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If you were to name the three most important yoga asanas among the three hundred odd ones, Bhujangasana or the cobra pose is one of them. Bhujanga means serpent. You are afraid of the serpent, because of its poisonous bite. But, the fact is that the serpent does not bite anyone, unless one tries to harm it. The two areas immensely benefited by doing Bhujangasana are chest and the spine. It promotes flexibility in the later and ensures movement in the former.
Cobra pose is actually a pose of Hatha yoga.
How to go about it?
* Lie down with your forehead on the floor, your bodyweight on the abdomen. Place the arms at the sides.
* Breathe deeply, a couple of times, and lift your head from the floor.
* Raise the shoulders and remain in that position.
* Let your palms touch the floor, while you place your hands beside the chest.
* Now, you are not raising the stomach off the floor, but raise the chest along with the arms.
* Hold on to this position and take some deep breaths.
* Exhale and lower the body and place the forehead in its original position.
This asana needs to be repeated 3 to 4 times, but do it at intervals of about 30 seconds between each effort.
Benefits of Cobra Pose
Cobra pose helps strengthen the spine and make you better able to beat stress and fatigue. It helps to restore the balance in metabolism. It opens heart and lungs. Abdominal organs get good exercise and their stamina is increased. It is supposed to awaken the kundalini.
Be Cautious!
Those with back injury, chronic headache, the causes of which have not been thoroughly established by your physician, pregnant women and those with carpal tunnel syndrome should not practice this asana.
You must learn this asana from a qualified yoga teacher so that you may not harm yourself by doing it in an unscientific manner.
A Few Things to Remember
* While you raise your body, make sure that you do not give jerks.
* You must put minimum weight on your hands by dividing it on your spine and arms.
* Do not raise your navel or the lower part of it while performing the asana.
* While coming back to the normal position, do not bend you head first. Make sure that your body part that left the ground first returns last to the ground.
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