June pose of the month - Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog)

Vicki in downward facing dog on Herm

June is my birthday month and as a true Cancerian, I am very much home loving.  After a busy few months of travel, I am really looking forward to spending much of this month at home (aside from a pilgrimage to Stonehenge for sunrise on the summer solstice!) to nurture, renew and enjoy this light filled time of year.

This month for me downward facing dog is a marvellous pose to practice as it feels a little like “coming home”.  A foundation yoga pose, this posture is practiced frequently in the style of yoga I love to practice and indeed teach, and it does feel a little like I have come home when I practice it because it is so familiar to me.  It is an incredible pose as it offers so any benefits and I would recommend we practice this pose every day if we can.

Adho Mukha Svanasana

Benefits

• Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression;
• Energizes the body;
• Stretches the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, arches, and hands;
• Strengthens the arms and legs;
• Helps relieve the symptoms of menstruation,
• Relieves menstrual discomfort when done with head supported;
• Helps prevent osteoporosis;
• Improves digestion;
• Relieves headache, insomnia, back pain, and fatigue, therapeutic for high blood pressure, asthma, flat feet, sciatica, sinusitis.

Contraindications

• Carpal tunnel syndrome;
• Diarrhoea;
• Headache.

Photography by Nick Despres, please see www.nickdespres.com

Photography by Nick Despres, please see www.nickdespres.com