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| Hi!
I have a question about the Up Dog / Cobra position.
When pushing up on arms, the arms should be completely straight ultimately, correct? And while the arms are straight, does the pelvis lift off the floor? My arms are really long so it seems that when they are straight, my thighs and below are just touching the ground. Is this correct?
Thanks,
gtrekker2003 |
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| upward dog and cobra are two different postures, and in many ways, their alignments are not similar.
in upward dog, the arms are straight. the legs and hips are up off of the floor, so that only the palms and tops of the feet are on the floor. the hands are back near the hips in this posture.
in cobra pose, the arms start bent. this is a deep back bend, and many people push to the 'purna' or 'complete' version long before they're really ready. the full version has straight arms, but most people will practice with some level of bent arms for a very long time.
the alignment of cobra pose begins as following:
lying on one's stomach, the hands come under the shoulders such that the thumbs are in line with the nipples. the shoulder roll back and the shoulder blades draw together, elbows pulling in toward each other.
the feet are together, toes pointed. pressing into the top of the feet, one engages the thighs and belly muscles, tailbone drawing towards the heels. on the inhale, the practitioner presses into the hands and lifts the chest and head, taking the gaze forward.
most people will not get much more than a few inches off the floor here, and the gage as to how strong the back is (because this takes a great deal of back strength) as to whether or not the arms should start to be straightened is to lift the hands off the floor while maintaining the proper leg and back alignment. most people can't lift their chest that high with just the muscles of the back, so they should stay where they can, and then move the hands down to the floor for balance, rather than pushing up through the hands and forcing the posture.
eventually, the posture will have straight arms, but the hands are well away from the hips in the posture. typically, the front, top of the pelvis lifts off the floor as well in this pose, and then the knees bend and the feet come to the head. if the individual can maintain the strength in the back, they come into "king cobra" where the arms reach back for the knees, the feet are touching head, and the front pelvis and whole of the upper body are off the floor.
hope that helps a bit. |
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| Little confused here.... I've always been told that the pelvis stays glued to the floor in Cobra, even in the full, straight-arm version.
Fee |
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| when i do it, the lower part of my pelvis is on the floor, as are the psoas, etc, but the upper part of the pelvis (the upper part of the front of my hip bones) are off the floor.
so, here's how i think about my pelvis, honestly. i have a front and back. the back is the triangle of tailbone to the top of the sacrum. the front is the open space of muscle, a triangle from the pubic bones to the top edge of the front of each hip bone.
when i do cobra pose, the pubic bone and lower part of the triangle is on the floor (where mula bandha is), while the upper part is off the floor (the top of the hip bones).
often, when arms are not yet straight, the whole area from the pubic bone to the top of the hip bones (that whole triangle of muscle) is on the floor. but i find it lifts as the arms straighten.
when i can hold my back in that position without any weight in the arms, i reach back toward the knees and bring the feet to head. ad this point, the weight shifts forward just ever so slightly, putting more weight on the top of the thigh and lower part of the hip bones and pubic bone (no weight there, no pain or anything) but the front part of the hip is still lifting.
i suppose that could be simply communicated as 'keeping the pelvis glued to the floor' or it could be viewed in the two parts of the pelvis--one glued, one lifted--the way that i experience/explain it.  |
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| This is a bit confusing. Any diagrams online? I looked but couldn't find anything.
The Up Dog technique they use at the yoga place I go to is with pushing up on the arms till they are extended and tilting head and shoulders back. Sounds like the pelvis should stay on the floor? But then my arms will be bent? Is that okay? As I said, I have really long arms that are not in proportion to my body!
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| i don't know what school of yoga you practice, but i know these postures are two completely different poses, and not as being the same pose.
and while upward dog does have shoulders back and face up (eventually), it's still not the same alignment as cobra.
here's upward dog: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/474.cfm
and here's cobra pose: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/474.cfm
notice the hand positions, the leg positions, and the position of the pelvis. as i described, upward dog is only hands and tops of feet on the floor, and cobra pose is keeping the legs grounded, hands are further forward than in upward dog, and eventually the arms go straight.
the biggest alignment problem that people have with both postures is collapsing the shoulders by the ears, this is most common when trying to push up all the way into straight arms with cobra--most people simply don't have the flexibility in their backs and shoulders to get into this pose.
rushing this pose can lead to major neck and shoulder pain. so, don't rush it.
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| here's the link for corba pose: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/471_1.cfm
sorry for the mistaken link. sometimes my control+c isn't great. |
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| You must've not been looking in the right place! YogaDancer has a great website with tons of pictures, as well as detailed explanations. This is the link to her cobra page: http://www.yogadancer.com/Pattra/Bhujangasana.shtml#Full And this is the link to her upward facing dog page, for comparison: http://www.yogadancer.com/Pattra/Svanasana.shtml#Urdhva Hopefully that will help. As zoebird said, first work cobra to your limit without using the hands. Learn the actions involved in the pose first before trying to make a certain shape. |
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| What a great website I could read it for hours.
I practice low cobra. I don't teach any other ones.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Ultimately, cobra does not use the hands. As BKS says, cobras do not have hands!  But until we can lift our chests off the floor to nearly a 90 degree angle from the floor, we shall use our hands  |
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| No I understand. Thanks everybody! |
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Up Dog Technique
