December Movement Challenge

 

Downward Facing Dog Pose, Adho Mukha Svanasana 

In Sanskrit, adho translates as "downward", mukha as "face", and svana as "dog".

As we enter into the last month of 2025, I'm reflecting on this past year as well as looking forward to what will come. December is a busy month filled with the seasonal spirit of giving, hope, celebration, and the beginning of winter. Living with the seasons provides a beautiful template for a movement practice. Aligning with the energy and action of natural cycles is a practice of mindfulness. Notice, observe, and sense how you might shift into the changing season as the days and months unravel with more ease, awareness, and presence. During the summer and fall months, I'm likely to get outdoors for low to moderate intensity exercise as the weather is warmer and the days are longer. During the winter and early spring, I aim for shorter, higher intensity workouts with a morning or mid day walk to get the most of the sunlight. With only a few weeks of fall remaining, embrace the upcoming season of winter by allowing for more rest and recovery. With regard to movement patterns, notice how your body wants to move when you wake up, and see how you might want to seek out new routines as each day passes. Observing how you feel with care as the day moves toward afternoon and evening can be insightful as well. 

Since September, I have shared a monthly yoga pose alongside a functional movement pattern providing an active and engaged perspective to practice with presence. Each month has gifted me the ability to share these challenges within my weekly yoga classes, providing an opportunity to explore them even further. For December, I'm sharing the yoga pose of Downward Facing Dog and combining it with calf raises. 

Downward Facing Dog, or Adho Mukha Svanasana, is a classic yoga pose named for its resemblance to the way dogs stretch. My sweet Lilly is a pro at this pose, she embodies the wonderful dog qualities of loyalty, strength, resilience, and presence, much like the pose itself.  Downward Facing Dog pose can reduce stress, improve circulation, and calm the mind. The hands, feet and legs are all pushing into the ground, the head and neck fall forward of the heart space inviting a gentle inversion into the body and the sense of being upside down. The hips shift back and the spine lengthens as the breath enlivens the pose. The ribs expand and compress with the downward movement of the diaphragm during inhalation followed by the release of the diaphragm back upward during exhalation. Simply holding Downward Facing Dog pose while connecting to the breath is a whole body experience of stretch, strength, and surrender. Calf raises improve ankle stability, support joint health, and strengthen the lower leg muscles. Raising up the heels and shifting the body weight onto the tiptoes is an act of alertness, an upward lift, reaching higher, stretching to one's full height as an observant animal poised for action, embodying the power of potential and readiness. 

In the videos below, I offer accessible versions of calf raises, single leg calf raises, and Downward Facing Dog pose while using a chair and blocks. Try adding in a few calf raises while in Downward Facing Dog pose. Calf raises can challenge your balance, having a chair or wall nearby can build confidence along with strength. Progressing into single leg calf raises, a unilateral movement pattern, can help correct muscle imbalances in the legs, increasing strength and power to minimize the risk of injury. My previous 'Movement Challenges' are here (September), here (October), and here (November). This collection of yoga poses and functional movements are growing, allowing creative opportunity to string them together for a short, daily mobility routine. 

Calf Raises

Single Leg Calf Raises

Downward Facing Dog pose with a chair

Downward Facing Dog pose with blocks

Please find my current yoga teaching schedule below: 

Weekly in-person yoga classes:

Wednesday Chair Yoga (10a-11a) at the Melrose YMCA.

Thursday Mat Yoga (8:45a-9:45a) + Chair Yoga (10a-11a) at the Milano Senior Center.

I'll continue to sub in yoga classes at all Metro North YMCA branches in Melrose, Saugus, Peabody, and Lynn as my schedule allows. I'm scheduled to sub Gentle Yoga at the Saugus YMCA on 12/6/25.

FREE yoga videos on YouTube

FREE guided meditations on Insight Timer

In yoga practice, perspective shifting can occur within the poses. Inversions in yoga offer a new viewpoint, gaining new understanding by literally seeing the world differently. The practice of inversions can help improve circulation by increasing oxygen to the brain, balance the nervous system, and relieve stress.

"Sometimes you have to let life turn you upside down, so you can learn how to live, right side up."

B.K.S Iyengar