Surya Namaskara is an ancient way to begin the day with the worship of the sunrise. This page is dedicated to ancient prayer flows to and deep appreciation for each day.
Cobra Waves Sun Salute (No 25)
This Sun Salute enters Cobra 3 times in flowing wave like motions. The deep lunge pose really stretches the hip and gluteus muscles. If you have a condition in this area you may want to be careful and not too forceful.
Cobra Pose Tips The entrances into Cobra shown in the video are a little fast. When you perform this sequence you may want to do them slower.
It is quite hard to take a long slow breath when entering Cobra as the muscles used for the entrance often interfere with the inhalation reducing the intake of air.
It is nice to hold a Cora pose for a little while before flowing in and out of it fast. This way the muscles and ligaments get a chance to open up preventing injury or aggravation in your lower back.
(Tip! Tuck your sacrum in slightly and pull the navel up a little. Don't do it too much through. It is an awful tendency of many practitioners in this day and age as it spoils the breath. Just enough force to lift the discs so the do not compress.)
Inhale into a backbend.
(Tip! The backbend shown is quite deep. It is healthier to enter a gentle backbend.)
Exhale into a forward bend.
The hands are shown wrapped around the legs. You may want to place them down on the mat instead. On the fingertips may be a better idea.
Inhale and step the right leg back.
The knee is shown slightly dropped. This allows you to achieve more of a lift in the chest. It also gives you a little momentum for the step back into Downward Dog.
Sometimes the fingers are pressed down so that wrist muscles are engaged and a little lift is given to these poor little compressed joints in the wrists. Experiment so that the wrists are not strained.
Naturally the outer muscles in the arms are used more than the inner arms. Always try to use all of the muscles in the arms when performing postures that require arm muscles.
This is a hard and vigorous transition. The breath often stops suddenly because of the muscles being used around the diaphragm.
Exhale for the first part of the transition.
Try to get into the pose on the exhalation. This may be hard. Close enough is good. It's all about being relaxed during the transition and removing any tightness or tension.
Inhale into the lunge with the arms above the head.
Look up Slightly.
Straighten the right leg and hop the left leg forward as you lean forward and down with the upper body.
Interlock the hands behind the back.
Inhale and stretch up with the upper body.
Interlock the hands for a deeper stretch that does not interfere with the breath so much.
Exhale into Tadasana with the hands in prayer position.
