How to do a Downward Facing Dog Yoga Pose

Video Transcript

"GINA KENNEDY: Downward facing dog is a great standard yoga pose, which once you've been practicing for a while, becomes your rest pose. But as a beginner, I guarantee it's not going to feel like a rest pose. One of the challenges is when you have tight hamstrings to be able to lengthen out your spine. Blocks can really help you to do this. And Faith's going to help me demonstrate that today. So, Faith is going to come into table top. Good. She's going to take her feet back just a little. She's going to curl her toes under. Good. And she's going to lift her nose and lift her tail. Now, I'm going to have her place her hands on these blocks. Good. Still with her nose and her tail lifted, she's going to inhale in and she exhales. She's just going to lift her knees up a little bit, just keep her knees bent, and then, press back with her shoulders, lengthening through her spine. And as you can see, the blocks just raise--elevate the level of the floor, just enough to help her lengthen through her spine, tilting her pelvis up to the sky, and then, she can straighten her legs and begin to descend her heels. Now, if her hamstrings are really, really tight, there's no reason to ever have straight legs. She can always bend her knees. Good. Now, your head is supposed to be totally relaxed. So, also, you can use this block, if we can get the right height. And how is that Faith? FAITH: A little higher. GINA KENNEDY: A little higher? Okay. Good. To relieve any tension in the neck so you would want to put the crown of the head right on that block. Good. And then, she's going to press and do her hands, lengthen out so she feels this lengthening through the armpits, all the way to the tail bone, and then, she descends her heels down, and feels the stretch in the calves, and in the hamstrings. So, just elevating the floor up a little can really help you come into better alignment when you have tight hamstrings in your down dog."