The Dogma of Alignment; Your Shoulders in Down Dog

Dogma: A prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by a particular group.

Shoulder impingement is caused when tendons rub against the acromion (a bony projection of the scapula). Tendons do this when torn or swollen, generally from overuse or age-related wear and tear.

Take a yoga class, and you’ll likely find yourself in Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana in Sanskrit). Once there, the teacher will probably say one or more of these cues:

“Take the shoulders up and away.”

“Take the shoulders down and back.”

“Externally rotate the upper arms.”

“Relax the neck.”

“Get your shoulders out of your ears.”

“Protract the scapula.”

“Externally rotate the deltoids.”

“Depress and upwardly rotate the scapula.”

The idea behind these cues is a belief that one particular alignment is “safe”’ for shoulders and will avoid any shoulder impingement. Commonly, anything outside of these cues is considered potentially dangerous, however, the alignment these cues enforce only suits a small number of yoga practitioners. Not only that, it creates fear around this pose. Yogis begin to believe that if they do something a particular way, they will be injured.

The first approach for teachers is to trust that a student has had their shoulders for a lot longer than a teacher has been instructing them in down dog. Second is to ask questions. The third and easiest is to cue in a way that allows students the freedom to choose.

If we were all made the same, and our boney structure was that of a plastic skeleton, these cues and theories might hold up, maybe. But the reality is that we are all incredibly different. What might cause an impingement in one person can go completely unnoticed in another. Our soft tissue ends up being pushed on or squeezed with any movement that we do. And it is generally designed to handle it.

TEST - Wherever you’re sitting right now, bring the arms out in front of you and protract, this causes you to pull the front body in, as you would in Bakasana. Now keep that same position and bring the arms up overhead. Notice how the shoulders are up around the ears.

This is an example of the draining of the ocean of knowledge of yoga. One person relatively new to yoga gets certified and turns around and offers their own ytt. The people in that ytt then began their own ytt’s. All the while, the scope of yoga becomes more and more narrow and rigid.

Time to open your mind, free up the rules of alignment, and invite a more supple approach to a yoga practice.

Below I’ll give 3 examples of shoulder alignment, why someone would practice that way, and how it will benefit other poses, as well as the limitations that they can possibly create. What it’s all about is finding the similarities between poses so that we are able to expand and move effortlessly.

Downward Facing Dog #1

This is the current trend in shoulder alignment in Down Dog. This is when you will hear the majority of the cues that ask you to get your shoulders out of your ears. The thought being that this will keep the shoulders ‘safe’ and free from impingements. Shoulder impingement is quite complicated, yet over simplified in yoga. Soft tissue is designed to come into contact with the boney structure. This happens in other poses in yoga where we reach our arms up over head, such as Warrior 1 and child pose. This is also incongruent when it comes to poses such as Bakasana, where we are asking for a lot of scapula protraction (moving the shoulder blades away from each other).

Downward Facing Dog with current popular alignment

I’m not suggesting that this alignment trend is wrong. I’m suggesting that it is fear based and coming from a place of limited experience and lack of foresight.. Practice this way if it’s comfortable for you, not because you’ve been told it’s preventing an injury.

Downward Facing Dog #2

This is typically when you’ll be adjusted by a teacher. Someone might come over and guide your shoulders to move up and away from the ears, without the knowledge that the shoulder girdle is designed to do this and without checking with the individual student. Another typical adjustment is to lift your ribs up in order to make a straight line. Inevitably, that same teacher will ask you to execute this alignment with the shoulders in the image when you’re working on a handstand later on in class. Which is also the current popular trend in yoga. Those adjustments are realistic, as long as they are followed up with what’s happening with bandhas. An effective cue to follow up with is ‘reach through the sit bones’. This will give the desired outcome you’re aiming towards.

Down Dog with the shoulders up around the ears. Coupled with reaching through the sit bones, this is perfect.

If this alignment in down dog works for you, do it. If it is uncomfortable or inaccessible, take ‘em up and away. And check in with the other times you find yourself in this shape.

Downward Facing Dog #3

This version gets a bad rap. However, depending on how a student is built, their flexion or extension capabilities, etc, this is a completely viable down dog. The teachers that tell you this is dangerous are the same teachers that will ask you to perform Puppy pose (aka Melting Heart), either on the floor or at the wall, as well as Natarajasana with both arms up over head.

Big ol back bendy version of Down Dog. Perfect if you’re built this way. It will be asked of you in other poses. :)

This old school version (check out B.K.S. Iyengar and Dharma Mittra) is also fun and can be a great frame of reference for poses such as Natarajasna, Urdvha Dhanurasana, Padanghusta Dhanurasana, or even Gomukasana.

My method for teaching, and what we examine thoroughly in my classes, is an approach to asana that is always focused on the students’ unique abilities and comprehension. Yoga is a conversation with the body. Sometimes that conversation is free flowing, sometimes it’s an uncomfortable or confronting conversation that always leads to a better relationship between the present and future self.

In conclusion, cultivate a concept of ownership and curiosity when it comes to your shoulders. Experiment with your personal range of motion, listen to your shoulders, question the rules, and have fun!

Bright blessings,

Denise Payne