Cobra pose or bhujangasana is a yoga pose that is a friend to your upper body and can can help in relieving back pain, shoulder tightness and soreness. It is one of the most basic and easiest poses of yoga. Cobra pose is the 7th yoga pose of Suryanamashkar. It stretches the body and opens up your spine, abdomen, shoulders and upper back. It is good for reproductive health and has many other additional health benefits. You can do pre and post yogasanas this back bending pose. However, there are some things that should be taken care of while doing the cobra pose. Read the article further to know about the benefits, precautions and steps to practice cobra pose.
Cobra pose benefits
Here are 4 main benefits of practicing the cobra pose:
1. Relieves stress
Yoga is a form of exercise known to reduce stress and anxiety. People suffering from depression should practice the cobra pose daily at home. It will help in reducing the buildup stress and put your mind at ease.
2. Strengthens spine
Because of the strong muscular engagement, it helps in strengthening the spine, the legs, butts, arms and shoulders. Cobra pose is popular for being an upper body strengthening workout. If you want to make your core strong, cobra pose is one of the best yogasanas.
3. Aids weight loss
Weight loss is not a direct benefit of practicing the cobra pose. There are many yogasanas useful for weight loss, and cobra pose is indirectly a helpful one. It boosts your metabolism, thus contributing towards one’s weight loss journey. It is advised to do this asana early in the morning for quick weight loss.
4. Opens up lungs and heart
Since cobra pose is a back bending yogasana, it helps in stretching the complete front of the body, including the chest and lungs, even the shoulders and abdomen. Therefore, it also helps in opening the heart and lungs and can make you breathe more freely. The cobra pose provide short term as well as long term health benefits.
How to do cobra pose?
Here is a detailed step to step guide on how to do cobra pose easily at home:
- Lie down on the yoga mat using your feet keeping a distance of hip-distance and your hands parallel to the ribs
- Keep your toes straight and press down the feet into the mat to open up your quadriceps
- Elevate your head and chest, while rotating your shoulders to and fro, while lightly putting pressure on your hands
- Keep a long back of the neck and lift your sternum instead of your chin when lifting your chin
- Keep your arms straight while maintaining a shoulder gap distance from the ears
- It helps in strengthening your spine Make sure to keep a small bend in your elbows at all times
- Get back to your yoga mat to complete the stance
- Repeat the same pose atleast 4-5 times
Cobra pose precautions
The aim should be more on boosting enough strength in the upper back, between the shoulder blades. Take care of both your lower as well as upper back. Here are some precautions to take while doing cobra pose:
- Most of the experts suggest doing the cobra pose carefully and slowly to avoid any stress on your back
- And, make sure that while bending your back, it is distributed evenly in the whole spine. Bending your upper back can seem more challenging as compared to bending your lower back
- Try to extend the spine to provide more space between the vertebrae to open it up
- Do not keep your body stiff and try to put as less pressure as possible
- Pregnant women should avoid doing the cobra pose
- Talk to a yoga expert if you are suffering from any underlying condition
