downward dog

noun

variants or less commonly downward-facing dog or downward facing dog

plural downward dogs also downward-facing dogs or downward facing dogs

: a yoga pose in which the hands and feet are on the floor and the hips are raised towards the ceiling creating an inverted V shape with the body

Yoga is also great for reducing stress, by taking you out of your repetitive thoughts, and a bit of downward dog can work wonders for your joints too.

—Matt Roberts

… a warmup of downward dogs and deep breaths.

—Ian Prasad Philbrick

Stewart suggested common, easy stretches for my shoulders and classic yoga poses like … downward-facing dog.

—Julia Pugachevsky

Word History

Etymology

free translation of Neo-Sanskrit adhomukhaśvānāsana, from Sanskrit adhas "downward" + mukhaṃ "face, direction" + śvānaḥ "dog" + āsanaṃ "seat, posture, asana"; so called from the pose's resemblance to the stretch a dog does after getting up from a lying position

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above