• Before doing this, make sure that your stomach
  should be empty.

Conclusion Adho Mukha Svanasana comes in the
eighth sequence in the asana series of Surya
Namaskar. Descended from Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga,
this asana is done in conjunction with Surya
Namaskar. In this posture, the whole body has to
be stretched like a dog, so that the whole body
is stretched, like dogs do. Source
Link https//www.problogs.in/downward-dog-adho-m
ukha-svanasana/