Lower back, neck, upper back, shoulders and wrists

Cat-Cow: Seated Hands-Free

A version of Cat-Cow done sitting on the mat that mobilises your whole spine without any hand or wrist loading. If sitting on the floor is not comfortable, choose the seated chair version instead.

How to do it

1. 1

   Sit tall on the mat, knees bent or legs crossed

   Hands resting on your shins or thighs. Nothing to hold and no weight through your wrists in this version. If sitting on the floor is not comfortable, use the seated chair version instead.

2. 2

   Breathe in and lift your chest

   Let your back gently arch and your collarbones widen. The movement starts in your ribs, not your neck.

3. 3

   Breathe out and round your back

   Draw your chin gently toward your chest and let your upper back curve. Your hands can press lightly into your thighs.

4. 4

   Keep the range comfortable rather than maximal

   This is a movement to loosen a stiff spine, not a stretch to the very end of your range. Your gaze stays soft.

5. 5

   Continue for 1 to 2 minutes with your breath

   Slow enough that the breath leads and the movement follows.

What to watch for

Throwing your head back at the top. The neck travels with the upper back, gently. Stop if it brings on dizziness or symptoms into an arm.

Ways to adjust it

• Smaller range
• Neutral gaze

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Cat-Cow: Seated Chair

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Cat-Cow versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

• Cat-Cow: Blocks Under Hands
• Cat-Cow: Classic
• Cat-Cow: Seated Chair
• Cat-Cow: Small Range
• Cat-Cow: Standing at Wall

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.