Yoga Upward Facing Dog:
Yoga Upward Facing Dog Pose: This blog is inspired by an article I just read on protecting your back in upward facing dog; the author asks, “Have you done 50 headstands today? How about 50 triangle poses? That would seem excessive, wouldn’t it? But doing 50 upward-facing dog poses (urdhva mukha shvanasana) a day can be business as usual if you take a vinyasa class.”
The phrase,’just breathe through it’ is fine if you are talking about a mild challenge but we are not trying to say ‘grin and bear that compressed lumbar spine’ at all whatsoever.
So true. What is enough? What is too much? I think the sensations or feedback from both breath and body are definitely key, and somewhat of an art to read and be in tune with. I have seen a lot of fast paced classes where there is not enough time to cultivate alignment and so over time, you end up repeating the same poses without ever getting the body mechanics of the pose. I really like pose breakdowns for this reason, and agree with the author that just simply taking the time to get to know a pose is worth it in the short and longterm. When you do this particular backbend frequently with improper form, there is a likelihood of feeling compression, pain, and a sense of the vertebrae jamming together or just the chest popping out. But in any backbend, you want flow and distribution. The use of props is absolutely going to get you there ~ 
The props used here are self explanatory – yoga chair, yoga strap, yoga mat. An easy way to get into the pose is via plank pose using the chair, and what I love most is that you really get to strengthen the upper body and really open the spine at the mid back instead of feeling everything scrunched up at the base of the spine.
I think this photo was taken when I was a bit stiff, so had I warmed up a little more, could maybe have gotten some more opening, but the feeling I recall is one of fluidity, and that is where you derive the therapeutic benefits of the pose – in this case, this variation felt relieving of some mild sciatic pain that I had at the time. The pose itself has other benefits such as:
- 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
- Therapeutic for asthma
Enjoy!
Rana Waxman is a registered yoga therapist ERYT-500, with 20 years of teaching experience. Rana is a freelance writer and social media expert in addition to leading yoga workshops internationally and teaching alignment focused private and group Yoga Lessons in Hoboken and Jersey City NJ.
