Fitness

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="21aa56d0.png" border=0 width="165" height="109" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" >  |    </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Navel Magazine"><U>Home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Editorial"><U>Editorial</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Front Page"><U>Front Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Music"><U>Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bellyworld: The Reviews"><U>Bellyworld: The Reviews</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bellyworld: Donna Mejia"><U>Bellyworld: Donna Mejia</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Business"><U>Business</U></A></div> <div> Fitness</div> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Move of the Month"><U>Move of the Month</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> Fitness</div> <div> <I><B>Downward Dog</B></I></div> <div> <I>by Ariellah</I></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1e2f41d0.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="285" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana</B></div> <div> (<I>adho</I> = downward, <I>mukha</I> = face, <I>svana</I> = dog)</div> <bR> <div> What is it about the downward dog pose that seems so intense, so difficult, so illusive?</div> <div> Is it supposed to be a relaxing, resting, strengthening or stretching pose?  For some of us it just seems plain strenuous.</div> <bR> <div> Let us dissect the pose for a moment:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Starting on our hands and knees OR sitting on our heels with chest folded over our thighs, hands and arms out in front of us overhead on the floor; in both cases, we      want to spread our fingers wide.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Looking up at our fingers, we want to curl the toes under and lift the knees off the ground, (with an exhalation) and straighten the legs and arms.  However, we want to lock neither the knee, nor the elbow, so there is a slight bend in both of them.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Press the shoulder blades down the back, let the neck relax and hang down with no tension. Push the chest forward, toward the floor, pushing from in between the shoulder blades, elongate the lower back, engaging the belly, but not tucking the pelvis, rather elongating the lower back straight back on a diagonal away from the chest and the waist. (I like to think of someone standing behind me, pulling my hips away from my upper back in a nice diagonal line.) Lastly, working towards bringing the heels to the floor.</div> <bR> <div> This is downward dog, the way I am familiar with it.</div> <bR> <div> I think that one must have strength in their arms in order to hold this pose for a long time, which would explain one reason why it can be a bit intense, for instance, if our arms are weak.  This pose tends to be beneficial in terms of building strength in the upper arm region, especially if done many times, consistently, over a period of time.</div> <bR> <div> I also notice when in downward dog that I am increasing flexibility in my chest as I push my chest towards the floor while sinking into the pose and become grounded in it.</div> <bR> <div> I also notice that I am working on my posture in preparation for any elevated arm work I may do.  Holding my arms above head in this posture, while being able to maintain having my shoulders pressed down my back is incredibly helpful and beneficial to my dance practice. When standing upright while dancing and having my arms overhead at any given moment, I want to keep my shoulders down.  It gives my movements a distinct look and feel and adds more to my technique and muscle control.  Hence, there is a direct correlation to this yoga pose and my dance practice, as I am practicing that same technique here in downward dog.</div> <bR> <div> Trying to engage my belly and pull my hips backwards is also challenging, but builds a strong core and aids our belly dance posture. If we add to that the fact that we are working on bringing our heels to the floor; we have a great workout, all from this one incredible posture!</div> <bR> <div> One last thing that comes to mind is something that is true in all the asanas or postures in yoga and that is, while a pose can be challenging and intense, we can learn to remain calm, poised and relaxed.  While we are strengthening and gaining flexibility in certain regions of our body and while our mind is trying to remember where everything should be in the pose, we can, at the same time, begin to let go and give in to the stretch or movement or pose, sink into it, and find that balance of relaxation and strength.  We can work at allowing our faces and minds to remain relaxed.  This is something that I find very beneficial to my dance practice:  keeping the face and mind calm and blissful, while executing strenuous movements.  Keeping this in mind and incorporating this into your practice will improve your stage presence and demeanor.  It is definitely something that yoga has taught me and is a goal I try to continually work on and keep in mind.</div> <bR> <div> So we find our downward dog pose executes all of the items questioned above:  it relaxes, strengthens, and stretches.  Its raison d'être in terms of our dance practice appears to be to help guide us on our paths of opening our body and mind to dance and to the world.</div> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="153d6160.jpg" border=0 width="214" height="278" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0"></I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>Ariellah  has  a  rich  background  in  dance  and  was classically trained in ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance from London for 12 years.   She has been belly dancing since 2001.  With a Moroccan ancestry, Ariellah's style reflects her personal  interpretation  of  tribal  fusion  belly  dance,  which blends traditional Middle Eastern dance with a modern, very dark flavour, that is uniquely her own.</I></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.ariellah.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ariellah.com"><U><I>http:// www.ariellah.com</I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>