Cobra - level 1 | Poses | SoMuchKula! Anusara Yoga

Bloomin’ Asana! | Level 1

Bhujangasana – Prima Materia

Christy Punnett | January 2010

Bhujangasana, often described as Cobra pose, is a beautiful, elegant backbend that actually means Serpent or Snake. A seemingly easy backbend, it is part of the Surya Namaskara sequence and is a regular feature of any yoga class.

Bhujangasana opens up the heart while strengthening the upper back, expands the diaphragm, strengthens the spine and abdomen and tones the arms and shoulders. Bhujangasana is reputed to tone the kidneys, the buttocks and legs and increase circulation.

Honestly, I don't really know a better pose for allowing subtle emotions to move through the body. At moments where deep seated emotions have arisen in me, this is the pose I turn to, asking my body to release what it no longer needs and open to what is new at the turning of the cycle.

Additionally, backbends generally have the reputation for alleviating back pain, reducing depression and, unlike forward bends that calm the nervous system, backbends are energizing and uplifting.

This seemingly simplistic pose is often practiced in a way that blocks the flow of energy along the spine and it sometimes takes time to convince students that less is more; this pose opens up in increments and the emphasis is the equality of the arc.

To discover what about this pose is snake-like and why perhaps it has been named in this way, we would have to look at the common mythological and spiritual symbol. There are varied positions that unfold this pose, from flat on the earth to raising its cobra hood, and also creating a deep circle in the upper back that would move the pose towards a whole, united.

Snakes have always signified the balance of opposites, good and evil, masculine and feminine. The outstretched snake is a symbol of masculinity, and when the snake forms a wheel with its tail in its mouth, it symbolises the feminine yoni, also known as the Ouroboros. The snake has creative and regenerative qualities. Like the female, it sheds its skin and creates a new one and is featured in Egyptian, Mayan and Celtic myths, among others.

“But time strips our illusions of their hue,
And one by one in turn, some grand mistake
Casts off its bright skin yearly like the snake.” Lord Byron

The creative powers of the serpent are recognized in many parts of Africa where the Cosmic Serpent manifests desire and is traditionally depicted as the Milky Way. One of my favourite myths is of the original Australians who speak of the rainbow serpent who is the carrier of the life force. This life force connects heaven to earth and in their mythology, has seven colours that relate to the seven chakras.

The spine carries the life force within the body in traditional yoga known as kundalini along a channel known as the Sushumna, with two snakes wound around this and intersecting seven times. It is a symbol commonly used today, although dated to antiquity, known as the caduceus. The caduceus is often used erroneously as a symbol for medicine (the traditional symbol of medicine is the rod of Asclepius which has only a single snake and no wings). The caduceus in myth is considered to be the wand of Hermes, who was the great messenger of the Gods and from whom we get the word hermeneutics, for the art of interpreting hidden meaning.

Ultimately the hidden meaning that matters here is that this pose represents the cyclical nature of things as they begin and end, illustrating the dual nature of all things, but also showing that these opposites need not be in conflict.

Bhujangasana has the qualities of wisdom, expression and creativity and symbolises the destructive and regenerative force of nature. As the Ouroboros, it conveys the message that my end is my beginning. Even in the pose, there is the cycle of breath, the opening and expanding and then the release and return to the ground of being. Too, in this form, it talks of a return to wholeness and has the ultimate quality of Androgyny, which is the symbols of masculinity and femininity united.

Carl Jung spoke of the Ouroboros as a symbol for assimilating and integrating opposites of the 'shadow' in man's unconscious. In this way, the serpent has come to neglect her positive qualities, good qualities like her regenerative life giving, creativeness and wisdom ensuring her place in the tree of life.

There are many ways to block the movement of energy in this pose as there are also many ways to hurt oneself. What we are concerned with is having integrity in the arch, what we are aspiring to is a continuous cycle, a circle which moves with ease and grace, which rejuvenates and pulses – expanding and contracting.

Preparation

In preparing for the pose we can feel the space between the shoulder blades that will soften as the posture unfolds. To do this I suggest coming to your hands and knees and allowing the space between your shoulder blades to soften and melt.

1 [ cobra home practice 1 ] 2 [ cobra home practice 2 ]

This melting is not collapse, but an honouring of the intention that I have set for my practice. As our first principle of Anusara Yoga, this means to Open to Grace, to open up to possibility and the rejuvenating qualities that moving prana through your spine will unfold.

This intention, too, is our willingness to open the window, clear the air, breathe in the fresh sea breeze. In Mary Oliver's poem Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches, she says 'who can open the door, who does not reach for the latch' – this is the moment of articulating our body's relationship with our mind's intention. Beginning here sets the stage for the revelatory nature of the whole pose. So take a few moments to breathe, feel your ujjayi breath moving through you, pause in the stillness.

[ attitude of the hands 1 ] in alignment

Placing our hands is the reaching for the latch; without correct alignment, our shoulders and heart will not have access to deeper movement. Here you can see the difference between alignment that will create impingement in the wrist.

[ attitude of the hands 2 ] out of alignment

There are four points on the palm of the hand that lay equally in the earth. The wrist is parallel with the front of the mat, and this will be the same for all poses in which the hands are in this position (for example, downward facing dog pose, handstand, chataranga dandasana and of course bhujangasana). We want to make sure that there is no collapse of the retinaculum (the centre of the wrist), which should instead be like a keyhole, and that there is energy being drawn up through the arms, out of the earth, into the bottom of the heart. The back of the body is filled even as the heart surrenders and opens.

[ downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana) ]

From here we can stretch back into adho mukha svanasana which, when practiced fully, opens the back and front of the heart, engages the shoulder blades and creates extension and warmth.

In downward facing dog, ensure that your fingers are pressed firmly into the earth and that you are still drawing energy up the forearms to the bottom of the heart. The inside and outside edges of the arms lift equally away from the floor and, keeping this lift, begin to draw your shoulders deep on your back. One way to do this is to bend your elbows out to the side of the body and with this bend, activate your scapula deep onto the back, keeping them there and engaged. Stretch the arms all the way straight, you will have to squeeze the triceps to the midline actively. Maintaining this much lift in the arms, begin to descend the heart actively towards the feet without surrendering the kidneys or letting the shoulders drop. Keeping the arms and kidneys stable will allow that tight spot in the middle of the back to begin to open. Stay here for 30 seconds, using the breath to move deeper, and then lower yourself slowly to the earth through phalakasana (plank pose) and chataranga dandasana to the belly. Here you can see that the middle of the back does not compromise its integrity. Steady, it allows the space for the heart to soften and gracefully connects the belly to the earth.

1 [ downward facing dog ] 2 [ plank pose ]
3 [ chataranga dandasana ] 4 [ on the ground ]

Lying on the belly, look at where the hands are in relation to the chest, the fingers should line up with the chest (see the fourth image in the sequence above). As Mary Oliver says – 'who will behold the inner chamber who has not observed with admiration, even with rapture, the outer stone?'

out of alignment [ misaligned version ]

The way we place our body is still first principle, our way of noticing and being aware of our connection to the bigger picture. From here, most students push straight up into the pose using the arms. This as you can see doesn't maintain that beautiful continual arc of the Ouroboros. As well, it impinges the low back and this is one easy way to hurt yourself.

Another common misalignment is losing integrity in the legs, we don't want the buttocks tight but at the same time, having the legs far apart without any muscular energy will create pinching in the low back.

Feet, then, are hip distance apart and like all of our poses, there is stability and strength in the legs. They draw energy from the periphery to the core of the pelvis and the shins hug energy to the midline. I encourage my students to keep their toenails clipped down into the earth.

[ cobra with hands away from the ground ]

I sometimes ask students to come up fully into the pose and then take the arms away from the earth, as a remedial pose. This helps associate the pose with a backbend instead of an arm balance by using the muscles of the back rather than the arms pushing from the earth. The hands are active but not as a pushing action, instead they draw energy with strong fingers towards the feet isometrically and the chest and diaphragm expand.

[ preparation at the wall ]

We want to keep the strength in the legs for the side waists to lengthen out of this. Like a bloom, we are entering into the cycle of flowering, the Ouroboros signifies that birth and blossoming are part of the circle of existence. It is important to note that very much like life, this is not instantaneous and takes steady practice and watering. Just like a favourite orchid, we tend and care to it even when it is not in bloom.

This lengthening and expansion in Anusara Yoga we call 'Inner Body Bright'. More than physical, it is a state of awareness and willingness. We can see this when we look at the pose standing upright at the wall. The side waist is long from the hips to the underarms. Note that overemphasizing this may create a shrinking in the centre and tightness in the neck, so it is important to note that this lift is one that incorporates the heart and its expansion or attitude. Like the snake, the quality is the pulsation of regeneration which is both resilient and yet gentle.

Asana

Coming to the mat, we can begin to explore the pose for ourselves now that we have the basic alignment. Lying on the belly, the hands are shoulder distance apart (shoulder distance is the middle finger to the outer shoulder) fingers are spread evenly, take a breath and allow energy to flow up the arms. Legs are even and the shins maintain this steady quality.

Out of this begin to rise, side waist lengthens, drawn forward by the capacity of openness into the centre of heart. The hands draw energy back towards the toes and we begin to unfold the arc of the pose. As we maintain integrity in the legs, watch for collapse in the side body – you may feel a shortening, try then to keep an evenness of length as we take the body into a graceful arc. The belly should feel long.

When the knees press into the earth, we are continuing a feedback loop that generates more depth and expression. This takes more strength, but practice will train the legs to stay rooted as the inner thighs move away from the earth, giving space for the tailbone to begin to root down into the space that is created.

The belly will feel long. From the sacrum, the energy will be moving towards the heart, and from the tailbone, it will be rooting back and creating length in the legs. The side waists create the length that we have discussed and with the waistline long and the back of the body breathing, we can begin to draw the tips of the shoulders away from the floor. Pulling the hands strongly back in towards the elbows here will take you deeper.

Bhujangasana has the qualities of wisdom, expression and creativity and symbolises the destructive and regenerative force of nature.

Now from the upper palate, begin to draw another circle down the back and through the centre of the heart moving the heart forward. From the soft palate, the top of the ears flow back and the back of the head lengthens – think of a cobra drawing the back of its hood up and long to extend out of the skull, as you curl fully back with your deepest offering.

This deep symbolic circle of the Ouroboros, as Carl Jung said, symbolised the One before radical transmutation. Here however, all the refined ingredients of that ultimate state exist in their uncooked form – heat not yet applied to the unrefined, material, raw uncooked emotion.

Here at the height of the pose, all the seeds of rejuvenation, rebirth and promised illumination exist. We can access the heat of the pose, embodying the continuum, delighting in the process.

Breathe more expansively and subtly release more and more of what you don't need. Create a space for the pulse to follow the cycle all the way to the end. As you move to release the pose into the earth, do so in the same way you built it, and then lie quietly on your belly, spacious and filled with the quiet quality of your own breath.

As you practice this pose, allow the heat to build, see yourself as an arc transmuting energy. Endlessly Creating, Sustaining and Dissolving.

Keep Breathing and enjoy!

Namaste!

Also see handstand (adho mukha vrksasana) pose!