The outdoor rock concert stage collapsed because the side bracing was bent and could not support all of the weight.
The engineers finally found the reason for the collapse of the outdoor stage at the rock concert. One of the side braces was bent and did not properly support the stage.
While Downward Facing Dog is not as big or heavy as the rock stage you still need to support it correctly.
We have already talked about getting the foundation of Downward Facing Dog established in several other articles. You can find links to some of these articles at the end of this one. Getting your hands and feet in the right place makes all the difference in this pose. Once that foundation is established you move on to your arms and shoulders.
There are three parts that you need to get in line to support your Down Dog properly:
- Your arms
- Your shoulders
- Your body
Getting all the support bracing in line will make Downward Facing Dog a relaxing pose.
Working from the mat upwards you start with your arms.
1 – Your Arms
Your arms are part of the weight bearing support structure of Downward Facing Dog. The weight of the body is transferred from your torso through your arms into your hands and onto your mat. Because of this weight bearing aspect of the pose it is very important that you get the alignment of your arms correct.
For best performance in this weight transfer job, your arms are straight. Your elbows should not be bent out to the side in a flexed position. Nor should your elbow joint be bent inward and locked. The easiest of these to recognize and correct is the bent arms.
Avoid bent elbows
Bent elbows will make it very difficult to support the weight of your body. You will be using the muscles of your arms to hold your body up rather than using the bones of your arms to support your weight. With bent elbows the weight transfer into your wrists and hands will be all wrong. The weight will be coming to bear on the outside corner of your wrist rather than over all of the wrist.
Straighten your arms and get rid of the bent elbows by bringing your elbows inwards towards each other. If you straighten your arms too much you will run into the next problem.
Avoid hyper extended elbows
This happens when you straighten your arms and place the weight of your body on to your hands. Some times the elbows will move inwards too far and hyper extend.
This movement brings the bones of the joint together and stretches the ligaments and tendons in the wrong direction. It can be quite painful.
To correct this problem you need to become aware of your elbow joint and bring it back into line with your shoulders and wrists. Move it to far to the outside and you are back in bent elbow territory. Not moving it enough will leave you in hyper extended land.
You may find as well that your elbow keeps moving from one side to the other. Keep your awareness on the position of your elbow and work on keeping it in line and eventually it will start to behave.
There is one last thing to do with your elbows before you move on to your shoulders.
Which way is your elbow facing?
Your elbows can be either facing towards the front of your mat or they can be facing each other.
Facing forward is great if you are expecting to be bending your arms backwards and lowering your body to the ground but that is not the case in this pose.
The best arrangement for your elbows in this pose is to have them facing each other. The slight rotation of your elbow joint from front facing to facing inward will help you to maintain the weight bearing position of your arms.
Now that you have your arms, the first level of the support structure, in place it is time to move on to your shoulders and see what challenges await you there.
2 – Your Shoulders
Your shoulders are one more part of the support structure that holds the weight of your body off of the floor. Getting good alignment here will allow the weight of your body to pass safely through your arms into your wrists without injury. There are only a few things that can go wrong with your shoulders.
Your shoulders can be
- towards your ears
- too close together
Let’s have a look at the most common of these problems first, your shoulders are too close to your ears.
Too close to your ears
This problem usually happens as you attempt to share the weight of your body between your feet and your hands. To put more weight into your heels you push your hips backwards by moving your torso away from your hands. This movement will naturally result in your shoulders rising up towards your ears and coming in towards each other.
Bringing your shoulders towards your ears will result in increased stress to the muscles of your upper back and neck. You will end up with a sore neck and tense shoulders if you continue in this position for an length of time.
To correct this problem sink your torso into your arms, drawing your shoulder blades down your back towards your hips. This movement will make your shoulders more stable and remove the tension from the muscles in your neck and shoulders.
While this is the most common problem with your shoulders in Downward Facing Dog, the next problem is a close second.
Too close together
Once you get your shoulder blades resting comfortably on your back you need to check to see how close together your shoulders are. If they are too close together you will still be developing stress and tension in your neck and upper back muscles.
To correct this move your shoulder blades out to the side away from each other. Once you do this you will discover that the tension in your upper back area suddenly releases. You will be able to lower your torso a little further toward your hands as well.
These two movements, move your shoulders down your back and away from each other will go along way to supporting your body weight comfortably.
You are not done yet. The next thing to check for is the alignment of your body relative to your hips, shoulders and wrists.
3 – Your Body
The side brace for the rock stage was bent out of line and could not support the weight of the stage when the equipment was added to it. Just like that stage support, the ideal arrangement of your body in Downward Facing Dog is to have a straight line from your hips through your shoulders and into your hands.
Too high
If you have some tightness in your shoulders you may find that your body is elevated above that line from your hips to your wrists. This tightness in your shoulders will take a while to correct. For now become aware that your shoulders are elevated above that straight line and using the edge technique work on bringing your shoulders and your body gradually down to the line.
On the other hand if your shoulders are nice and flexible and you have your body above that line, then move your body down into the line. This leads us to the next and last challenge with your body, it is down below the line.
Too low
If you have really flexible shoulders there is a temptation to drop your body lower and lower down below that straight line in an attempt to touch your head to the floor. While this is fun to attempt, you are introducing extra stress to your neck and upper back as you drop your body towards the floor. Also the weight transfer from your body into your hands is disrupted.
For optimal weight transfer lift your shoulders up and establish that straight line from your hips through your shoulders and into your wrists.
Once you get that straight line established you will discover that your bones are supporting the weight of your body and your muscles can relax a little bit. Downward Facing Dog might even become a pose that you can relax in.
Summary
The outdoor stage for the rock concert collapsed because the side bracing was bent and could not support the weight of the stage. To successfully complete a Downward Facing Dog you need all of the elements of side bracing in place.
Establish a straight line from your hips through your shoulders to your wrists by sinking your torso into your shoulders and moving your shoulders and elbows into that straight line.
Next Steps
Ask your yoga teacher to help you with the alignment of your arms and shoulders in Downward Facing Dog since you can not see it for yourself.
Additional Reading
— To find out how to do a Downward Facing Dog and protect your feet read How to make a dog happy.
— To protect your hands in Downward Facing Dog read How to avoid injuring your wrist in Down Dog
— There is also a video about How to avoid injuring your wrists in Downward Facing Dog on the blog.
— The article Goldilocks and the three Bears find the Edge will help you to find your Edge and protect you from injuring yourself.
