4 Ways To Finally Kick From Downward Dog To Lunge Like A Pro

One of the trickiest moves when you first start practising yoga is to step a foot in between your hands from downward facing dog pose and so find yourself in a lunge. Downward Dog To Lunge

Often we get stuck and the foot doesn’t come far enough through, then if you move into another pose it’s all a bit like a game of jenga and much like the game, you’ll end up wobbling and maybe tumbling. So, if you do find that your foot doesn’t make it all the way through, no big deal, grab it with your hand and bring it through.

If you want to work on it there couple of things are happening and it takes a bit of practice to get the knack. Once you have it, you never forget! Firstly, your abdominals are working pretty hard to bring your leg through so any work you can do to strengthen our core friends is great. Secondly, there’s a slight redistribution of weight into the hands, which is often why you’ll find you get stuck if you don’t move a little bit forward.

Here are four tips you can practice; some may work better for you than others, so have a bit of a play with all of them:

Downward Dog To Lunge…

1. Think plank

Move a little bit into your plank pose before you lift up your foot and step it through. It will help you get the idea of moving your weight forwards.

2. Relieve your dog

Take eka pada addho mukka svanasana or one legged dog pose, also affectionately known as peeing dog before you swing your leg through. You may find that the extra momentum gives you a bit more power.

3. Work your core

As your knee comes through, think about bringing it to your nose before you step it all the way through. That way you’ll be working your abs and you’ll learn how far you need to bring that leg forward.

4. Get some space

Come up onto your fingertips in dog pose then try stepping your foot through. The basic idea is that you have more space to play with. Over time you’ll build strength and awareness and won’t need it so much.

These are all great things to try if you want to do a bit of yoga in between sessions but don’t know what to work on.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!