Downward Dog Pose Reference

Draw the triangle before the figure. In the side view, the hands, the feet and the raised hips are three corners of a near-perfect triangle with the floor as its base. The arms and back form one straight side running from the wrists up to the tailbone, and the legs form the other. Get those two straight edges right and most of the pose is done.

The arms stay straight and in line with the back, shoulders pushing away from the floor, and the head hangs relaxed between the upper arms with the ears roughly level with them. The legs are straight too, the heels reaching toward the floor without needing to touch it. Notice that the head ends up below the hips, at about 54 cm against a centre of mass of roughly 61 cm; it is a mild inversion, and from most viewpoints the face is upside down.

Beyond profile, the angles reward study. The front view looks straight down the tunnel of the arms at the hanging head, a demanding foreshortening exercise. The back view foreshortens the legs instead and makes the hips the highest point. Instructional diagrams usually favour the three-quarter camera, and the high angle flattens the V to show the spacing of hands and feet.

Common mistakes: a rounded back that breaks the straight side of the triangle, bent arms, and a head lifted to look forward, which kinks the neck. The figure fits yoga class illustrations, studio posters, instructional diagrams and wellness editorial art, and works as a pure study of straight lines in a human body. In the editor, lift one leg straight up behind for the three-legged variation, or lower the hips until the body forms a plank.