Scapular Action in Upward Facing Dog

1/5/2015

It's a relatively common occurrence for newer yoga students to practice Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (upward-facing dog pose) without effectively mobilizing their scapulae. The result is collapsed shoulders that crowd the ears, inefficient thoracic extension, and shearing forces that create stress at the acromio- and sternoclavicular joints. Engaging the lower and middle trapezius muscles to depress and retract the scapulae will elevate the trunk, broaden the collar bones, extend the thoracic spine, open the heart and create a more skillful line of force through the clavicles into the sternum. Check out these great images from Yoga Functional Anatomy, as well as a short video clip on this subject from one of the ASFYT-3 classes!

Illustrations
In the illustrations below you can see the acromioclavicular and sternoclavicular joints, as well as the effect of contracting the lower trapezius. Please note that the asana illustrations are courtesy of Yoga Functional Anatomy - which you should definitely check out if you haven't already!

Video Clip from an ASFYT-3 Class

Comments?
Got any comments, questions or other great tips about how to work the shoulders in Upward Facing Dog? Please share below!

6 Comments

Dana link

1/27/2015 02:51:00 am

I think a lot of students get confused with the direction of lift the heart and lift the thighs in upward facing dog. I'm betting the cue of elevate the trunk (or some variation there of) could work for my students in a way that lift the heart or the crown of the head, or lift the thighs hasn't before. Thanks!

Jason Ray Brown link

1/28/2015 06:12:21 am

Thanks for stopping by, Dana! I think "lift the heart" works, too... but it's good to try different things because you never know what magic words are going to help different students connect with the action. If you end up playing with the language a bit, be sure to stop back by and let us know what seems to work best for your students!

Keren

2/4/2015 12:42:54 pm

I notice that "roll your shoulders back" helps, if the student truly uses her/his legs (I look at the anterior body line to see where they lift/collapse).
However, I always follow with "draw the navel into the spine", to make sure that the lower back is being supported.
(Many times I find it more effective to simply instruct all the points as I demonstrate: press tops of feet, lift thighs, draw navel in, press hands down and lift your heart up as you roll your shoulders back.)
Now, paying more attention to what I say anatomy wise, I no longer end the instruction with "keep the back of your neck in line with the spine"... but saying "keep the back of your neck smooth" doesn't always seem to work.
Would love to get your feedback!
Thanks!

Jason Ray Brown (ASFYT) link

2/4/2015 02:47:03 pm

What's wrong with "keep the back of the neck in line with your spine?" Sounds good to me. I also like the cue to draw the navel to the spine ;-) Thanks for commenting, Keren.

Hegulka

2/10/2015 05:52:10 am

Upward facing dog is difficult for me to practice and challenging to teach. It is difficult to practice because I have supraspinatus tendonitis in both shoulders and compressed L4-L5 disc in my lumbar. I practice low cobra instead. It is challenging for me to teach because I don't know how it feels to practice this posture without shoulder and lower back pain. I think I know what it "should" look like, but I still don't give very detailed alignment cues when I teach it. Except to tell students to lift their thighs off the mat, draw in their lower belly, and lower the shoulders away from their ears. I also don't give hands on assists for upward facing dog because I don't want to hurt anyone's shoulders or lower back. This stems from the pain I experience in this posture and not wanting to be the direct cause of that same pain in anyone else. I will use the musculoskeletal alignment cues outlined in this post the next time I practice and teach downward facing dog. But I still won’t put my hands on any of my students while they are practicing this posture.

2/10/2015 10:33:45 pm

Thanks for your comments, Hegulka. I think that little cobra is a great substitution for upward-facing-dog due to your shoulder and back pain. It is somewhat difficult to avoid compression in the lumbar spine during this pose, as it requires a strong posterior pelvis tilt. A hands-on assist that helps facilitate this posterior pelvic tilt can be very helpful for students who experience compression in the lower back. For the shoulders, which we do want to lift the trunk upward so that we aren't collapsing in the shoulder girdle, it's also important not to overdue this action as it can put too much stretch on the supraspinatus. And if you're recovering from supraspinatus tendonitis I could see how it wouldn't feel good.

The ASFYT Blog

Scapular Action in Upward Facing Dog

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