All about Cobra pose

Most common mistakes in Cobra and things to remember:

• Feet positioning – There is a tendency to flay the legs and feet wider than hip in this pose. Keep them together to encourage leg engagement.
• Sickling of the feet: You will see the toes turning inward & towards each other a lot in this pose. Consciously try to point the toes towards the back of the mat.
• Misaligned knees: This is closely connected to the sickling or inward toe alignment. If your toe is sickled, then high possibility that the centre of the knee is not on the floor. So lift up the knee, and try to bring the centre of the knee to the floor. If you have sensitive or weak knees, you can put a rolled towel under for protection, especially when doing yoga indoors.
• Gap between the mat and upper part of the feet – Majority of the practitioners will have a gap between the upper portion of the feet and the mat. You can either roll a towel under and press on to the towel or consciously activate that region and press down. With time, the top of the feet will gradually touch the floor.
• Shoulders scrunching, holding tension and lifting towards the ears: This happens due to wrong sitting postures adopted during the day and slowly becoming a habit. Consicously make an effort to push the shoulders away from the ears and keep the collar bones wide.
• Lifting the hip up away from the floor. Let it stay down even if it means less lift in the chest.
• Trying to get all the bend from the lower back and neck: This can cause compression in the lower back. Remember that lower spine and neck is naturally more flexible than the rest of the spine. Work towards an even bend in the whole spine. Focus on the mid and upper back, and try to elongate forward before going up. Keep the neck lowered until your back bend improves.
• Clenching the buttock – Clenching the glutes muscles can cause the legs to externally rotate and scrunch the lower back. Hence just engage them gently.
• Do not lock the elbows and hang out in your elbow joints .
• Using arm strength to lift the body up. This is a back strengthening exercise and not an arm strengthening one. Hence rather than trying to lift up with the arm strength, use back strength. Once your flexibility increases you can straighten the arms slowly.

How to do Cobra pose:

• Lie on the stomach with hands placed on either side of the chest.
• Palms face down, fingers point forward and arms remain close to the body.
• Legs placed close to each other or hip width apart.
• Engage top of the feet by pushing it firmly against the mat .
• Toes point out & lengthen towards the back of the mat.
• Centre of the knee remain on the mat and thighs push to the ground firmly. Glutes are engaged, but not clenched.
• Take a moment here to close your eyes and lengthen the body completely: upper torso towards the top of the mat and the legs towards the back of the mat.
• Keeping this length, inhale and lengthen the upper body forward first and then upward using strength of back muscles. This ensures the bend is evenly distributed to the lower, mid and upper back.
• The pubic bone and hips rest on the floor.
• Consciously roll the shoulders back and away from the ears.
• The elbows remain bent and close to the body.
• Keep less weight on the palm and lift up using the strength of the back muscles. Once you become more flexible, you can begin to straighten the elbows.
• Keep the neck in line with the spine.
• Continue to breathe as you expand the chest and widen the collarbones.
• The shoulder blades come together and push forward towards the heart centre to increase the lift of the chest .
• The gaze should be upward or forward, depending on the position of the neck.
• Remember to lengthen the neck and not scrunch or hyperextend it.
• Hold the position for 5-10 breaths.
• Exhale, slowly bring the body back to starting position without straining the lower back.

Benefits:

• Tones and strengthens the deep and superficial muscles of the back.
• Strengthens and activates the leg muscles and all the muscles of the posterior kinetic chain.
• Excellent  posture to relieve tension from the back and neck. Great for those who spent a lot of time on a desk job.
• Strengthens the spine, expands the chest, opens heart and lungs, increases breathing capacity.
• This pose is great for those  with back pain when done with the right alignment.
• Stretches the shoulders, firms the buns.
• Stimulates abdominal organs, relieves constipation, stress and fatigue.
• Stretching of the neck helps to regulate the thyroid glands.

All back bends strengthens the back while stretching the muscles in the front of the body. Cobra is a great stretch for the abdominals and chest  muscles. All yoga postures are endless – the more we practice, the more we can refine and improve the asana. Remember that it will be difficult to remember all of the cues initially.  Also, our bodies are made differently, and sometimes, you might need to modify these poses /cues to fit your body structure.I encourage all practitioners to use the cues as a guideline to develop the inner awareness required to improve your personal practice.

Written by:  Hema Laxman, RYT 500 

Owner, Flamingo Yoga, Wellness & Lifestyle