Yoga for the Moon Phases - Three Legged Dog Pose

Three Legged Dog Pose

This strong pose is a development of Downward-Facing Dog pose and is perfect for Full Moon energy. It helps us focus on finding different facets we might need at this, or indeed any, time: stability as we balance on three limbs, strength to hold ourselves upside-down, and stillness as we settle in to this more demanding position. Let’s learn a little more about Three Legged Dog pose, sometimes referred to as Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana  in Sanskrit.

Three Legged Dog pose

This is another one of those strong yoga poses which can be used to stoke up our energy, but which helps us find balance and stability, despite seeming to be precarious. The pose provides an inversion, where our head is lower than our heart, so it’s not for everyone – do watch out for conditions where such inversions are not recommended. The pose, and moving in and out of it, will cause changes in blood pressure, which can be beneficial but may also have some adverse effects if you have issues with blood pressure. The other key feature of any inversion is that you are upside-down, which might feel challenging…. or really fun, and it certainly gives you a different perspective on things! Not only are you upside down but in this particular pose, as in Downward-Facing Dog, you will also find that you are looking backwards too.

This pose can be rather intense on the arms and hands, but can provide physical benefits including strengthening the shoulders, arms and wrists, as well as both stretching and strengthening the hamstrings and glutes. The core muscles in the belly and back get stronger and we stretch and strengthen the “lats” around the sides and back of the torso. The lifting of the leg works the glutes and lower back in particular.

How to find Three Legged Dog pose

We get into this pose from Downward-Facing Dog pose, which is like an inverted V-shape. The palms are flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart, the fingers splayed, middle finger facing forward and all the knuckles rooting down into the floor. Having the legs far enough away from the hands is doubly important now as you will need to balance on three limbs, so a wider triangle base will be more stable. The weight is evenly distributed between hands and feet, and we send the shoulder-blades down the back, the shoulders moving away from the ears.

Start in Downward-Facing Dog pose.

Once you are strong stable there, keep everything where it is, then inhale and lift one leg up behind you. Keep that leg long and the knee straight. Flex the foot and push through the heel, as though you are keeping something behind you at bay. Keep easing the heel of the supporting leg down towards the mat – try not to come up onto your toes. Keep sending the chest back towards the thigh, flattening the back and sending the tailbone up and away, the pelvis as far from the hands as possible. Try to keep the pelvis square to the mat, not letting the hip of the lifted leg open out to the side – if needed lower the leg a little rather than twist the hips and pelvis. Pushing through the hands and arms will help you feel stronger and more stable here.

Other Options 

As with Downward-Facing Dog, this pose can be quite challenging, particularly on the hands and arms, so it is always possible to substitute this out completely for a three-legged version of Table-Top pose (just the leg raise part of Balancing Table pose, in effect) or of course you can take Child’s pose instead.

Suggestions to help cushion or support the hands or wrists are in other blogs, and if supporting the whole body weight is too much today, then you can take this pose against a wall, by pushing the hands against the wall, instead of the floor, ensuring the feet are not going to slip, sending the hips back and away, and then raise the leg behind in the same way as above. Really work here to keep the hips facing the wall, and you’ll feel all the same muscles working as if you’d been upside down, but without the inversion or the same amount of pressure through the hands.

If you are starting from the seated version of Downward-facing Dog then you can extend one leg out in front, to experience the same challenge of being a little off balance and to work the quads in the thigh and the muscles round the knee. Feel free to flex that foot too, to stretch the calf muscles out.

How to breathe in the pose

Using the breath to get in and out of Three Legged Dog pose is really helpful. Inhale deeply as you raise the leg up . You can choose how long the stay in the pose but a couple of deep breaths will be a good start. Then when you come to lower the leg take an inhale first and then lower the leg on the exhale. You could even sigh that breath out with an open mouth if it feels good.

Moving on

First and foremost we need to lower that raised leg – on an out breath. Take a few moments to readjust your Downward-Facing Dog, re-finding the length in the back and easing the legs straighter and the heels downwards again. Each time you come back here. Think about sending the chest back and the hips up and away. Then make sure you take the pose on the other side. After that you can find Table Top or Child’s pose for a more restful few breaths.

However, Three Legged Dog is regularly used not as a standalone pose, but as a transition through to something else. In these instances you will often need to bring the raised leg in towards the tummy by bending the knee, allowing the back to curl upwards and then stepping the foot forward between the hands. This can be quite a challenge to start with but will probably get easier with practice. It really helps if you exhale as you bring the leg in, knee coming to your chest, drawing the tummy in as you do so to help make room to get the leg through. Don’t panic if the foot doesn’t make it all the way forward to start with – you can always re-arrange yourself once you’ve got your balance and know where you are going next. Yoga is not a race or a competition so take time to find the correct place for your feet, knees etc to be, and don’t forget to breathe!

From this step-through after Three Legged Dog we have lots of position options to choose from, for example, coming up to Warrior I or II, taking a high lunge or lowering the back knee and coming into Crescent Moon Lunge. Maybe in a later blog we could even look at stepping through and into the almost airborne Warrior III.

There are further options direct from Three Legged Dog, where for example we deliberately open up the hip of the raised leg, perhaps opening so far that the leg comes down to the floor behind us and letting the arm release to come into Wild Thing. Or we could thread the leg through from Three Legged Dog, again releasing an arm, and come into Rock Star or Fallen Triangle. So much choice, however energetic or quiet you are feeling, but whichever option you choose, just breathe and enjoy.

Make sure you always look after yourself when doing yoga.

It’s important to always listen to your body and only work within your personal limitations. You are fully responsible for your own safety and wellbeing. Make sure your surroundings and your practices are safe. Do not attempt to take a physical posture that is outside of the scope of your practice. If you have any specific medical conditions, injuries, surgeries or are pregnant you should check with your GP or appropriate medical professional before starting any exercise. Keep in mind that yoga might be challenging at times, but it should never be painful. You must stop if you experience any pain, and you should consult your GP if you experience anything untoward such as dizziness or feeling faint. Rest or leave anything out that you need to avoid or that does not feel right.

Any questions? I can be contacted at louise@essentialyoga.uk and I’ll see you again soon 😊