How to do Downdog if Your Heels Don't Touch the Ground - Downdog Alignment Tips for Beginners
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2015
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What if your heels don't touch the ground in downward facing dog?
My answer -- you do THIS.
Check out this video all about correct downdog alignment for beginners. Your wrists and back will thank you :)
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I have wondered this for years & it's always deterred me from doing yoga! I always felt super inadequate because my legs refuse to straighten (lol), but I think I feel way better about it now, thank you!!
You are very welcome, thank you for being here 🙏💖
Me too... I also felt inadequate in this pose..
My heels will never touch the floor . And that is perfectly ok ;)
Thank you for a very detailed video!!
Thank you so much for this, I've never actually been able to do down dog at all until watching this. I have my knees bent, but it still feels amazing to stretch out my spine properly
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was the only one who couldn't get my heels down. It can be frustrating but your explanation certainly help!!!!!!!!!!
thanks for showing us...i needed to see that!
Thank you, it's still helping us 😁 I've looked at so many explanations and this is the one that actually made all the bits fit into place. 🙏🏼❤
I'm really new to yoga, and this video offered very great tips!
This helped!! Googled, worked on it, got disgruntled (to say the least😅), found this video et voila, within minutes I got it! Now I'm so gruntled! Thank you so much!!
Very helpful!
Finally I get it👌🏻thanks for such detailed explanation.
I’ve just been diagnosed with an inflammatory arthritis and down dog us hard. This was it feels doable and a challenge but not a stress. Thank you.
This was so helpful!
Thank you Brett! I finally GET it! With slightly bent knees in class today my back was LONG and straight - for the first time!
Woo hoo!!!
Just started with gentle morning yoga and felt great. I used to do gymnastics but the arthritis is causing flexibility issues. Some workouts for arthritis in knees, wrists other joints would be really great. Thank you for your time and videos
thank you so much!!
Very useful thank you
Definitely very helpful 😀
This is super great. Trust me people, even if you get your feet down it is always better to practice like this for a few months.
This helps in opening of the shoulders
Getting your spine straight and
Moving your hips up so you get a near perfect inverted V shape.
Else even if you bring your heels down and the alignment is not good, half of the benefits does not reach us.
I was practicing in a improper alignment even when my heels were reaching the ground comfortably till one of the teachers pointed out few things and helped me correct them.
So do not get discouraged if your heels do not reach,first goal is not the heels to reach the ground but to get proper alignment and spine to be lengthened.
Hari Om !! 🙏
Happy Learning.
Thank you for this!
I just love watching you Brett! You are teaching me so much!! Especially during this tough time, I now have no excuse not to do a solid yoga practice while isolating!! This tutorial helped alot-Thank you
You are very welcome, thank you for being here 🙏💖
very helpful
Thank you for your detailed explanation. My heels don’t touch the floor, even after years of practicing. I always feel much pressure in my wrists when doing dog pose. Is this normal?
This was soooo helpful!!! Thank you so much!!!
You're so welcome!
A great help, thank you 😊
You are very welcome, thank you for being here 🙏💖
Thank you so much- really helpful 💖💖
You're so welcome!
Thank you
Thanks so much! My son couldn't touch at all, and I wasn't sure how to help him. Great!
So glad this helped, thank you for watching!
Hi, Simona from Italy. I loved this tutorial. I would like to ask more information about the hands, thanks. I understand that hands move towards each other, but I am not sure about the clockwise movement related in the shoulders( in and extra) Thanks❤
Love your comment "in with your hand and out with your biceps"!
Yay! Yes- thinking of it that way has been soooo helpful for me
thank you ! you are the best !!
You're welcome!
Thank you so much I had the same issues I was more worried about my heel touching the floor. Thank you and subscribed
You're very welcome!! Happy to have you here!
I love yoga
LOL you are hilarious! what they round is also the low back (tremendously so)!
This is my issue. My butt just doesn’t point up like that.. it’s looks more tucked ☹️ And no deal with feet flat, close but the rounding/tucking?! is worse
@@hayleykennedy3595 this will come with time and practice; the heels will come down when the hamstring and calves gain more length; the butt tuck is coming from tight hip flexors which prevent you from doing the pelvic tilt in order to release the low back; it all comes with practice though; i started in the same spot and with time tissues release and gain length in the connective tissues. keep practicing and all is coming
I can't make my spine and my legs straight at the same time. When I tried to straighten my legs, my foot lifted up and it hurts so much🙃
Sooo true- lengthen your spine 😊
This helps a bit but even with my knees completely bent, my back still cant get quite straight, i feel strain in the upper back. And its confusing cos generally my back is really flexible backwards, its normally bending forwards i find hard. Is there a way to isolate the spine straightening a different way and then come back to the downward dog when im more flexible?
very usefull as usual... let me know if you ever come to France please!
+Anna Ossipovitch I'm hosting a retreat in June in Italy if you want to come! Message me if you ave any questions www.brettlarkin.com/yoga-italy-june-2016/ Would love to come teach in France too one day!! xoxo
I would love to but not sure that will be the right time for me.. well maybe one day we can organize something in France!
I have a question for you. I have valgus knee. what poses of yoga should I be careful with?Sometimes I feel most of the pressure on my knee when doing down dog.
Please consult your doctor to ask what is safe for your knee 💖
How much time we do this posture mam.. Plz tell me
My hands always slip when I'm in downward facing dog, any tips?
katemontgom Oh yes I so get this. I can't even do it with my knees bent because my hands slip. it's so annoying
Put more weight on your fingertips than your palms...and if that doesn't work just lay a towel over the top of you mat :D
What i do is i wear anti slip socks on my hands x)
This was very helpful!
Yay, so glad!!
Found it very helpful. First time doing downward dog, and my feet would Not touch the floor. I figured it was because I was short.
If you were moving your hands towards each other...wouldn't the left hand be counter-clockwise?
Wow.. I like how you are expressing. I wish I could take a class with u.
How long to hold the pose for?
However long you feel comfortable
About 0.5seconds for me at the moment then! The stretch in my legs is unreal, but I will build it up.
So if someone cannot even get the bent knees etc, i assume using a chair to put your hands on is where you could start?? My husband is so inflexible everywhere, shoulders no flexibility, legs no flexibility ..nothing! Im a fitness professional and work with him, but i feel yoga may help him more than anything else, I'm not a yoga person but have been slowly getting into yoga over the last 4 months :)
Yes, using a chair would be perfect! I would suggest placing it against a wall so it doesn't slide. With time and practice flexibility will improve. Thank you for practicing with me!
Thank you for you're reply1 I shall be taking your yoga course next year I hope :)
Hi Brett, what about if you cannot even get as low as you show in the vid, I struggle even lifting my knees up the ground (there i can have my back straight) but as soon as i try to lift my tailbone (and hence my knees up the ground), I cannot keep my spine straight anymore, any advise?
Like Richard, I cannot do downward facing dog with my heals down. My spine and back will be hurting the whole time. Can you please help me?
How you doing with that downward facing dog after one year after posting? Did it get better, did you master it ? I'm new to it - and of course facing the same issues ............
The purpose isn’t to have your heels down. The energy should be trying to head for that, but some people have their legs bent for the rest of their lives. The spine being straight is the purpose of the pose. Focus on your back being straight, then only straighten your legs as much as they can go while keeping your spine straight. If your spine isn’t straight, bend your knees more. You may need to start in puppy pose and work toward downward dog :)
I've been doing the beginner one for about a month (correctly, I suppose). But I can't never bring my legs to go straight eventho I train it almost everyday :(
It's ok!!!! Due to anatomy, some folks will not get their legs straight!
Thank you so much, I really thought, "Why does all modifications show down dogs and I'm unable to do it?"
My down dog looks like I’m frog squatting with my hands on the floor. If I try to actually do it my hands hurt and actually move on the mat because I can’t get my heels anywhere near the floor. Maybe it’s because my legs are much longer than my short torso but I don’t know how to do it
Heels up and down
My hands hurt like hell when doing this
Your legs look taller than me
😂
Who disliked this video?
So I was worried about the wrong thing
how is this ninja move for beginners? *heads off to eat a donut*
That's exactly what I thought in my first class, lol! If you go little by little and just assume it'll happen when it happens you'll get it eventually though. I've only been doing yoga for 3 months and I'm amazed how easy some of the things that used to seem impossible are now.
Just not worth it, I'm in so much pain I could cry & every part of this is horrendous
Thank you
You're very welcome!!