Four Back Bends: Strengthening the Lower Back: The Difference Between Cobra Pose and Upward Facing Dog

These are four back bends that look a lot alike. Three of them are useful for using in flow movements where you move with your breath, otherwise known as vinyasa. One of these back bends is a wonderful back bend to do later in a practice when your spine is warmed up enough so that you can move deeply into back bending. However, if you moved into this one quickly and came out of it quickly while doing a flow, you could end up hurting your back.

Any of these variations, if applied appropriately, can help strengthen your lower back. Lower back strengthening can often help the health of your lower back and your spine in general, but you do not want to over do this kind of work. Any of these postures, done in a way that is inappropriate for a practitioner, could create problems for the health of the practitioner's spine. When practicing these postures, if you begin to feel gripping or tension in your lower back or any other part of your spine, it is an indication that you are either going too far or doing something that is not quite right for your current needs.

UpSideDownCarl


This is a variation of Bujangasana, Cobra Pose that is often referred to as Baby Cobra. This back bend is safe and healthy to do as a replacement for Upward Facing Dog in a flow or vinyasa. A key feature of the posture is that the back muscles are lifting you and you only lift to the height that your back muscles will allow. Another key feature is that the back of the neck and the lower back are relaxed and open. There is no compression or tension in either of these areas. The back of my neck is smooth, not wrinkled.


This is also a variation of Bujangasana. You could also call this Baby Cobra Pose. This back bend is almost the same as the first one. The key difference is that the hands are now in the air and I am rotating my arms in a way that gives me useful work for my external rotator cuff muscles as my shoulder blades stay on my back. In addition the the rotator cuff, the muscles in between my shoulder blades are working a little more strongly than they were in the first variation of Bujangasana. Because they hands are not touching the ground my spine will probably work a little more strongly as well.


This is also a variation of Bujangasana, Cobra Pose. This one is often referred to as Full Cobra Pose. It is not Upward Facing Dog. This variation of Bujangasana is the deepest of the four back bends. I am not as high up in this pose as I am in Upward Facing Dog but the hyperflexion in my spine is deeper. Distinguishing features of this variation are that my hips are on the ground; my thighs are on the ground as well. My spine is passively being moved into the back bend from the work in the arms as my chest expands forward and my shoulders help broaden my chest. Because my spine is able to be passively moved I can arch my spine deeper here than in the other variations of Bujangasana where the spine was active or in Upward Facing Dog where my spine works with my legs and abdomen to stabilize and protect my lower back as a result of my legs being lifted away from the ground. But these reasons that alow me to move deeper into the back bend are also are what determine that I should move into this pose slowly and stay in the pose for several breaths and then move out of the pose slowly rather than what would happen in a flow sequence where you would move into the back bend on an inhale and then you would be moving out of it again when the exhale comes. I see a lot of practitioners do a variation of this pose where they simply do not have good form and are not doing Upward Facing Dog even though they think they are.

This is Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Upward Facing Dog. Distinguishing features of this posture are that the only parts of my body that are touching the ground are my hands and the tops of my feet. I am using my legs to help stabilize my lower back. My core is slightly engaged; I am gently pulling my lower abdomen inward to help lengthen my lower back and protect it. My spine is also active here. It is both working to bring me into the pose and to stabilize and protect my lower back. Please note that I am gazing forward and the back of my neck is long. Someone who is really flexible might look upward instead. When it is okay to look upward is when your back bend is deep enough for your chest to start pointing upward. Please note, in the deep variation of Bujangasana my gaze has started turning up even though I still have a long relaxed neck. In that pose my chest is also turned a little more up then in this variation of Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Upward Facing Dog, the pose where the legs are not touching the ground to protect the lower back, is the pose with the arms lifting you, that people should be using when flowing through a sun salutation. If the hips stay on the ground you could be comprimising the health of your lower back.