During Upward Facing Dog, which cue is given?

During Upward Facing Dog, which cue is given?

• A. Engage your core
• B. Open your chest
• C. Tuck your chin
• D. Lengthen your spine

Answer: (B)

In Upward Facing Dog the most important cue is to open your chest. This backbend is all about lifting the heart forward and/top of the chest up as you press through the hands and straighten the arms. Opening the chest helps draw the shoulder blades toward the spine, broadens the front body, and keeps the neck comfortable by preventing the head from collapsing forward. It also promotes the correct spinal shape, with the chest leading the movement rather than tucking the chin or sagging into the lower back. Engaging the core is helpful for stabilization in many poses, but it isn’t the defining cue for this variation of the pose. Tucking your chin would crowd the neck and tighten the throat, which isn’t the goal here. Lengthening the spine is a good overall idea, but the specific action that defines this pose is opening the chest to create the opening through the front body and the backbend.

In Upward Facing Dog the most important cue is to open your chest. This backbend is all about lifting the heart forward and/top of the chest up as you press through the hands and straighten the arms. Opening the chest helps draw the shoulder blades toward the spine, broadens the front body, and keeps the neck comfortable by preventing the head from collapsing forward. It also promotes the correct spinal shape, with the chest leading the movement rather than tucking the chin or sagging into the lower back.

Engaging the core is helpful for stabilization in many poses, but it isn’t the defining cue for this variation of the pose. Tucking your chin would crowd the neck and tighten the throat, which isn’t the goal here. Lengthening the spine is a good overall idea, but the specific action that defines this pose is opening the chest to create the opening through the front body and the backbend.