![]() ![]() Try adding lateral movement by shifting your hips from side to side with each breath, or try rolling your shoulders back each time you exhale.Ĭhallenge yourself to try to move extra slowly imagine articulating through the spine vertebra by vertebra. Once you gain comfort flowing with control, explore ways to have fun with cat–cow or further adapt it to your needs. Feel free to practice each pose individually, returning to a tabletop position instead of flowing between cat and cow. Inhale as you drop your belly and move into cow exhale as you round your spine for cat. ![]() Move through your range of motion painlessly, focusing on finding movement throughout your entire spine. To avoid these troubles, the first thing to do is slow down. ![]() Moving fast and forcing deep flexion and extension can exaggerate these imbalances and lead to neck and lower-back pain. Often, limited mobility causes them to flex and extend well only in some segments of their spines. It’s commonly included in yoga classes and in broader fitness sessions, often as part of a warm-up or mobility sequence.īy all appearances, it’s as easy as getting down on hands and knees, arching the back to lower the belly and point head and tailbone to the sky, and then reversing the move to round the back, tucking the chin and pelvis.īut it’s common for people to move quickly and aggressively between the cow ( bitilasana) and cat ( marjaryasana) poses. Keep pressing into the floor hard enough to try to lift your hips and tuck your tailbone to round your low back.Cat–cow is a two-part yoga flow that stretches the front and back of the body while mobilizing the spine. Engage your abs by pulling your belly button into your spine. Tuck your chin towards your chest, and initiate the rounding position by pressing your hands firmly into the floor. Keeping your chest lifted (don’t let it droop!), reach your hands forwards to straighten your arms - this will be our starting pose (straight arm low cobra) Start in a low cobra position: lying on the floor on your belly, with your belly and the bottom-most ribs touching the floor, elbows propped underneath your shoulders, trying to lift your collarbone up towards the ceiling I debated adding this one to the list or not because technically it’s more of a “cat-cobra” - but it’s such a nice challenge to use the shoulders in this one I’m going to throw it into the list anyway :) You may notice your ribs move a little because they’re connected to your low back, but do your best to try to keep the majority of the movement in your pelvis and low back, even if that means making the movement smaller. Keeping your neck and ribs neutral, arch your low back by lifting your tailbone toward the ceiling, then round your low back by tucking your tailbone toward the floor. Depending on your flexibility, this may be a small movement! Repeat for 3-6 rib cat cowsįinally we’ll isolate the movement in our low back and pelvis. Then relax your arms and let your chest droop toward the floor, helping flatten out (or even slightly arch) your upper back. Keeping your neck neutral (looking at the floor), and hips neutral, start to round your upper back by pushing your hands into the floor to lift your chest and the back of your ribs up toward the ceiling. Then we’ll move on to isolating the movement in our mid/upper back (back of the ribs). Repeat for 3-6 cat cow arches and rounds just through your neck Then drop your chin to round through your neck. Keeping your hips, low back, and ribs neutral, start arching your neck by lifting your head. We’ll start by isolating just the neck movement. Start on hands and knees (like a regular cat cow), with a neutral spine ![]()
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