Hot Yoga Pose Forums > Chapter: Bhujangasana
Because you don't want to put your weight in the hands... Then your back isn't working anymore.
AlexandriaS
I think?!
AlexandriaS
For sure! If there's weight in hands, then the biceps are engaged.
My question is: how do you convince students not to put weight into their hands? It's so tempting!
KristinaS
Testing by lifting the hands up is one way to encourage no weight in the hands. Here's another: aim to get the elbows to the hip bones; this pulls the shoulders down and back and that feels even BETTER than pushing up using the hands/arms.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I love this pose, and find that when my inner thighs and gluts are tight and firm I have more leverage in my lower back to lift up higher. Testing my hands by lifting them up also took the pose to a new level.
Melina
Yes, Melina - lock and lift is the mantra here!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I can tell when I'm doing this pose correctly because I really feel the muscles of my lower back working. I seem to feel it even more when I work to pull my elbow tips to my hips. Should I be doing this?
Mallory Maier
Yes thats perfect, Aimee! This pose is actually a back bend so you will indeed feel it in your lower back; and elbows to your hip bones keeps your shoulders down from your ears which is wonderful too.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
This is the one pose that feels so easy that i think I might be doing it wrong. I re-read the Master Class chapter on it and used no hands, and I also visualized extending higher. I think I did ok, kept my shoulders down and my elbows way down. I know it was making my heart race, but apart from that I didn't feel like I was doing anything or trying hard enough. I'm looking forward to the posture clinic to get others to critique!
Marguerite
Dont assume that easy means "wrong," Marguerite: when you get them just right, the hot yoga poses ALL feel effortless, which is the paradox: the more effort you put in, the closer you get to Nirvana where it all feels just right. Now, to extend even more in the pose, make your eyes look for the back wall instead of the ceiling. Tell how this feels.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
My cobra was much higher until I learned that cue to lift the hands slightly! I could feel it in my lower back both ways, hands pressing a little, and not pressing... I just went lower. So now I work from there. this pose isnt so easy for me but I like that I can feel the lower back working. One of the owners where I practice sometimes encourages us to push A LITTLE BIT FORWARD on the palms to get some height, then release to allow the back muscles to keep you there. What are your thoughts on that?
KimA
I definitely see the benefit of not putting your hands down so that you focus on using your back to lift, not putting weight in your hands. I focus a lot on getting my elbows back and not allow them to wing out.
HeatherS
Yes, Kim: lifting the hands is just an initial test of how much pressure you're placing on the palms and relying on the arms to lift rather than the lower back. Just lift to test and see the difference on where the lift is coming from; then when you place the hands back down, press into the outer edges of just the pointer fingers/thumbs rather than palms to get more lift and still be engaging the lower back. Pretty nuanced but those little moments count for a lot in each pose.
And yes, Heather: elbows start out pointing to the ceiling and then you're pulling them to the back wall/down into the hip bones. Notice how that little movement lifts the chest and just makes you soar more effortlessly!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
The tiniest adjustments bring about such big gains in a pose! Aiming those elbows down towards my hips when executing makes a huge difference in my lift!
Marguerite
Most definitely, Marguerite; and if you pretend someone had hooked elbows with you and it pulling you back more, you get even more lifted in the chest and uplifted by the spirit of this asana
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Beautifully gracious Cobra :). I love the pose. You do need to lift your hands to build the strengths and feel the differences. Truly feel how it feels to engage your lower back. The pose gives you a beautiful back curve by strengthening your muscles.The first time I realized that when I woke up one morning and lifted my body without my hands up and then I realized where it came from, from the Cobra. It felt awesome to lift my bode just like that. Therefore, it is very important not to engage your biceps but engage your lower back muscles in this pose. It is a very gorgeous one :).
Alfia
Not all classes instruct "lift the hand" - this is a Riverflow thing for sure and for exactly that reason, Alfia: once you feel this with your hands hovering you know that you are engaging your lower back. Important to keep the elbows pulling down to the hipbone and back to the wall behind you - which keeps your shoulders down - when your hands are hovering especially, and always when you are wanting to lift higher.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
i like that in riverflow classes there is the instruction to "lift the hands". i like the visual of keeping the elbows pulling down to the hipbone and back to the wall behind you bc when i first started i felt like my hands were never in the right place and my shoulders would start to scrunch up. i can def feel like i have gained more strength in this pose, but it def has been a slow process. i used to not breathe in this pose and that was a bad habit to break. slowly but surely ill get there!
danielle bumber
Thank you Rhonda for advise. I definitely focused on this in tonight's class. More elbows towards the hipbone made a difference. I also think that lifting the hands engages your back more and makes it strong and beautiful which is nice :).
Alfia
I do lift my hands in this pose as mentioned in the above posts and no weight is through them, but i have heard teachers say in class that you can put a little pressure on the outside of the pinky fingers to lift a bit higher.
It seemed my AHA moment in this pose was pushing down with the tops of my feet. I agree with Melina and have more leverage to lift when my inner thighs and gluts are tight and firm, but when i began to use my feet too it brought this pose to an entire new level for me and i was able to really lift and no hands were needed.
TinaA
I wholeheartedly agree, Tina! The AHA moment for me also was when I learned how to properly use my feet to get even more leverage force from the tops of my thighs. Once you have that locked down, the rest of the asana is flying!
For some reason I look forward to the lifting of my hands off the mat and placing them back down. I don't need to really anymore because I do not use them for lift, but it is something i like to do :)
This asana is one of my favorites. It feels so good when the elbow tips are glued to the hip bones and you reach up up up.
Grace
Maybe that moment of lifting your hands off the mat is lift-off for you, Grace - that moment of true flying!
And yes, elbows glued to the hip bones is powerful and correct but at the same time, try pulling the elbows to the back wall - so elbows both down AND back - and feel your chest lift even higher.
And yes - pressing the tops of the feet WILL get those thighs even more contracted and knees popped off the mat. Then, with the hands lifted, there are just three points keeping you earthbound: feet, thighs, hips. The rest of you belongs to heaven.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
It is a good tip Rhonda, elbows back and down, it does open the chest nicely and lifts you higher. Moreover, it feels so good when you bound only with three points and the rest goes to heaven. It is a beautiful pose. I do like to lift my hands sometimes as Grace mentioned above just to feel the strength of my core and lift higher. It does feel nice.
Alfia
Yes Alfia, lifting the hands assures no undue pressure - and then when you place them down again you can do so ever-so-lightly, just enough to make contact with the ground and be an anchor for you to stretch up from and lift the chest even higher.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
We tell our students to "test" their lower back strength by lifting the hands lightly to make sure they're not mistaking this pose for a push-up. Can you see why?