Upward-Facing Dog Pose - Up Dog - Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

Upward-Facing Dog Pose - Up Dog

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

• INHALE - Keep your hands directly under the shoulders.  Press your hands firmly into the mat as if you're pulling yourself forward. Straighten your arms, lifting your torso up, hips and legs will be slightly off of the floor.
• Keep your elbow crease facing forward, with the slightest bend in the elbow.
• Keep quads engaged, and the tops of the feet pressing into the mat.
• Slightly tuck the tailbone in and up.  Keep the buttocks firm but not super engaged.
• Roll the shoulder heads back, flattening the shoulder blades flat against your back.
• Open your heart space forward, creating a wide space along the collarbone from shoulder head to shoulder head...continue to focus on opening this space. 
• To keep the neck long and shoulders away from ears, keep your gaze forward and NEVER throw the head backward.  In time, you may look slightly upward, but must maintain a long neck.

Use of Props: Placing a block between the upper thighs, help to keep engagement more in the quads and not in the buttocks. 

***This is a deep back bend.  If you feel sharp pain in the low back, or the shoulders tend to roll forward, or if the hips are raised to high, please modify by taking Cobra Pose.

Benefits:

This is a heart opening posture.  All back bends are heart opening postures.  Take back bends on an inhale.  Heart Openers are heating to the body and may cause shortness of breath. They may make us feel vulnerable.  They creates feelings of joy, however, it may cause increased anxiety if you are suffering from this already.  Gentle heart openers such as Cobra Pose, will be less intense and is a great modification to Up Dog.  Heart Openers can be very rejuvenating and creates great flexibility in the spine.  A wonderful counterpose is DownDog, or Childs Pose.