A Poem For Upward Facing Dog

"Sometimes the path towards the divine is to be like the shaggy dog who stretches his torso when he greets me at the door." -- from Upward Facing Dog by Corie Feiner

(I am pleased to share an audio version of this post for you all)

The Pet Store

While waiting for our tail pipe to be repaired at a local shop, my husband and I found ourselves along one of those roads no one ever walks on, but is full of garages, electrical supply stores, gyms, and a hodgepodge of other random stores we would not have noticed if not for the fact that we were stuck until our tail pipe was welded back onto the muffler of our car.

This is when we found the pet store.

Is there such a thing as pet store therapy? Is it a thing?

I know that watching kitten videos after a long day gives me a some healthy dopamine hits…

but to walk into this huge pet store and zip past the fish tanks, the lizards, the miniature frogs and even the chinchillas to the pet adoption section where the cutest puppies and dogs were leaping and jumping and chewing at each others ears…

gave me such joy that my whole body warmed up with tenderness

and tingling

and love.

It is in this spirit that I share with you the poem, Upward Facing Dog.

As you read this poem, I invite you imagine being in this pose. And then read it again (or even better, listen to the audio if you are a paid subscriber). Then hold this poem in your thoughts as you practice this movement — if you practice the yoga asanas.

Either way, I invite you to imagine a dog stretching and consider the idea that sometime we can make things overly complicated and that sometimes a stretch, a yawn, or an earnest shaggy shake can, perhaps, connect us all to something bigger — the universe, each other, and most of all, to our truest selves.

Upward Facing Dog

By Corie Feiner


Sometimes the path towards 
the divine is to be like the shaggy dog 
who stretches his torso 
when he greets me at the door. 

He may not have flowers, 
nor rice, nor libations of water 
as an offering, but he does have 

an old bone, a chew toy, that dirty 
pair of socks I renounced 
long ago. And still— 

when he extends his forearms 
forward, lays his hind legs flat, 
lifts his head behind him, 
and shows me his ruffled chest, 
I see how my thoughts know 

so little about truth and that 
in every living thing’s heart
lives the loyalty of the sun. 


Sanskrit Name: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

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Audio for Paid Subscribers

For my dear paid subscribers, you can listen to me reading Upward Facing Dog here.

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In Case You Are New to Upward Facing Dog

You can lean more about this posture by watching this interesting and precise video.

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Do you have a dog? If so, do you have any yoga dog photos? Please share and spread some smiles today!

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If you know of someone whom you think would find this poem useful to their practice or helpful for their lives, please do share—