For Beginners: Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

This baby backbend can help compensate for all those hours spent hunched in front of a computer.

By Jason Crandell

Then slowly lift into Full Cobra by pressing your palms into the floor, drawing your shoulder blades into the back of your upper back, and releasing your shoulders away from your ears.

As your spine uncoils and your upper back sweeps into a backbend, reach out through your arms and, if it feels appropriate, straighten your arms. Keep your arms drawn firmly in toward your sides and pull your chest forward, creating spaciousness in your chest and abdomen.

Can you feel that sense of exhilaration that everyone's been telling you about? What subtle shifts would allow the pose to feel more even throughout your body? Can you integrate the work of your lower body with that of your upper body even in this deeper backbend? Remember, the size of your backbend doesn't matter.

After 5 to 10 breaths in Full Cobra, release to the floor slowly. Fill your back with fresh breath as you rest; observe the sensations in your spine, the movement of your breath, and the state of your mind.

Build to the Backbend
Before teaching yoga, I worked as a caterer for the San Francisco Symphony. The kitchen and practice room were close to each other, so I could hear the musicians warm up as I worked. I learned something then that continues to inform my yoga practice: Concert musicians spend at least an hour every day playing basic scales and simple compositions before launching into complex scores. Even the most accomplished players don't jump immediately into the difficult pieces—they build up to them, setting a solid foundation first.

Once you decide that size doesn't matter in your backbends, you'll have the patience to learn the proper foundations of the pose, such as how to work the legs, pelvis, belly, arms, and chest. And, just as a concert musician practices scales to prepare for a stellar performance, you'll feel how the foundations of Cobra Pose pave the way for all of your backbends to be more harmonious.

Jason Crandell would like to thank Nina Zolotow for her expertise and guidance. Contact him at www.jasonyoga.com.

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