Which cues are given for Exhale - Downward Facing Dog?

Which cues are given for Exhale - Downward Facing Dog?

• A. Spread your fingers wide and press into your palms
• B. Engage your abdominals
• C. Press your heels closer to the mat
• D. Breathe here

Answer: (A)

On the exhale into Downward Facing Dog, the most effective cue is to spread your fingers wide and press into your palms. This action grounds the hands, distributes weight across the entire palm, and helps lift the hips while lengthening the spine. It creates a stable, supportive base so the shoulders can rotate away from the ears and the chest can open without collapsing into the wrists. Engaging the abdominals is helpful for overall control, but it doesn’t shape the exhale into this pose as directly as grounding through the hands does. Pressing the heels toward the mat is a useful alignment goal, but it’s not the primary exhale cue here. Breathing is important, yet the specific cue that drives the exhale into proper alignment is grounding through the hands by spreading the fingers and pressing into the palms.

On the exhale into Downward Facing Dog, the most effective cue is to spread your fingers wide and press into your palms. This action grounds the hands, distributes weight across the entire palm, and helps lift the hips while lengthening the spine. It creates a stable, supportive base so the shoulders can rotate away from the ears and the chest can open without collapsing into the wrists. Engaging the abdominals is helpful for overall control, but it doesn’t shape the exhale into this pose as directly as grounding through the hands does. Pressing the heels toward the mat is a useful alignment goal, but it’s not the primary exhale cue here. Breathing is important, yet the specific cue that drives the exhale into proper alignment is grounding through the hands by spreading the fingers and pressing into the palms.