
Upwardfacing dog
- Sanskrit
- Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
- Last challenge
- Debbie Fall In Love
The upward facing dog or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana is well-known from sun salutations and vinyasa practice. In vinyasa, it gives a nice back stretch, and I use to pause my vinyasa for one or two breaths there.
This is often confused with cobra pose, which looks quite similar, but have a different purpose. The most notable differences is arms (bent it cobra, straight here) and hand placement (close to hips here).
Raising a leg here have a similar effect in both though. Keeping the leg fully extended builds great strength in glutes and hamstrings.