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Adho Mukho Svanasana -- strengthen your upper body and calm your mind with this yoga asana

Adho Mukho Svanasana -- strengthen your upper body and calm your mind with this yoga asana

Written by Pavitra Sampath |Updated : February 29, 2016 6:16 PM IST

Adho Mukho SvanasanaAdhi Mukho Svasana or the downward facing dog pose is a great yoga asana for your all-round health. Not only does it help strengthen your arms and shoulders but also stretches out the muscles of your back and spine. A yoga asana that is known to help calm the mind, beat the symptoms of menstrual discomfort and menopause, Adho Mukho Svasana is also very effective in improving your digestion, preventing the onset of osteoporosis, relieve a headache, beat insomnia and fatigue. Apart from that this asana is believed to have a therapeutic effect on people suffering from high blood pressure, asthma, flat feet, sciatica and sinusitis. Believed to energize the entire body, this asana is great to beat the blues or just relax after a long day at work as well. Read more about yoga asanas to beat insomnia.

Steps to do this pose: Lie on your stomach on your yoga mat. Now, place your palms near your ears and point your toes downwards so that your heels are facing the ceiling. Now, exhale and push off your hands such that your buttocks are pointing towards the sky. In this pose you will look like an inverted 'V'. Now push back onto your feet so that they are flat on the floor. You will feet a stretch on your hamstrings. Do not walk closer to your hands to put your feet flat on the floor, this defeats the purpose of doing this pose. Practice this regularly and you will slowly increase your flexibility and be able to flatten your feet.

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