Yoga Pose of the Week: Three Legged Dog

a.k.a Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana

Position – Standing

Type – Inversion

Spiritual Awareness – Third eye

Physical Awareness – Backs of legs, spinal awareness, core activation.  Every part of your body will be stretched.

The pose is essentially downward facing dog, the one leg raised in the air.   The challenge is the balance.

Three-legged dog encourages length in your spine, strengthens many major muscle groups, and increases your hip-joint mobility.

Because your head is below your heart, three-legged down dog is an inversion. Inversions may seem overwhelming, but this pose easy inversion that can help find your courage of being upside down.

This pose can be practiced on its own, or in a flow class, either way both sides of your body need to be stretched, one leg raised at a time.

Practicing Three-Legged Downward-Facing Dog is a great way to warm your body and prepare it for deeper poses. It adds flow and fun to your practice, while providing a greater challenge to your body and mind. Shake up your practice with this variation and you might discover that the feeling of freedom extends to all areas of your life, on and off the mat.

Benefits of Three-Legged Dog

• Full-body stretching
• Strength building
• Energizing and rejuvenating the nervous system
• Relief from stress, headaches, fatigue, poor digestion, and back pain.
• Opens the hips
• Spinal awareness
• Core activation
• Activates many muscles groups but targets, upper body, arms and shoulders and legs.
• Helps to improve balance.
• Helps to tone hips, backside and thighs.

How to get there –

Begin in downward facing dog.

• Start in table top position with hands beneath shoulders and knees beneath hips.
• Tuck your toes.
• Engage your core – draw your belly button to your spine.
• Lift your bottom up towards the ceiling and then press back as though trying to bump the wall behind you. Try to flatten feet to floor. Don’t worry if you can’t get all the way – the more you do the pose, the more flexible you will become.
• Think of your body as being in the shape of an upside down V.

If you notice your spine isn’t straight, or find it difficult, slightly bend your knees and send your bottom backwards more.

• Raise one leg up toward the ceiling.
• Flex the raised foot.
• Hold for 5 rounds of breathing.

To Exit The Pose –

Engage your core – draw your belly button to your spine.

Bring foot to the floor.

Change Sides.

Counter pose with Childs Pose 

Variations –

To make it harder –

Bend the knee of the raised leg, and bring foot in the direction of bottom.

To make it easier – stay in downward facing dog, there is no need to raise your leg.

Contraindications –

If you have pre existing wrist, neck or back injury, please be mindful of your body.

Blood pressure issues, dizziness or nausea.

This pose is not recommended during pregnancy.

Yoga can be modified in many different ways, you just need to do what feels good for you!

Always be kind to yourself, move with ease and grace.  You are the most important person in your life.

Namaste.