The cobra yoga pose is a backbend that engages multiple muscles in the back of your body while also stretching muscles in the front of your body. It is often included as one of the steps in the sun salutations, a popular energizing vinyasa yoga flow. Below, we discuss how to execute the cobra yoga pose, its common adaptations, and its benefits.
3 Main Benefits Of The Cobra Pose
To maximize the benefits of the cobra yoga pose, you need to incorporate it into a larger yoga flow, such as a sun salutation. Moving dynamically through a series of poses allows you to energize the body, train balance and coordination, and target multiple muscle groups for improved strength, flexibility, and pain relief.
The pose itself engages and stretches specific muscle groups, resulting in improved flexibility, strength, and pain relief. We narrow down the cobra pose’s impact on the body in the list below.
Improves Flexibility
The cobra yoga pose lengthens many muscle groups in the front of your body. Opening these groups improves flexibility and increases mobility in the targeted areas. Seniors, people with limited mobility, and anyone who wants movement to feel freer and easier will benefit from the cobra pose.
Below are the muscle groups targeted by cobra pose:
- Pectoralis muscles: A muscle group in your chest that is responsible for shoulder mobility.
- Trapezius muscles: Triangular muscles that spread from the neck to the shoulders. Like pectoralis muscles, they help with shoulder and arm mobility.
- Abdominal muscles: More commonly known as abs. Stretching these muscles increases your spine’s range of motion.
- Ankle dorsiflexors: These help you move your feet.
Improves Strength
Holding a pose while breathing deeply helps engage the muscles in use. The cobra pose, in particular, helps many of your back muscles build strength. This gives you more power to move through day-to-day activities with ease.
Below are a few muscle groups worked in cobra pose:
- Erector spinae: Spinal muscles that help hold your body up.
- Rhomboids and middle trapezius: Muscles responsible for upper back strength
- Gluteal muscles and hamstrings: These muscles are located on your rear and the backs of your thighs, respectively, and help with thigh strength.
Relieves Lower Back Pain
Stretching the back muscles releases any tension the spine might have accumulated. Additionally, by strengthening the back and core muscles, the cobra yoga pose gives your back better support, reducing the inherent strain in keeping the body upright.
How To Do The Cobra Pose
The cobra yoga pose has two common variations: the low cobra and the full cobra.
The low cobra helps beginners train their spinal flexibility. Meanwhile, the full cobra pushes the body further from the ground, allowing for a deeper backbend.
Both poses begin with the same steps.
- Lie on your stomach.
- Spread your feet hip-distance apart. Keep your toes pointed, with the tops of your feet on the floor.
- Press your hands to the floor under your shoulders, elbows bent and pulled to your sides.
- Choose between the low or full cobra:
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- To do a low cobra, engage your back muscles to pull your chest from the floor. Keep your elbows bent and your neck in a neutral position as you lift your head and level your gaze straight ahead.
- To do a full cobra, push your upper body off the ground by straightening your arms as high as you can without locking your elbows. Bend at the public bone and keep everything from the belly up above the floor. Level your gaze forward and keep your neck long.
How long should you remain in the cobra yoga pose?
If you’re doing the cobra pose as part of a sun salutation, you should hold the position for no longer than 30 seconds. The goal of moving through sun salutation poses is to train balance, build strength, improve flexibility, and increase your range of motion. You’re meant to keep a steady but mindful pace. The same goes for vinyasa yoga.
However, if you’re doing the cobra yoga pose in isolation or as part of a slower flow, you may hold the pose for as long as you feel comfortable.
Who Should Avoid the Cobra Yoga Pose?
Because the cobra pose provides a deep back stretch, it should not be used by individuals with severe back injuries. It also involves lying on the stomach, making it unsuitable for pregnant women and individuals who have recently undergone abdominal surgery. Individuals with wrist injuries, neck injuries, and carpal tunnel syndrome should also avoid it.
Common Cobra Pose Mistakes & How To Fix Them
Incorrectly executing the cobra pose may lead to overexertion or injury. Below are a few common cobra pose mistakes and how to correct them.
Overextending Neck
Overextending your neck might put unnecessary pressure on your spine. Whether you’re doing low or full cobra, you need to level your gaze forward and keep your neck in a soft curve aligned with your spine.
Locking Elbows
When you lock your elbows in full cobra, you tend to push your shoulders higher than necessary, which creates tension in the neck and shoulder area. Keep your arms relaxed and shoulder blades drawn down to mitigate risk.
No Back or Abdominal Engagement
You shouldn’t rely entirely on your hands to pull yourself up in cobra pose. Instead, work your back and abdominal muscles to provide better support. This strengthens the targeted areas, stabilizes the pose, and prevents hand or wrist injuries.
Lifting too High
The low cobra lift stops at the chest. Meanwhile, the full cobra lift stops at the belly, just before the pelvis. Lifting any further than the hips would put you in upward-facing dog territory, which is a harder and more intense pose.
Conclusion
The cobra yoga pose is useful for improving spinal flexibility. As a backbend, it stretches and engages the muscles on your back to increase mobility. It is also helpful for alleviating or reducing the potential for back pain.
FAQs
What is the difference between the upward-facing dog dog and the cobra yoga pose?
The upward-facing dog lifts most of your body off the ground. Only your hands and the backs of your toes are permitted to touch the ground. Meanwhile, the cobra pose only requires you to lift the body from the belly or chest up, depending on your chosen variation.
What is another name for the cobra yoga pose?
The cobra yoga pose is called bhujangasana in Sanskrit. It combines the word “bhujang,” meaning snake, serpent, or cobra, with “asana,” meaning pose. True to its name, the pose emulates the stance of a cobra with its head lifted off the ground.
Is it helpful to do the cobra yoga pose every day?
Doing the cobra yoga pose every day can help you improve strength and flexibility in certain areas of the body, such as the spine, thighs, and arms. However, it’s better to incorporate the cobra yoga pose in a larger flow to target other parts of the body. Moving through poses will help you train your balance, strength, and coordination.