Cobra pose

Picture by Martin Sconduto

Said to strengthen and stretch the spine, chest, shoulders, abdomen, buttocks and relieve stress and fatigue.  Some common Cobra Pose errors are over-arching the neck and lower back, recommended to keep the gaze directed down at the floor.  *Wiki

*Yoga Journal

Cobra Pose

1.  Lie prone on the floor.  Stretch your legs back, tops of the feet on the floor [pinky toes also touching the floor].  Spread your hands on the floor under your shoulders.  Hug the elbows back into your body.

2.  Press tops of the feet, tops and pubis firmly onto the floor.

3.  Inhale and begin to straighten the arms to lift the chest off the floor, going only to the height at which you can  maintain a connection through your pubis to your legs.  Press tailbone toward the pubis and lift the pubis toward the navel.  Narrow the hip points.  Firm but don't harden the buttocks [keeping your pinky toes on the ground as well as your big toes will help you with this].

4.  Firm the shoulder blades against the back, puffing the side ribs forward.  Lift through the top of the sternum but avoid pushing the front ribs forward, which only hardens the lower back.  Distribute the backbend evenly throughout the entire spine.

5.  Hold the pose anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds, breathing easily.  Release back to the floor slowly with an exhalation.