Yoga Asana: Puppy Pose or Uttana Shishosana
Each posture in the physical yoga practice has a Sanskrit name ending in asana. Asana means seat or posture. Today we will explore Uttana Shishosana also known as puppy pose and sometimes refereed to as heart melting pose. When we break down the Sanskrit we see: Uttana which = intense, shishu which = baby puppy, and asana which = seat. The shape of the posture resembles a puppy stretching after a nap. The history is unclear, regardless, puppy pose is a helpful, accessible posture for most that is almost a combination of downward facing dog or dolphin pose and child’s pose. It is commonly practiced throughout asana practices as an inversion, a heart opener, a shoulder stretch, and as a warm up for more intense back bends.
This brings us to the WHY behind Uttana Shishosana. Before we get into the particular benefits of this specific shape, it is important to consistently remind ourselves (and if you are a teacher, your students), the unadulterated goal of the yoga practice which is to cease all of the movements in the mind space and one day, reside, in one’s true nature. The physical practice prepares us in many ways to endure and develop the required resilience, commitment, and sincerity it will take to change the landscape of our mind-scape, so that we experience life from the inside out (of which we have spent so much time and effort in nurturing), versus the outside in,(of which is most likely a manipulation to use you as a pawn for some kind of power and control.) Uttana Shishosana stretches the spine, the arms, the shoulders, the chest, and the abdomen. It is a slight inversion as your heart is above your head. This posture also has the potential to aid in relaxation, improve blood circulation in the stomach area, as well as relieve back, neck, and shoulder pain.
Uttana Shishosana can have symbolic, metaphoric, and meaningful significance to our own personal why’s. When we consider the Sanskrit translation of the posture, shisho, stands out, which translates to puppy. Acknowledge the essence of a puppy. What qualities arise for you? Playfulness, rest, loyalty, humility, innocence, excitement, curiosity, joy, fearlessness? Do any of those characteristics feel important for you to develop at this stage in your life’s journey? Or another way to confront this question would be, which of these qualities do you tend to resist or ignore? Do you believe it is not possible for YOU to be pure or playful or fearless or experience genuine joy? Where did this belief come from and is it yours? What if you were to be forgiven or forgive yourself for everything in this moment, who would you be? What would you do more or less of? So often our current behavior patterns and belief systems were born from a wounded place within us. For example, I don’t deserve to be joyous or happy because I was “bad” as a teenager and caused my family and friends to suffer, therefore, I should now suffer to account for all of the suffering I have caused. When I have the capacity to recognize this disordered thinking I can attend to the teenage girl who was “bad” and forgive her, I can acknowledge that her “bad” behavior was a result of not believing she was whole, fear of abandonment, and a desire for her fathers attention. She is not bad. She was hurt, confused, imbalanced, ignorant, and so on, but not bad. All of this from puppy pose! This is the power of the practice. I am not encouraging this type of reflection during the actual asana practice, I am encouraging this kind of reflection before or after a practice. When we can make meaningful connections to our postures and how they can heal more than just our bodies, but our entire beings, these postures take on a whole new ability to transform. The next time I enter puppy pose, I can now access presence, and it is only in this pure presence, that I can access my innate playfulness because I have done the work to free it from the constrictions of my past pains of which warped all of my perceptions and influenced all of my behaviors. Only when we make time to examen ourselves with compassion, can we begin to dismantle untruth from truth. Yoga might look like shapes, yet it is really a re-shaping of our minds.
How to do Uttana Shishosana:
Come to all fours, align your hips over your knees, bring the tops of your feet onto the mat and align your feet directly behind your knees (about hip width). While keeping your hips over your knees, walk your hands forward and allow your chest to come down towards the mat. Keep your arms straight and lower your forehead down onto the mat. Slightly point your tail down and engage your core to ensure you are not excessively arching the low back. Press into your finger pads and roll your upper arm bones away from the ears to broaden the shoulders (triceps wrapping down, biceps spiraling up). Make your arms active by slightly lifting the elbows.
Modifications
Place a block or blanket under your forehead for less intensity.
For sensitive knees, double fold your mat or place a blanket underneath your knees, shins, and feet.
Lift your head and rest your chin on the mat for more intensity.
Use a block or blocks underneath the hands or elbows, you can also bend the elbows and prayer the hands behind the head.
Variations:
Lean into one side to find more sensation.
Tent your fingers and and lift your palms to intensify the shoulder stretch.
Thread the needle.
Extend one leg out to the side.
***Permission to modify in anyway that provides you with a feeling of safety, ease, and is alignment with your purpose in practicing the posture.
Dearest Reader,
May this blog inspire your to inquire into you and your ways of being with more vigor and compassion. May you take this information and use it as a jumping off point in your own self-inquiry. May you re-commit to walk the yoga path each and every day.
Blessings,
Andrea Dawn
