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Lower back, upper back, neck, shoulders and wrists

Cobra: Seal Pose

The deepest passive back extension in this library, providing maximum anterior chain opening and spinal decompression for bodies ready for advanced extension work.

Spinal Mobility20 to 60 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie face down with hands wide and slightly forward

    Set them a little wider than your shoulders, roughly in line with your chest, legs long behind you.

  2. 2

    Straighten your arms and keep the hips down

    Press up until the arms are straight while the hips, thighs and tops of the feet stay on the mat. This is the deepest back bend in this family.

  3. 3

    Let the arms hold you, not your back

    Unlike the active versions, no muscle is lifting you here. The weight settles down between straight arms and the belly softens.

  4. 4

    Keep shoulders down, gaze forward

    Draw the shoulders away from your ears and look ahead rather than tipping the head back.

  5. 5

    Hold 20 to 60 seconds, then come down slowly

    Lower onto your forearms first, then all the way down. Take classic cobra with bent elbows if the straight arms are too strong, and use fists if the wrists prefer.

What to watch for

This is the strongest extension in this family and your arms are holding you there, so it is tempting to overstay. Choose a bent elbow version instead of grinding through any pinching low in the back, and come out at once if anything starts spreading further down a leg.

Ways to adjust it

  • Classic Cobra
  • Blocks
  • Gaze forward
  • 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.