Downward-Facing Dog Pose
अधोमुख श्वानासन
Adho Mukha Śvānāsana — a beginner inversion that works the hamstrings, shoulders, calves.
How to do Downward-Facing Dog Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Start on all fours with the hands slightly ahead of the shoulders and the fingers spread wide.
Tuck the toes, lift the knees and send the hips up and back into an inverted V.
Bend the knees generously at first so the pelvis can tip and the spine can lengthen.
Press the base of each index finger down and turn the upper arms outward to broaden the shoulders.
Straighten the legs only as far as the long spine survives, then hold with the head relaxed.
Hold: 45–90 seconds. Keep the breath moving throughout — if you are holding it, the pose is too much for today.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Downward-Facing Dog Pose does
Described mechanically — what the movement does to muscle and joint. Not a list of conditions it treats, because a pose does not treat conditions.
- Loads the shoulders overhead under a share of body weight, which few daily movements do.
- Lengthens the hamstrings and calves with the heels reaching towards the floor.
- Puts the head below the heart in a shape you can leave instantly, unlike the full inversions.
Downward-Facing Dog Pose is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Downward-Facing Dog Pose, or change it
- Glaucoma or raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — the head hangs below the heart.
- Neck or cervical spine injury: let the head hang freely rather than holding it up, or rest it on a block.
- Pregnancy — usually comfortable well into pregnancy with the feet wide, but this is not a shape to take up new late on; check with your doctor.
- Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions during a period, which is a personal choice rather than a medical rule.
- Recent ear infection, which disturbs balance; wrist or carpal tunnel problems — come onto the forearms instead.
General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing any health condition, ask your doctor before starting a practice, and learn the pose itself from a qualified teacher who can see you move.
Common mistakes in Downward-Facing Dog Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeForcing the heels to the floor with straight legs so the back rounds.
FixBend the knees and lift the sitting bones; the heels arrive years later, if at all.
MistakeWeight dumped into the wrist creases with the fingers passive.
FixSpread the fingers, press through the knuckles, and push the floor away.
What a practice like this costs in energy
Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values per style of practice, so Downward-Facing Dog Pose is mapped to the nearest published code — 02175, yoga, Power, 4 MET — and the figures below are for a practice of that kind, not for holding this one pose.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
Calculated as MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 kcal per minute — the standard ACSM relationship, shown in full on the method page. Scale it to your own weight by multiplying by your weight in kilograms and dividing by 70. The whole activity dataset, including every non-yoga activity, is at BurnLab.
Questions
How do you do Downward-Facing Dog Pose?
Start on all fours with the hands slightly ahead of the shoulders and the fingers spread wide. Tuck the toes, lift the knees and send the hips up and back into an inverted V. Bend the knees generously at first so the pelvis can tip and the spine can lengthen. Press the base of each index finger down and turn the upper arms outward to broaden the shoulders. Straighten the legs only as far as the long spine survives, then hold with the head relaxed. Hold for 45–90 seconds.
What does Downward-Facing Dog Pose work?
Primarily the hamstrings, shoulders, calves, with the latissimus dorsi, spinal erectors, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: loads the shoulders overhead under a share of body weight, which few daily movements do.
Who should not do Downward-Facing Dog Pose?
Glaucoma or raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — the head hangs below the heart. Neck or cervical spine injury: let the head hang freely rather than holding it up, or rest it on a block. Pregnancy — usually comfortable well into pregnancy with the feet wide, but this is not a shape to take up new late on; check with your doctor. Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions during a period, which is a personal choice rather than a medical rule. Recent ear infection, which disturbs balance; wrist or carpal tunnel problems — come onto the forearms instead. This is general information, not medical advice — if any of these apply to you, ask your doctor and learn the pose with a qualified teacher rather than from a page.
Is Downward-Facing Dog Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Downward-Facing Dog Pose is a beginner-level pose on this site, which means it is learnable in a first class and has a version that works for most bodies. The cautions above still apply.
How many calories does Downward-Facing Dog Pose burn?
The honest answer is that nobody has measured a single asana. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values for styles of yoga, not for individual poses. Downward-Facing Dog Pose sits closest to Compendium code 02175, yoga, Power, at 4 MET — about 147 kcal for 30 minutes of that kind of practice for a 70 kg adult. Holding one pose for a minute is a rounding error either way.
Sequences that use Downward-Facing Dog Pose
Related poses
More inversions — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.
Asana names are traditional. Every step, benefit and caution on this page is written for YogaPath rather than reproduced from any book, studio or other library — see how this site is written. Energy figures derive from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.