Ūrdhva mukha śvānāsana - Upward Facing Dog 200h Yoga Teacher Training

Our mission as a 200h Yoga Teacher Training is to educate our students to help them understand their own practice in order to share it with others.

Ūrdhva Mukha śvānāsana – Upward Facing Dog

Upward Facing Dog is one of the poses from the Sun Salutation sequence. Although this pose is considered advanced, it is often neglected since it is only held a breath or two in a typical flowing practice. Despite its many benefits, this pose can cause pain and injuries if practiced incorrectly. This is why we find it important to break it down here so you can practice safely and efficiently.

Whether your goal is to become a yoga instructor or simply to improve your own practice, you will find these tips helpful to improve your knowledge and practice.

Indications:

1. Begin by lying face-down on the mat with the hands alongside the body, next to the lower ribs with fingers pointing to the top of the mat.
2. As you inhale, press through the hands firmly into the floor. Straighten the arms, lifting the torso and the legs a few inches off the floor.
3. Strongly engage the leg muscles to keep the thighs lifted off the floor by pressing down firmly through the tops of the feet
4. As you keep the elbows pressed alongside the body, draw the shoulders back and the heart forward. Keep a long neck as you tilt the head to gaze toward the sky.
5. Hold the pose for up to 30 seconds.
6. To release, exhale as you lower the torso and forehead back to the mat.

Variations:

1. To avoid pressure or pain in the low back, squeeze a block between your thighs to keep your quadriceps engaged and activate the adductor muscles of the groin.
2. A more advanced variation to enter this pose is by starting in Plank pose, then lowering into Chaturanga. From Chaturanga, move the body forward by pressing through the hands and rolling over the toes. Align the shoulders directly over the wrists as you straighten the arms.
3. If you experience any wrist pain in this pose, ensure that you distribute your weight through the hands and finger.

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:

1. Neck injury
2. Wrists, shoulders, or low back injury
3. The second or third trimester of pregnancy.
4. Headache

There are so many reasons to invest in a 200hr Yoga Teacher Training in Bali, at Inner Yoga we are proud to be continually voted as one of the top yoga schools in the area. Join us this 2021 for a truly life-changing experience now.

Visit www.inneryogatraining.com to start your journey now.

More details go to this link: https://www.inneryogatraining.com/upward-facing-dog-200h-yoga-teacher-training/

Inner Yoga Blog 9

Stephanie Parent

February 13, 2021