My New Approach to the Cobra Pose

Many years ago, when I was first learnt the Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana), I received a set of instructions very similar to those given by the "Yoga Journal" website: “Straighten the arms to lift the chest off the floor, going only to the height at which you can maintain a connection through your pubis to your legs”. I was quite flexible at the time and I thought I was doing this posture quite well,  following my yoga teacher's instructions to the letter.

Fast forward twenty years and three yoga teachers later. One important thing I have learned in all this time is that  approaches to yoga vary hugely from teacher to teacher, even staying within the Hatha Yoga domain. After relocating and becoming unable to attend the classes of my very first yoga teacher, I found it difficult to warm up to different teachers and different styles. But at some point I realised that listening to different points of view was useful. And that comparing approaches and making up my own mind about the best or most useful way to execute a posture was after all a good thing.

The Cobra pose is a good example of questioning and re-learning. The first piece of information that made me question my Cobra execution is in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Yoga" by Joan Budilovsky and Eve Adamson. They make the point that a snake doesn't have arms, so “you shouldn’t rely on your arms for this pose”. The following image is the illustration of Bhujangasana featured in this book:




Compare this with the Yoga Journal photo, and you will notice straight away that the arms are bent and the arching of the back is nowhere as impressive. And no, this is definitely not because we are looking at a beginners' book. One of the instructions given by Joan Budilovsky says: “your heels and toes are together”. If you try the posture this way, you will find  that keeping the feet and legs together seriously limits the arching of your back. Maybe this is not the pose you want to show in the photo that could prove to the world what an accomplished yogi you are. But the point is this: Joan Budilovsky's version of the posture is the one that really works the back muscles. As the authors point out, Bhujagasana is about “allowing the strength of the spine to move you”.

Joan Budilovsky is not the only one to take this view. Check out this website - Advaita Yoga Ashrama written by Swami Atma and you will find a very similar approach to this asana.

My own conclusion about the Cobra is that the version described by the "Yoga Journal" is about spine flexibility - the arms carry the weight and the back lets itself be bent as much as the flexibility of your spine will allow it. But if you want to strengthen your back muscles through Cobra, then you should follow the advice of Joan Budilovsky and Swami Atma.