The steps required for performing this asana are:
Start by lying down on the stomach with the forehead on the ground, the hands beside the ribs, fingers in alignment with the portion of lower ribs and pointing forward
The top part of the feet should push in the ground and just similar to the Cobra position the knees and thighs need to be raised along with positioning the tailbone aiming towards one's heels
The legs should be kept connected and should not touch the floor while pushing the top portion of one's feet down and plummet the hips. In other words inhale and lift the legs as well as chest off the ground by straightening the arms
Ensure that the shoulders are positioned above the wrists and not curved close to the ears
One can choose to look straight in front or experienced individuals might even look up without constricting the back of one's neck
The anatomical focus of this particular asana is on the hips, back, thighs, legs, spine and the back portion of the arms. It helps in alleviating certain problems such as sciatica and fights exhaustion along with depression. The stretching of the mentioned body areas aids in opening up the lungs, heart and chest which is considered to be an effective treatment for asthma.
There are quite some therapeutic applications associated with Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. This asana helps in curing depression, sciatica, fatigue and asthma. It also helps in enhancing the functions of the nervous system along with ensuring proper functioning of the kidneys. It also aids in alleviating pain in the lower back. It is even therapeutic for people suffering from shoulder problems as well.
Urdhva Mukha Svanasana offers great deal of benefits and a few of them are:
Strengthens the arms, wrists and spine by a great degree
Enhances the functioning of the organs in the abdomen
Enhances posture through extending the frontal spine along with providing increased support to the posterior spine
Extends the lungs as well as the chest along with abdomen and the shoulders
Helps in alleviating fatigue, sciatica pain and depression
Boosts the capacity of the lungs and provides relief for people suffering from asthma
It ensures a healthy spine which enables one to carry out the daily physically stressful activities
Although, it can be evidently derived from the above statement that Urdhva Mukha Svanasana includes several benefits. However, there are certain circumstances in which it should be highly avoided. People suffering from back injury and headache should not indulge in the practice of this asana. Pregnant women and people with carpal tunnel syndrome also should not perform Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. It is always advised to perform asanas under an expert in order to prevent severe internal injuries.
People planning to attempt this asana for the first time might face some problems. This pose entails a propensity to droop the shoulders, which further raises them upwards near the ears along with causing neck "turtles". Starters must make conscious efforts to take the shoulders away from one's ears by broadening down along the armpits at the back along with drawing the shoulder blades inwards to the tailbone and puffing forward the ribs on the side.
Interesting variations can be introduced in the asana in order to make it simpler. This asana is known to offer a profound stretch to the complete spine as well as the front torso which at times become tough to attain as it involves increased flexibility. It can be stated in this regard that the Cobra Pose can be performed as a form of variation of this asana in a situation when one encounters difficulty while performing Urdhva Mukha Svanasana.
Complexity is quite often experienced in order to position the legs firmly suspended above the ground. Therefore, it is advised to use a blanket and roll it beneath the top thighs prior to attempting this pose. Once in the pose, the thighs need to be lightly supported on the blanket roll as one pushes the tailbone nearer to the blanket roll.
A partner is believed to be an ideal choice for assisting one to master the pose of raising the chest in this particular asana. A strap must be used which should be looped in the region of one's back torso. The partner should be made to sit in the front along with clutching and drawing the strap ends accompanied with pushing his or her feet frivolously against the front shoulders.
There are certain preparatory poses which aids in performing the Urdhva Mukha Svanasana correctly and prevents internal injuries. The preparatory poses are Bhujangasana and Setu Bandha Sarvangasana.
The follow up poses of Urdhva Mukha Svanasana which greatly aids in relaxing the body are backbends, Virasana and Tadasana. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana will enable one to raise the chest in the mentioned form of asanas.
There are certain procedures which help to further deepen the pose in order to augment the degree of strength as well as nimbleness of the pose in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Therefore, to attain the desired results as already stated one must press from the backside of the knees down the region of the calves and finally through the outer portion of the heels. The top of one's feet as a result would push additionally strongly against the ground and as it is done, one must raise up the upper sternum and in the forward direction.