Alright and 2013
is the year of the snake.

So as a little bonus track, 
we are going to learn

Cobra Pose or Bhujangasana.

Alright, so hop on the mat and
let's learn Cobra. Here we go.

(gentle guitar music)

Okay, so for Cobra, I'm going 
to come onto my front, my belly.

Like so.

Of course, often we 
will lower down,

Chaturanga, or you know,
all sorts of yummy transitions

into this posture, but we're 
gonna stick with the basics.

Just learn a little 
bonus Bhujangasana today.

So, I'm gonna 
come onto my belly.

Foundations of yoga.

Even my uterus alignment
that I learn in Mountain Pose,

I can use here on my belly. 
So, tucking my pelvis in,

drawing my navel 
towards my spine.

For this beginning posture,

keep my heels hip width apart.
I'm going to press the tops of my

feet firmly into the earth.

You know, and 
God is in the details

or the devil's in the details. 
Choose your side.

But I'm gonna press not just
the tops of my feet into mat,

but all the way extend 
through my pinky toes.

So, I have this bright, bright
beautiful awareness of my feet.

Pressing into my pelvic bone,

drawing my navel 
towards my spine.

What else do I do in my
universal alignment, in Tadasana?

I roll my shoulders 
forward, up and back,

I hug my elbows in,

squeeze my shoulder 
blades in together and down.

Then I'm gonna inhale in,

extend through the crown of 
the head, exhale with my palms

underneath my shoulders.

I'm going to slowly 
kiss my forehead to the mat.

So, now I'm prepped 
for my posture.

On an inhale, I'm gonna 
press into all 10 fingerprints.

And then press 
into my foundation,

that which is 
touching the earth.

Squeeze my 
shoulder blades together

and nice and slow here, 
especially for beginners,

nice and slow.

For everyone really,
it's nice to take a

nice slow breath in.

Baby Cobra as I lift up.
Heart is extending forward.

I am not crunching 
in my shoulders.

I'm not pinching in my neck

and there's not need
to overdue this posture.

Okay, so, as just a 
little beginners tool,

I'm wanting to 
see if I can extend

that awareness 
through my entire spine.

So, I'm wanting to 
get a nice, long line

from the crown of the head

all the way to the 
tip of the tailbone.

So, if I'm crunching here,

that's kind of 
cutting this area off.

Eh, it hurts.

So, here we go again.

Let's come forehead to the mat.

Press into my foundation.

Hug my elbows in.
Spreading awareness

through the palms 
and the tops of the feet.

Pressing my pubic 
bone into the ground.

From my foundation, 
even here, I begin to lift up.

So, I'm not really 
putting a lot of weight

in my hands or my feet,
but using them to press

up and out of, 
but not collapse into.

A lot of times people 
muscle into this posture.

(whining in Spanish)

And we end up with this thing.

And we're like eh, in the arms.

So, even if you don't 
make it up as high at first,

we're building the 
strength in the back

so that eventually 
we can grow tall here

and be effortless and 
beautiful and have lots of space

in the spine, lots of space
between the ears and shoulders.

But this takes time, man.

This takes so much time
and lots of full breaths.

So, take your time.

Inhale, baby Cobra.
Here we go.

Pressing into the foundation, 
one last time here.

I look forward, squeezing
my shoulder blades together,

pressing into my foundation.

You can even turn your 
palms up to just check in

with the reality, 
like, are you using

your arms to muscle 
into this posture?

Or are we slowly, 
mindfully building

strength in the back?

On an exhale I'll float it down

and then I like to 
move in a little flow here

to warm up my back.

Maybe I grow to a mama Cobra.

And then maybe, 
eventually in time,

I squeeze my elbows to the side

and move into 
my big daddy Cobra.

But all in time.

So...

Check in, see 
where you're at today.

Happy New Year 2013, 
the year of the snake.

In kids yoga we 
get in this posture

and we come up and go (hiss).

It's kind of fun so,

if you want to tap 
in to your inner child,

you can try that 
(hissing) hissing sound.

(gentle guitar music)