King Cobra Pose: How To Do the King Cobra Pose Effectively
A versatile yoga practice provides numerous benefits, from physical improvements, such as better balance, to mental improvements, such as relieving anxiety and stress. However, to achieve a balanced practice, it's important to incorporate yoga poses that work all the major parts of your body.
What the benefits are, depends on what parts of the body the pose engages. The benefits of a yoga practice aren't always what you’d assume of yoga poses, such as the stereotypical improved flexibility. But they can also include improvements that other forms of exercise provide. A great example is the king cobra yoga pose, which is great for core strengthening.
Fortunately, like most yoga poses, there are several ways you can make the king cobra pose easier or more challenging, depending on your current ability or goals. This guide covers what the king cobra yoga pose is, how to implement it effectively, the different adjustments you can do, and the numerous advantages of practicing this yoga pose.
What Is the King Cobra Yoga Pose?
First, let's delve into what the king cobra pose is. In Sanskrit, the king cobra yoga pose is called Raja Bhujangasana, which translates to king (Raja), cobra (Bhujang), and pose (asana).
The king cobra pose is a yoga movement that falls under pose-type prone and backbend. So, you will improve the strength in your back if you effectively execute it.
How To Execute the King Cobra Pose Effectively
Now let's discuss how to execute this advanced yoga pose effectively so you can perform it safely. Below are the most common steps to perform this movement, including which yoga pose is best to use to transition into the king cobra yoga pose.
Step 1: Get Into Position
The best way to transition into the king cobra pose is from the regular cobra pose. To begin, roll your shoulder blades down and back toward your hips and squeeze your elbows toward your ribcage.
Next, spread your legs, so your knees reach toward the edges of the mat in a V shape. Then, begin to press into your hands and straighten your arms to lift your torso off the mat.
Ensure you keep your arms by your rib cage and your shoulders rolled away from your ears.
Now, reach your head high and then take the crown of your head up and back. Next, bend your knees and take your toes toward your head. You are now in the king cobra yoga pose.
King Cobra Adjustments
Luckily, this advanced yoga pose has different variations that you can try to make the king cobra pose more challenging or manageable depending on your goal or fitness level. Below are a few different adjustments to meet your needs:
If you're finding it hard to maintain the back bend or keep your feet behind your head, you can extend a strap across the tops of your feet and hold down either end beneath your hands.
Or you can support your legs by using a wall to lean your shins against, allowing you to push your feet forward toward your head more easily.
If you want to make the king cobra pose more challenging and deepen the stretch, you can grab your feet with your hands and extend your neck long behind your feet.
Step 2: Hold the Pose
If this is your first time executing the king cobra yoga pose, try to hold the pose for 5 to 10 breaths. After time and continuous practice, you can increase the duration of how long you hold the pose as you become more accustomed to it. But remember, never exceed what your body can effectively and safely perform.
Step 3: Exit the Pose
To exit the pose, slowly lower your legs back onto the mat with the tops of your feet flat while gently lowering your head down and onto the mat and placing your arms flat at your sides. After executing this advanced and challenging king cobra pose, enjoy some time in child's pose and corpse pose to rest your body.
The Benefits of the King Cobra Pose
Whether you've just started your yoga practice or have practiced yoga for years, yoga provides benefits that makes practicing it frequently valuable. The king cobra pose offers several benefits for the body, which include:
Strengthen and elongate your core
Strengthen your back and spine
Increases mobility of the spine
Stretches your hips and quads
It opens your chest and shoulders
Tips for Performing the King Cobra Pose
When executing a pose, it's necessary to remember that not all bodies are the same, so there is no "correct" way to perform a pose; instead, there are effective ways to execute it. Below are a few helpful tips to ensure that you effectively execute the king cobra pose:
Practice Prep Poses
Because this is an advanced pose, you must prep your body before attempting to execute it. To do this, try practicing a few preparatory poses to prepare your body for the king cobra pose. For example, you can practice poses such as child's pose to open the hips, cat and cow pose to warm up your spine, and of course, baby cobra, then cobra pose. You can also add a bridge pose to strengthen your back and spine.
Adequately Warm Up
Since this is an advanced pose, you must ensure that you adequately warm up your body before attempting to execute the king cobra pose. Performing a few repetitions of cat and cow pose and cobra pose before trying to execute the king cobra pose will significantly help you execute it effectively.
Avoid This Pose If
It's important never to attempt such an advanced pose if you suffer from and have experienced conditions such as back injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
Yoga For All Humans believes everyone can and should practice yoga, regardless of their fitness level or experience. If you're ready to try out the king cobra pose yourself, YFAH offers excellent online yoga classes for everyone.
So, what are you waiting for? Book a class today and start enjoying the fantastic advantages of a regular yoga practice!
Author - Derek Haigler
Founder of Yoga for All Humans