Pull your elbows back against the floor to pull your chest forwards.
To get into cobra pose lie prone on the floor.
What is your body doing in cobra pose.
Set up a chair against a wall and have a bolster or a pillow on the mat for supporting the abdomen as you lift up in the backbend.
See also using cobra pose for safe stretching.
How to perform the cobra pose.
Press the tops of the feet and thighs and the pubis firmly into the floor.
Cobra is an essential element of sun salutations and is an alternative to practicing upward facing dog urdhva mukha svanasana in the sun.
On an exhale move into cat pose by rounding your spine and tucking your chin to your chest.
In bhujangasana your spine is extended as in all prone backward bending poses the elbows are slightly flexed and the forearms pronated.
Hug the elbows back into your body.
The backbending action is powered by the muscles of the back of the body.
Activate the backs of your legs and your spinal erectors.
Lie prone on the floor stretch your legs back with the tops of the feet on the floor.
On an inhale move into cow pose by arching your back and allowing your belly to sink to the floor.
Try to spread your shoulder blades to prevent winged scapulae.
By using the cobra pose in conjunction with other back related yoga poses a practitioner can develop the ability to maintain correct body posture and improve back strength.
Spread your hands on the floor under your shoulders.
Stretch your legs back tops of the feet on the floor.
Strength and flexibility are important components of a healthy back.
In your lower limbs the sacroiliac joint moves into counternutation so that the top of the sacrum tips backward and bottom tips forward the hip is extended and adducted.
Lie prone on the floor.
Begin in prone position on the floor with legs together and feet pointed.
But the pose is also a powerful way to tone the abdominal muscles.
Its name comes from the sanskrit words bhujanga and asana meaning serpent and pose respectively.
Cobra pose bhujangasana.
Lift your head and look straight in front of you.
Begin by lying prone on the floor with your big toes touching.
They get stretched as you move into the backbend and contracted as you control the movement and return to your starting point.
Return to lying prone on your belly but with your chest propped up by your elbows.
Lie on your belly with the chin on the floor palms flat on the floor under the shoulders and legs together.
Place your forearms on the chair bend your elbows and press your palms together.
What are the joints doing.
Pull up the knee caps squeeze the thighs and buttocks engage mula bandha and press the pubic bone down into the floor.
