Adho Mukha Svasana or Downward-Facing Dog Pose: How To

According to "Yoga: The Iyengar Way," Downward Facing Dog Posture rests the heart. It is a tamasic pose. (read my entry on the gunas here )

1. Begin in Child's Pose. (learn Child's Pose here )

2. Extend the arms straight out in front of you, palms facing down.

3. Rounding the spine and tucking the tailbone, come up onto all fours.

4. Tuck the toes

5. Extend the spine, lifting the tailbone and turning your gaze upwards.

6.Exhale and roll your body like a wave on the ocean as you straighten your legs and drop your head and chest towards the ground. It is okay to keep the knees slightly bent or the heels off of the ground at first, to accomodate varying levels of flexibility.

7. Check your alignment. Roll the pressure on your hands in towards the thumbs. Take the pressure off of your wrists by "milking" the earth or your mat with your fingertips.

8. Lift the sit bones as high as you can. Work your belly towards the front of your thighs. Flex the quads and feel the energy spiraling up from the heels, through the inner legs and out through the hips. Try to open the heart (chest) as much as possible.

7. Exhale and come out of the pose, slowly.

8. Email me or post a comment with any questions!

hands-on adjustments can really help you learn the postures

(Photography copyright of Chelsea K Nielsen)

Experience Life More Fully Through Non-Attachment

The lovely book “Fire in the Heart” by Deepak Chopra recounts a traditional Indian tale of the ups and downs of life.

“Once there was a man who loved two things above everything else in the world. One was his son and the other was a pony. One morning, however, the man awoke to find that the pony had run away. A search party was mounted, but the pony was nowhere to be found.

'You must feel terrible,' a neighbor said when he heard the news.

But the man looked calm. 'It's not over,' he murmured.

The next day the man woke up, and not only had the pony returned, but with him came a magnificent white stallion. When he heard the news, his neighbor said, 'You must be overjoyed. You have your pony and a new horse that's twice as beautiful.'

But the man looked calm and said, 'It isn't over.'

The next day when his son was out riding the white stallion, he fell off and broke his leg. As the boy was carried into the house moaning with pain the neighbor said, 'What a terrible accident. How much you must be suffering to see your poor son hurt.”

But the man looked calm and said, 'It's not over.'

The next day the army came. They were taking away every able-bodied young man to go to war, but when they saw that the man's son was laid up with a broken leg, the soldiers went away and left him behind. The neighbor rushed over and said, 'How fortunate you are. Every young man has to go to war except your son.'

But the man only shrugged, 'It's never over.' "

The Western world is turned-off to the way of non-attachment, because it is commonly believed that non-attachment would take away the mind-reeling dark chocolate velvet pleasure of the moment. However, I believe that the truth is quite the opposite: practicing non-attachment increases your enjoyment of life and of the present.

My guru Syl Carson calls it coming to a place of witness. In this place, there is no need for worry and suffering. This place inside of you is like a calm, still temple that is surrounded by howling winds and torrential downpour.

So how do you find the neutral mind inside of yourself? As soon as you recognize that you are becoming emotionally entangled with the world, trying to control things outside of your control, simply decide to accept what is. Accepting what is does not mean that you do not take efforts to change an unpleasant situation. It only means that you recognize that you do not know where any given road will actually lead and you trust that it will all will work out. As they say, everything will be okay in the end. If it isn't okay, it isn't the end.

Envision yourself as a peaceful witness, observing all of the turmoil that your ego is involved in, saying “Ah, interesting. My ego is afraid to surrender.”

Often, the addiction to get swept into the storm is so great with a given situation that it requires divine intervention. At these times, I recommend a prayer or meditation in which you focus on becoming a peaceful witness, and on accepting what is.

"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."

                   -Reinhold Niebuhr

Confronting Concerns With Beginning Yoga: FAQS

Q. I am not flexible, and I don't regularly work out. Can I practice yoga? Isn't it really hard?

A. Yoga can be really hard, or very restful and gentle. Any pose can be modified to fit your individual abilities. Work with an experienced instructor to tailor your practice to your body and your needs! The less in shape you are the more important it is for you to begin yoga. Yoga will take you to a personally unprecedented level of mind and body fitness.

Q. Isn't yoga really easy and only practiced by women?

A. Actually, yoga was originally ONLY practiced by men, and men of the upper-class at that. No matter how fit you are, an experienced instructor can put together a class to work your muscles in ways you've never dreamed of. By practicing yoga, you will notice a dramatic improvement in your sports and athletic performance, regardless of how fit you were before.

Q. Do I have to become a Hindu vegetarian and quit drinking and wear nothing but a loincloth if I start doing yoga? Oh and talk constantly about my chakras and crystals and auras? Will people think I'm a left-wing tree-hugging-dirt-worshipping-hippie?

A. When you practice yoga on a regular basis (at least five days a week) it becomes more difficult to convince yourself to commit "crimes against wisdom" as my guru calls them. In other words, as you get more in touch with your body and mind, it becomes harder to justify doing things that aren't good for you, whether that be drinking, staying out too late, driving aggresively, whatever. It is still up to you to decide whether or not to make any other personal lifestyle changes. I recently spoke to a man who was concerned that doing yoga would hurt his reputation as a politically conservative army dude. Take comfort in knowing that as yoga becomes increasingly popular, it is being embraced across the Western world by people from all walks of life. You do not have to belong to any particular stereotype to practice yoga (except the stereotype of people who are in excellent shape who look young forever!) And loincloths are optional!

For more FAQs on beginning yoga, go here .