Urdva Mukha Svanasana a pose often rushed through or misaligned even by more experienced practitioners. Here are some things to remember:
1)Push ten toe nails into the ground.
2)Firm the thighs. Think knee caps lifted by the strength of the thigh muscles.
3)Bandhas engaged. What does this mean? Imagine you’re wearing a pair of muscular underwear. Lift the front it. Pull it way up!! Engaging the lower abs and imagining there is a shelf between your legs and lifting that shelf up helps too.
4)Wrists under the shoulders then roll the shoulders back… Roll em back. Roll them back back back.
5)You can look up but don’t let the head flop back. Keep jalandhara bandha engaged by slightly tucking the chin, even if your head is up. For yoga newbies I wouldn’t suggest looking up at all, only forward. If the shoulder are up near your ears and you throw the head back there can be some serious damage to the neck. Wait until the rest of your updog alignment is spot on before looking up or back.
6)Open the heart! Have you ever seen a dog do this? It is like they are stretching new life into them selves. The press the chest open with their whole soul and you can practically feel the exuberance they emit in this stretch. Do that! Spread your collar bones and think about joy. With each upward facing dog, go to a place that makes you feel joyful! Breathe in and open your heart to the world. Questions welcome 🙂 comment below…
