How to Do Single-Leg Downward Facing Dog Pose in Yoga

Man doing Single-Leg Downward Dog Outside

Lift that leg! Single-Leg Downward Facing Dog (Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana), also called Three-Legged Dog, is a common variation of Downward Facing Dog in a Vinyasa flow. You probably see this pose most often in transition, especially when you’re headed into an asymmetrical series of postures like Sun Salutation B or Dancing Warrior.

Raising one leg from Down Dog is simple-sounding enough, but to get the most out of it, pay close attention to your movement! The trick is to keep your alignment essentially the same as it was with all four limbs on the ground: squaring hips, even shoulders, and a sturdy base.

Read on for our step-by-step guide — then get ready to step your foot between your hands to come into Low Lunge.

Benefits of Single-Leg Downward Facing Dog Pose

Stretches your hips and hamstrings
Strengthens your arms
Improves your balance

Contraindications

Avoid this pose or talk to your doctor if you have injuries to your wrists or hips.

How to Do Single-Leg Downward Facing Dog Pose

Come into Downward Facing Dog pose. Make sure your feet are roughly hips distance apart, and create a sturdy foundation by wrapping your triceps down.
Lift your hips up and back, and melt your chest where the shoulders align between the wrists and the hips.
Press down into your left foot, then lift your right heel as high as it goes while keeping the right leg strong and active.
Press the energy of your left heel down toward the mat.
Point your right toes down and heel up to create inward rotation through your right leg.
Lift your leg up as high as you can, and extend so you feel a stretch through your left hamstring.
Flex or point through your right toes. Bring your gaze down toward the ground between your arms or toward the back of the room.

Follow Up Poses for Single-Leg Downward Facing Dog Pose

Low Lunge
Lizard Lunge
Pigeon Pose
Scorpion Dog
Wild Thing

Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana Meaning

Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana translates pretty directly into “Single-Leg Downward Facing Dog Pose”: “Eka” for “one,” “pada” for “leg” or “foot,” “adho muhka” for “downward facing,” “svana” for “dog,” and “asana” for “posture” or “seat.”

Adho Mukha Svanasana, or just regular Downward Facing Dog, and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, or Upward Facing Dog, were both named because they looked like dogs stretching. While poses similar to them appear more than centuries ago, these specific postures were cataloged with numbers as part of the Sun Salutation described in the 1928 book The Ten-Point Way to Health: Surya Namaskars by Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi. Their modern names appeared in Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s 1934 text Yoga Makaranda, then passed down through the works of his students BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. The single-leg version came later as Vinyasa practice expanded and evolved.

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