Three-Legged Downward Dog Pose

Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana

Three-Legged Downward Facing Dog Pose aka Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana is a challenging intermediate forward bend and hip opener, a more advanced variation of Downward Facing Dog.

Common Name: Three-Legged Downward Facing Dog Pose
Sanskrit Name: Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana (Tri Pa-da Ah-doh MOO-kuh shvan-AHS-uh-nuh)
Level: Intermediate
Pose Type: Forward Bend, Hip Opener, Inversion
Target Areas: Arms, Legs, Hips, Shoulders, Back, Hamstrings, Calves, Chest

Three-Legged Downward Facing Dog Pose, is a variation of the classic Downward Dog Pose that offers an extra challenge to your core, shoulders, and legs. While it may seem like a simple modification, Three-Legged Downward Dog requires proper alignment and engagement of your muscles to maintain balance and stability. Practicing this pose regularly can improve your overall flexibility, strengthen your core, and help you develop a deeper mind-body connection.

Three-Legged Downward Facing Dog Pose Steps

Nude woman in three-legged downward facing dog — Three-Legged Downward Facing Dog Variation

Step 1

Start on all fours, your Cat-Cow pose. Make sure your shoulders are stacked directly over your wrists and your hips over your knees. Spread your fingers wide on the mat, middle fingers pointing directly forward. Ground down evenly through the hands.

Step 2

Take an inhale, and on the exhale, tuck your toes and start to lift your knees off the mat. Press down through the hands and send your hips up and back. Start to straighten the legs but don't lock the knees. Eventually send the heels down towards the earth.

Step 3

Keep the spine long and straight. You can keep a generous bend in the knees in order to keep the back straight if needed. This is Downward Dog.

Step 4

On an inhale, sweep the right leg up and back, keeping the hips squared down towards the mat and the right foot flexed. Only go as high as you can with the leg while keeping the hips squared.

Step 5

You can stay here and repeat the other side, or if you want to go a little deeper, you can start to bend the right knee and open up the hips to the right. Keep rotating the hips until the right hip is stacked over the left.

Step 6

Make sure to keep the upper body the same as it was in the previous variation, with the chest squared down towards the mat. Continue pressing down through the hands and draw your shoulders away from the ears. Engage the standing leg.

Step 7

Return back to Downward Dog and repeat on the other side.

Modifications

If you are tight in the hamstrings, keep a large bend in the knees in either variation, just making sure to keep the shoulders squared down to the mat.
If you are tight in the calves, you can stay up on your tiptoes.
You can create the same shape of the first variation while using the back of a chair for support. Grab the back of a chair and take a few steps back. Plant down through the feet, and bend over to the point where you can have a flat back. Bend the knees if necessary to achieve this. You can practice lifting one leg and then the other here with the support of the chair, remembering to keep the hips squared.