Surya Namaskara A, vinyasa four (Chaturanga Dandasana) — beginner’s stance (above), final stance (below)
Vinyasa Four (Chaturanga Dandasana)
With the beginning of the exhalation, firmly ground your hands. The hands should be shoulder width apart, the middle fingers parallel to each other and the fingers spread. As the exhalation proceeds, move the feet back with a single hop so that the body forms a straight line from the head to the feet. Land the feet so that they are hip width apart and flex them. Completing the exhalation, slowly bend the arms, lowering your body until you hover just above the floor. The elbows hug the body. Do not allow them to wander out to the sides: this stiffens the shoulders and tightens the pectoralis minor muscle. On the way down, the movement should be even, with the heart leading the way. Lift your face away from the floor to strengthen and support the back of the neck. By extending out through the heels, the coccyx drops, which lengthens the low back and positions the pelvis correctly for Upward Facing Dog, which follows. This action is balanced by an equal extension of the chest forward. The entire spine lengthens and the lower abdomen lifts away from the floor to support the lumbar spine.
PRACTICAL TIP
Stance for Beginners
As depicted in the top photo above, beginners may adopt a longer stance in Chaturanga Dandasana so that, on lowering down, the shoulders remain above the hands. Experienced students can work toward vertical forearms, tracking the elbows directly above the wrists on lowering the body. On moving into Upward Facing Dog, we aim toward positioning the shoulders above the wrists. Viewed from the side, the arms are perpendicular to the floor.
Vinyasa Five (Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana — Upward Facing Dog)
Initiating the movement with an inhalation, straighten your arms and draw your chest forward, rolling the toes over until the feet point away from you. Press the tops of your feet down into the floor, using them as brakes to resist the forward-dragging action of the arms. Combined, these actions put the back in traction and elongate the spine.
Surya Namaskara A, vinyasa five (Upward Facing Dog)
Rather than rolling the shoulders back (which pinches the shoulder blades together by contracting the rhomboid muscles and leads to a closing behind the heart), keep the shoulder blades wide (serratus anterior muscle) and draw them down the back (latissimus dorsi). Rolling the shoulders back will free up the chest to move forward and puff out proudly like that of a lion. Imagine the arms as the upright support of a swing, the shoulder joints as the fulcrum, and the chest as the seat of the swing. Slide the heart through the arms to gain length in the spine. The lowest ribs now move forward and lift upward.
Lifting the chin to the ceiling and keeping the back of the neck long, the head is taken back. Those with previous whiplash injuries should avoid this movement and keep the neck straight, gazing down toward the tip of the nose; this will prevent overcontraction of the back of the neck. Students who are in need of inducing more backbend can look up between the eyebrows. At the same time be careful not to limit the backbend to the neck only.
This posture is frequently confused with Bhujangasana (Cobra) from Hatha Yoga, and often hybrids between the two postures can be observed. Upward Facing Dog is distinctly different. As well as the arms being straight, the legs are kept strong and straight, so much so that the knees remain off the floor. The strength in the legs provides support for the lumbar spine. By keeping the legs straight, the stretch is taken in the front of the hip joint, lengthening the hip flexor muscles, which is imperative in all backbending postures. It is important to draw forward with the arms and lengthen the whole spine, rather than to collapse and dip into the low back. Incorrectly performed, this posture can easily lead to low-back pain. Performed correctly, it can relieve back pain caused by spending long hours sitting at a desk or in a driver’s seat.
ANATOMICAL FOCUS
Spinal Junctions
The place where the spine meets the head (the cranium) is one of the important junctions of the spine. The others are the last cervical vertebra (C7) and the first thoracic vertebra (T1); the last thoracic vertebra (T12) and first lumbar vertebra (L1); and where the last lumbar vertebra (L5) articulates with the sacrum (S1-5). Laterally, the sacrum articulates with the pelvis, the sacroiliac (SI) joints. These are all areas where the spine encounters greater stresses. These areas have muscle attachments that work in opposing directions to equip us with a greater range of movement possibilities. It is therefore important to work these areas with awareness and respect in regard to their structural limitations and their vulnerability.
At the same time, the rectus abdominis muscle (the six-pack muscle) must be engaged to anchor the lower ribs and prevent them flaring open. Flaring the lower ribs accentuates swaying of the low back. The rectus abdominis will also lift the pubic bone and allow the coccyx to drop. This will enable one to carry the spine long and tall in all postures.
Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana is an extremely important posture in the sequence, as it is the only real preparation for backbending in the Primary Series. It should be deeply experienced every time it occurs in the series to awaken the spine for backbending. Take your time, with long, conscious inhalations rather than a short breath, moving quickly into and out of this posture.
Vinyasa Six (Adho Mukha Shvanasana — Downward Facing Dog)
With the beginning of the exhalation, flex your feet and roll back onto the soles. Release the heels toward the floor. Raise your buttocks to the sky like a mountain as the hip flexors engage and the legs work toward straightening. At the same time, push the floor away with your hands to shift weight back toward the feet. Set your shoulders broad with the armpits facing downward. If the shoulders are hunched around the ears, the armpits will face out to the sides; performed this way the trapezius muscle is overcontracted and the posture will tighten the neck and the shoulders. The correct shoulder position needs to be learned here, as it builds upper-body strength and is needed later on in backbends and arm balances. If the armpits face out to the sides, the arm bones (humeri) need to be outwardly rotated until the desirable result is achieved.
PRACTICAL TIP
Stance Variations in the Dogs
The Upward and Downward Dog postures also have their intrinsic stances, which differ from person to person and may even change within one’s practice life.
A person with a stiff backbend needs a longer stance in Upward Dog. If the stance is too short, the low back or neck muscles can spasm. A beginner will get more opening and be safer by choosing a longer stance. As the spine becomes more flexible in backbend, one can shorten the stance in Upward Dog.
Initiated by the feet, the legs work strongly in Downward Facing Dog. Attempt to ground the heels with weight equal to that which naturally falls into the balls of the feet. The strong action of the legs and hip flexors is used to tip the pelvis forward, tilting the sit bones so that they point up toward the ceiling. Those with a flexible forward bend must resist the tendency to sag in the low back by keeping the junction of T12/L1 supported. The junction of T1/C7 is also supported, preventing the inside of the shoulders