Three Benefits of Cobra Pose

Did you know that Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) relieves stress and fatigue? Cobra Pose also opens your chest and clears passages in your respiratory system and lungs.

Here are Three Benefits of Cobra Pose:

1. Reduces Stress – Have you ever noticed that when you are stressed, you clench your jaw or hunch over feeling the tightness in your chest, shoulders, and neck? In Cobra pose you press your weight up through your palms to straighten your arms and lift your chest up and back, in this motion you are opening your chest, shoulders, and neck, while you rotate your arms inward.
2. Increases Flexibility in the Spine – In Cobra pose, you are lifting your spine when your arms push up to straighten. The spine lifts and bends backward, releasing tension and increasing flexibility.
3. Helps with Digestion- When in cobra pose, you stimulate your abs and abdominal organs. In Eastern tradition, cobra pose is known for increasing body heat, which releases the toxins out of your body and aids in digestion.

Beginner Guide to Cobra Pose

1. Start on your stomach, legs straight, hands underneath your shoulders. Keep your elbows to your side and pointed to the back of the room (not out).
2. Press your weight into your palms and the tops of your feet.
3. On your inhale to lift your chest and bring your shoulders down and back, lifting through your sternum.
4. Take a deep breath out and continue with a few deep rounds of inhalation and exhalations lasting six seconds, respectively and then lower your stomach and chest back down to the ground. Repeat.

Try Cobra pose before you go to sleep and when you wake for the next few days. Be careful not to over bend in your backbend or fling your neck back. I have inked the yoga mat and yoga mat strap I use below.