DDP Yoga Diamond Dozen: Cobra Into Down Dog

DDPY Cobra

Want a great stretch for your lower back? Cobra Into Down Dog is your jam.

Cobra Into Down Dog is one of the few postures/sequences in the DDP Yoga Diamond Dozen that keeps its name from a more traditional yoga practice.

How To Do Cobra

Typically, I might do a Cobra immediately following a DDP Yoga push-up. However, this is more than viable as a standalone stretch.

Lay stomach-down on the mat.

Place your hands underneath your shoulders. Your hands and feet are flat, and your glutes are loose.

Inhale and push your upper body off the ground, straightening your arms and rolling your shoulders back. Keep your hips and pelvis in contact with the ground. Look up as you do this.

Depending on your lower back, you may be more comfortable doing a sphinx pose.

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What Body Parts You Work In Cobra

When you’re in Cobra, you’re working your lower back muscles in addition to your triceps.

How To Do Down Dog

From Cobra, exhale back down so that you’re prone on the mat.

Curl your toes, and push yourself back into Table position so that you’re on all fours.

From Table, lift your hips up to the sky in to Down Dog.

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A more advanced version of this will be to go from Cobra Into Down Dog. From Cobra, you would drop your head, curls your does, and push up into Down Dog.

While in Down Dog, remember to drop your head between your shoulders. Push your chest back toward your thighs. Your heels may be on the ground, but mine typically are not so I can get a great stretch in my calves. I usually step my toes in an inch or two to make sure my calves are getting the best stretch I can give them.

What Body Parts You Work In Down Dog

Down Dog works many of the major muscle groups in the body, including:

  1. Hamstrings
  2. Calves
  3. Quadriceps
  4. Shoulders
  5. Back

The Benefits Of Cobra Into Down Dog

When you’re in Cobra, you’re able to open up your chest, stretch your lower abdominal muscles, and help bolster your posture.

Down Dog, on the other hand, helps to stretch and strengthen your calves, hamstrings, glutes, shoulders, and chest. You activate your core, meanwhile, to maintain your balance.

Try Cobra Into Down Dog

If you’re ready to give Cobra Into Down Dog a shot, come to one of my DDPY classes

Photo by Katee Lue on Unsplash

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