Come to a table top position on all fours, hands are shoulder width apart, spread your fingers and ground down into the mat equally through the palms and fingers of your hands, tuck your toes under, engage your bandhas and push your hips up and back, lengthen through the spine. Feet are slightly pigeon toed, keep the heels off the mat to begin with and take your hips as high as you can.

Micro bend in the elbows and then draw them in towards each other without moving your hands, almost as if you’re trying to get them to kiss. Internal crease of the elbow is trying to face towards the front of your mat. This activates your arms and keeps them strong at the same time as engaging and opening space through the bridge of your shoulders. Release the neck and allow your head to hang heavy, sight moves to between the feet.

Now allow the heels to start to sink towards the mat without loosing the length in the spine or changing the tilt of your pelvis.

Just check in here and make sure your shoulders aren’t crowding your ears, really push out through the arms and shoulders to create space. Bend your knees as much as you need in order to keep the seat bones tall and the spine long.

Variations here, you might like to walk your dog out, bend through one knee whilst straightening the other then walking through each side.

You might like to come all the way up on to your tippy toes, roll forward into a high plank, take the seat bones high then allow your heels to sink towards the mat, roll through that a few times.

With enough practice downward facing dog can become an active rest pose. It builds strength throughout the whole body, especially the wrists arms and shoulders and lengthens through the posterior chain.