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Lower back, upper back, neck, hips, shoulders and wrists

Cobra: Baby

A gentle active backbend that lifts your chest just slightly, building back strength in a small range that is accessible and therapeutic for most people.

Spinal Mobility20 to 60 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie face down with hands under your shoulders

    Elbows bent and hugging in toward your ribs, forehead resting on the mat, legs long behind you.

  2. 2

    Lift the chest a small way with your back

    The hands stay light, so most of the lift comes from the muscles of your back rather than a push through the arms. The chest barely leaves the mat in this version.

  3. 3

    Keep elbows in and shoulders down

    Draw the shoulders away from your ears and keep the elbows tracking backwards rather than splaying out to the sides.

  4. 4

    Keep the back of the neck long

    Look slightly forward and down instead of lifting the chin. If you want less, walk the hands further forward and lift less again.

  5. 5

    Hold 20 to 60 seconds, or repeat short lifts

    Lower slowly, rest your forehead down and take a breath before repeating. Fists instead of flat hands help if the wrists prefer it.

What to watch for

Pushing through the hands to gain height, because as soon as the arms take over this stops being the small back led lift it is meant to be. Keep enough lightness in the hands that you could briefly lift them off the mat.

Ways to adjust it

  • Minimal lift
  • Hands forward
  • Gaze forward cue
  • Fists

If this one is too much today

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

Other ways to do this movement

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

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.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.