Online Yoga for Beginners: Cobra Pose Variations
Video
Description
Do you experience low back pain? This could be when you walk, when you sit for awhile, or when you practice yoga poses a specific way. (These are just a few examples of real-life situations)
Have you been going to a yoga class where you’re asked to do the following in Cobra Pose? .
🧘🏻♀️ Draw the Shoulders Back
🧘🏻♀️ Elbows hug the side body
🧘🏻♀️ Relax the Glutes
🧘🏻♀️ Press the tops of the Feet Down
Would you like to consider what the intention of that is? Would it be to decompress the lower back? Is it to open up the chest? Maybe it’s to help the neck counter the constant tilting-forward action when looking down at a phone.
Now, what if you wanted to achieve a different intention within the same pose?
What if you wanted to create space in your spine after a long day of standing? Or if you wanted to reduce the compression of your lower back from a traditional Cobra? What if you wanted to engage your glutes just enough to get the core to stay awake with it (because sitting all day makes the glutes sleepy)?
So, try this out to make it more accessible for yourself:
🧘🏻♀️ Press the pelvic bone down (Not too hard, not too soft. Find that “sweet spot” that you like.
🧘🏻♀️ Lengthen the spine from the hips up to the neck (What does that do to your sense of height?)
🧘🏻♀️ Lift the rib cage off the ground (What does that do to your core and lower back?)
🧘🏻♀️ Broaden the shoulders away from each other (what does that cause your elbows to do? Do you need to widen your hand stance to stay in harmony with the shoulders?)
This is just one way to encourage the practice to serve YOU (vs the other way around). Try this out and comment with what you observe. There is no wrong answer, since every BODY is different!
What other variations do you enjoy with Cobra?
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