I am continuing to share three different ways that the same pose can be cued. I am talking about cuing via Anatomic way, Sensory way, or a way using Imagery. The first one is just using body parts as in “move your hand to your foot”. Or the sensory way where you might say “allow yourself to feel your foot”. Or the cues using imagery you might say, “start to untie your shoe”. Each way appeals to different people. Often times we aren’t even aware of what works best. We just hear and do. I think it is fun to see the different ways clear cut and separated out from each other. These are just examples of what could be said to cue Cobra pose.
Bhujangasana (Cobra)
Anatomic
Lie on your stomach with your forehead on the floor. Legs together, tops of your feet are on the floor, big toes together, heels slightly apart allowing for a slight inward rotation of your thigh bones. Place your palms on the floor next to your chin, wrists right under your shoulders. Slightly tuck your tail bone. Using your back muscles raise your upper chest off the floor into a small back bend. Your back muscles pull and hold you up. Your elbows are close to your ribs, they can be bent. Your arms are supporting, but not doing all the work. Shoulders are down away from your ears. Your shoulders are solid. Your chest open. The arms do not necessarily straighten in Cobra. For a bigger stretch in the abdominals and a deeper bend in the back you can straighten your arms, but since the back muscles are primarily doing the work, straight arms are not necessary. Your legs remain together with firm thighs and glutes.
Sensory
Lie on your front side, spine/neck in neutral position, forehead on the ground. Feel the ground on the front of your legs and feet, as they lengthening out behind you. Place your palms on the ground next to your chin. Sense the earth between your open fingers. Feel your wrists at your shoulders. Your hands remain rooted, grounded to the earth. The crown of your head is reaching away from your shoulders. Sense the space between each vertebra. When you are ready push, activate your back muscles and let them pull your shoulders and chest off the ground as you push gently down with your pelvis connecting to the earth. Sense the small bend in your back. The sense is of the strength in your back, you are using your arms lightly. They are not the strength in this pose. Feel the slight pressure from your elbows as they hug your ribs. Your heart space is opening your collar bones moving away from each other. Your shoulder blades are gently reaching towards each other and down your back. Your forearms are off the ground, but the arms do not necessarily straighten in Cobra, you have a bend in the elbows. For a bigger stretch on the front side of your body you can straighten your arms, but since the power and energy are coming primarily from the back, straight arms are not necessary. Straightening your arms would also create more of a bend in your back, but again, sense the work coming from the back.
Imagery
Lie on your belly like a snake. Your legs are your tail, they remain together, tops of feet on the earth. Place your palms on the earth with your wrists at your shoulders. Gently press down with your pelvis. When you are ready, think of a cobra. Think of how they raise themselves off of the earth, they don’t have any arms. So let the power come from your back. Your arms are supporting you, but not doing all the work. You feel the scales of your snake body with your elbows. Let your shoulders travel down towards your tail. Let your neck lengthen, stretching out your cobra hood. The arms do not necessarily straighten in Cobra, your back is doing the work, but if you want a bigger stretch in the front and a deeper bend in the back you can straighten your arms, but remember cobras don’t have arms.
Which one helps you get into the post better? Which one is your favorite?
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