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Lower back, hips, knees and ankles

Downward Dog: Bent Knees

Bent knees remove hamstring tension so your spine can lengthen fully, making this decompressive pose more accessible for tight hamstrings and sensitive lower backs.

Upper Limb Weight Bearing60 to 90 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Set up on hands and knees with toes tucked

    Hands under your shoulders, fingers spread, knees under your hips. Press down through the base of your fingers.

  2. 2

    Lift your hips with your knees generously bent

    Send your hips up and back but keep a big bend in both knees and let your heels stay high. With the backs of your legs off the hook, your spine can lengthen freely.

  3. 3

    Tip your sitting bones towards the ceiling

    Aim the top of your pelvis up and away from your hands until you feel your lower back lengthen. This is the whole point of the bent knee version.

  4. 4

    Press the floor away and let the head hang

    Straight arms, shoulders wide, neck soft. Your weight stays shared between hands and feet rather than piling into the wrists.

  5. 5

    Hold for 60 to 90 seconds with the knees bent

    Come down to your knees and rest whenever you want to. Set the shape up again rather than hanging on past the point where your back stays long.

What to watch for

Straightening the legs as soon as it starts to feel manageable. The bend is deliberate, it is what lets the spine lengthen, so if the knees creep straight and the back starts to round, bend them again.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Downward Dog versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.