Yoga asana a to z - "a" is for adho mukha svanasana

Adho mutha svanasana means downward dog pose. This is one of the key ten yoga poses that would appear in practically 99% of any yoga class. It can be used in either a vinyasa (movement centered on the breath) as one of the key transitional poses eg surya namaskar (sun salutation), or on its own. This pose has the characteristic of being a gentle back bend, an inversion and standing pose all at the same time. You can also change it to be puppy (knees on floor), 1 leg downward dog, 1 arm downward dog, or bring torso closer to tight with very bent legs. In sun salutation it is considered a resting pose.