In Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) first appeared in the July-August 1978 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here. 

Adho Mukha Svanasana, the Downward-Facing Dog Pose, is an excellent pose to begin your practice—especially in the chill of early morning when the body feels stiff from lack of movement. The pose releases an invigorating surge of energy through the limbs and the back of the body, and reminds you of your capacity for strength and pleasure in action.

The principles of Adho Mukha Svanasana are simple, but very effective. The full extension of the arms helps to open and release the shoulders. The spinal column is lengthened and space is created between the vertebrae. The forward tilt of the pelvis brings movement to the lower back, and awakens the obstinate muscles at the back of the legs.

For runners and athletes, the pose can have a special significance, since running tends to tighten the hamstring muscles. Whenever a muscle crosses a joint, it will influence the range of movements of that joint. Since the hamstring muscles cross both the hip joints and the knee joints, any foreshortening will inhibit forward-bending in the hips, as well as the full extension of the legs. Tightness of the hamstrings gradually reduces the mobility of the lower back and creates deep hollows of inactivity at the back of the knees.

Working with hatha yoga, we become aware through our subjective experience that different muscles and sets of muscles have different qualities and attributes. Different parts of the body open and respond in different ways. Certain muscles are joyful, or lazy, or macho, or anguished, or fearful and resistant. Some muscles have a quicksilver intelligence that remembers a movement from week to week, while others are as dense and forgetful as suet pudding. But of all the muscles in the body, the hamstrings are the most brazen and “ornery.” Make them give an inch today, and tomorrow they will take back two.

The stubborn nature of the hamstrings has an anatomical basis. All the muscles are composed of a central body of muscle fiber, with tendons at either end to attach the muscle to the bone. The muscle tissue is well supplied with blood, and has a structure of overlapping, sliding filaments which gives a high degree of elasticity. The tendon, however, is poorly supplied with blood, and its fibers are not resilient. Stretching a tendon is like stretching a rubber band: as soon as you let go, back it snaps to its original length.

The hamstring muscles are so unyielding because they contain such a large proportion of tendinous fiber. One of these three muscles, the semi-tendinosus, is virtually half tendon and half muscle, as its name suggests. Thus, the backs of the legs require patient, gradual and continual stretching, both for sedentary people—whose hamstrings shorten from lack of activity—and for runners and athletes—whose hamstrings contract from concentrated exertion. Runners can benefit considerably from a few minutes’ practice of leg stretches both before and after a session of running or jogging.

In Adho Mukha Svanasana, there are several ways to optimize the stretch at the back of the legs. In the first place, the student whose knees are trembling and buckling (and who feels intense pain in the hamstrings) is over extending in the pose. S/he can modify the position by working with the hands on a low chair or bench, rather than with the hands on the floor. This will ease the pain in the hamstrings, and allow a healthier stretch in the lower back. Remember to place the chair or bench against a wall to hold it steady.

Variations of How to Do Adho Mukha Svanasana

For those who want to stretch the back of the thighs and calves in a deliciously agonizing way, Mr. Iyengar has devised a way of working with ropes. At his Institute in Poona, these ropes are attached to prongs in the wall, but the method works just as well with a lasso of rope, or a broad strap, looped securely over a banister, a dance bar, or a pair of doorknobs. The student stands inside the lasso so that the rope or strap presses across the front of the pelvis at the creases of the hips. As s/he moves into a forward bend with the upper body, the pull of the rope increases pelvic rotation and produces a deeper stretch of the back of the legs.

I should mention that there are at least three variations of the variation with ropes:

1. A chair is placed three or four feet in front of the student. S/he extends the torso and arms, and places the hands on the backrest or seat of the chair (depending upon his/her degree of flexibility).

2. Without a chair: the arms and torso extend downwards and outwards in an unbroken diagonal, and the hands rest on the floor as in the completed pose. This variation is for the more advanced student.

3. The student folds his/her arms overhead holding the elbows, and allows the torso to release completely, as in Uttanasana, the standing forward bend. For this variation, the feet should be a few inches further away from the wall.

These variations allow us to experience—deeply and intensely—how pelvic rotation is intimately linked to the stretching of the hamstrings. Pelvic rotation is a key factor in a handsome, harmonious rendering of Adho Mukha Svanasana. We can develop our awareness of this action by practicing pelvic tilts, kneeling on our hands and knees, before coming into the pose.

All of these aids and preparations are merely preliminaries to the completed pose—not ends in themselves from the yogic point of view. They help us to educate ourselves about isolated parts of the body. We can enhance the completed pose by trying to recreate these feelings and movements, and integrate them into the total environment of the body. (I say completed pose, but what I really mean is the completed framework of the pose. Integration, perfection, completion lasts only a moment, and must be reawakened with every breath.)

How to Feel Into Adho Mukha Svanasana

Within the framework of Adho Mukha Svanasana, we continue to make our subtle adjustments. We notice how the weight of the arms tends to fall to the outside edge of the hands, and how the elbows collapse. Then, we allow the shoulders to loosen—to gain more freedom for adjusting the balance on the hands. The breath becomes very quiet. Shifting more weight to the inner hand, and pressing firmly on the mound of the thumb and forefinger, we move deeper into the pose on a deeper exhalation. We renew the strength of the arms and create greater openness in the armpits and shoulders. The action reverberates throughout the body.

If we know that our hamstrings are tight, we establish a court of inquiry at the back of the knees. What testimony will the back of the knees present on behalf of the legs? No testimony! No evidence! The legs are in some mental hammock, and our agent, the skin, is asleep on the job.

Once again, we give freedom to the major joints to adjust the pose. We raise the heels, coming up high on the toes to free the hips. With a deeper exhalation, we rotate the pelvis towards the thighs, and press the top of the shinbones into the leg, creating a stretch of the hamstrings. Slowly we let the heels descend, maintaining the rotation of the pelvis, maintaining the stretch at the back of the legs. Now the skin at the back of the knees is alive!

When the flow of energy is balanced in a pose, we begin to experience the unique character of that pose. For me, Adho Mukha Svanasana is like a simple pyramid of energy. The arms, legs and back are strong and vitalized. In addition, the downward slant of the upper body increases the flow of blood to the head and upper torso. This gives the pose some of the restful and restorative qualities of the inverted poses. This aspect is beneficial for beginners who are not ready to attempt the headstand.

In Adho Mukha Svanasana, I sense a curious dichotomy. The outer body is building strength, while the mind goes inward to an unsuspected place of nourishment; just as within the stone walls of the pyramid there is a secret place, at a point of mystical calculation, which is the resting-place of kings.