In this article, I’ve combined the ‘New Insights’ because these two postures, Extended Foot Pose (Prasarita Padottanasana), and Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana), are very similar movements. They are both forward bends with the pelvis higher than the head, and therefore also inversions. The first posture does not require arm strength and is generally much easier for beginners because of the wider stance, which considerably reduces the pull out of the hamstrings. Yet both require two very important skills: the ability to connect the head and tail through the axis of the spine and the ability to distinguish the action of elongation from extension.

The value in developing skills (rather than learning discrete Yoga postures) is that skills can be applied across a broad range of movements, in different orientations, planes, and levels of complexity. If you have difficulty feeling the connection between the head and tail through the axis of the spine you don’t have that difficulty just in one posture, you have it for all your movement: in your everyday standing and sitting posture, when you walk, run, ski, or ballroom dance, or when you are bending forward for the hundredth time to assist your students. And like all movement patterns, there is a progressive overlay of skills. Without the felt connection between the head and tail, which supports neutral spinal curvatures, it’s almost impossible to truly elongate the spine. In any given group, I find that about 40-50% interpret elongation as extension (a.k.a. ‘banana back’).

The cue ‘to elongate the spine’ requires containing the spine within its vertical axis and progressively opening the space between the vertebra. Instead this elongation is translated as ‘pushing the spine downwards’. This action compresses the posterior spine and pushes the vertebral facets into an end-range position that can cause friction and irritate the joint surfaces. It also compresses the back of the shoulder and tends to create hyperextension in the elbows when the arms are weight-bearing. And tellingly, people who push down on their spine experience the kinesthetic hallucination that the back is lengthening when in fact it is shortening. If you are a teacher, taking the time to build skills initially takes more time, but once you’ve done this essential work of front loading, and your students have a competent movement vocabulary, the need to give repetitive instructions and to offer physical ‘adjustments’ will radically diminish over time.

Half-Dog Pose
Head to Tail Through the Axis of the Spine: It’s much easier to do movement repatterning in this modified forward bend than in either Prasaritta Padottanasana or Adho Mukha Svanasana. With the arms at shoulder height (or higher for those with tighter hamstrings and a tendency to round the spine), notice the placement of the head. For people who do not have an established felt connection between the head and tail, the head is almost always below the line of the shoulders (Fig. 5A incorrect). That is, the head and neck appear to be an afterthought, hanging off the end of the spine.

Start by giving the verbal cue to bring the ears up to the level of the inner arms. This gives people a visual cue to work with. Sometimes the disconnection through the neck and head is exacerbated by a downward collapse through the arms. Bring your attention to your forearms and actively lift up. If you are a teacher you can placing your hands on the forearms and ask your student to press ‘up’ into your hands. This can assist in aligning the shoulders, elbows, neck and head in one fell swoop. It can also be helpful to give supportive compression against the crown of the head, so that there is a reference point for the position of the head (Fig. 5B correct). As the head finds its connection to the rest of the spine, then focus on reaching the tail into space. Think hunting dog on high alert!

Elongation through the Spine: There are a number of checks you can do to help prevent hyperextension through the spine:
~ Is the distance between the hands and feet too great? 

This can cause bridging at the base of the ribcage (Fig. 8A, incorrect). 

~Narrow the distance and feel whether this gives you great control over your midriff (Fig. 8B).

For those with a tendency to reverse the lumbar curvature and round the back, it will be even more difficult to elongate the spine (Fig. 9A). Just coming into a neutral spinal curvature will be your challenge. Try out these options to see if this brings you closer to spinal neutral:

 ~ Bring the feet further apart which will allow the hamstrings to release more easily (Fig. 9B).

~ Allow the heels to come off the floor so that the pelvis can more freely rotate over the femurs and allow the knees to bend (Fig. 9C). You won’t be arrested!
~ Actively reach through the tail. Reaching through the tail can help take the weight out of the arms and elongate the spine.

Finally, if you are a teacher, notice the difference between focusing on independent alignment ‘cues’ and focusing on specific skills. When you consciously understand the skill that you’d like to build, you’ll find that your instructions creatively arise as a response to this challenge. When students focus on one or two skills within a class session (rather than being bombarded with a litany of seemingly discrete and unrelated alignment points), learning becomes a clear cohesive experience. At the end of the session, ask your students if they’d like to anchor one thing they learned. In this way, your students can construct a summary of the key things they want to remember and take home into their personal practice.

This article supplements two prior original articles on Extended Foot pose and Downward Facing Dog pose released two days ago, which were first published between 1988 and 2003 when Donna was writing full-length feature articles for Yoga Journal and Yoga International USA. 

In this New Insights post, Donna shares what's changed after more than three decades of teaching internationally. This material is being offered for free for the first time as a service during Donna's sabbatical. All material © 2023 Donna Farhi.

Thanks to Julieanne Moore for her patience and dedicated work as our model. 

An occasional bonus Feature article will also be published. 

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