Balancing Opposites in Downward Facing Dog

The Inner Spiral of the wrist vs the Outer Spiral of the Shoulder

When students first begin to practice Downward Facing Dog, one of two common misalignments typically occurs in the upper body:

1.  the upper arms medially rotate at the shoulder joints, causing a downward facing "bulldog" shape in the upper body (Figure A), and/or
   
2. the inner heels of the hands (thumb side) come up off the floor, such that all of the weight shifts onto the pisiform bone on the outer heels of the hands (Figure B)
   

Figure A: Downward Facing "Bulldog"

Figure B: Weight Shifting to Outer Heel of Hand

As teachers, most of us probably spend a lot of time telling students to ground the inner heels of their hands and an equal amount of time telling them to work the external rotation of their arms at the shoulder joints, while performing corresponding hands-on assists that encourage these actions.  These cues will help for awhile, but over time there is the potential that many students will take the "externally rotate the shoulders" cue too far, causing biomechanical stress/torque at the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints.

In the following video...

I talk about how to create a balanced action between the inner spiral of the wrist joints and the outer spiral of the shoulder joints in order to cultivate optimal alignment and more ease in the upper body.  Neither one of these spirals should be practiced aggressively, and each should keep the other in check.