Featured Pose: Cat-Cow Pose (Chakravakasana)

by Baxter with Nina

Cat-Cow pose is a dynamic pose that gently warms up your spine, preparing you for almost any type of yoga practice. For some people, these gentle movements can relieve low back pain. Because you’re bearing weight on your hands, knees, and shins, this pose strengthens your arms and shoulders. It can help strengthen your many of your bones, including your spine and wrists. Because you connect your movements with your breath, practicing Cat-Cow allows you to cultivate awareness of the present moment awareness and improves breathing capacity. The chair version makes the pose accessible to everyone.

Baxter prescribes it for:

• warming up for a yoga practice or for other physical activities, such as running, biking, swimming, and gardening. 
• low back pain 
• upper body weakness 
• osteoporosis and osteopenia 
• arthritis or stiffness of the hips and spine 
• beginner’s experience of pranayama and improving breath capacity 
• stress relief 
• depression, lethargy, or times when you just don’t feel like practicing 

Timing: This pose is always practiced dynamically, inhaling into the Cow position and exhaling into the Cat position. If you are an experienced practitioner, do one or two sets of 8-10 rounds of breath. If you are new to the practice, start with one set of 6 rounds of breath of breath. When you are finished, take a moment to shake out your hands and wrists before moving on.

Cautions: Make sure to pad your knees with a blanket, even if you don’t presently have knee pain. If you have wrist or elbow pain, try doing the pose by coming onto your fingertips or making fists. If that doesn’t work, try placing your entire forearms on the floor, with your shoulders aligned over you elbows. If you have low back pain, be sure to modify the amount of arch or rounding you do so you don’t experience pain as you move. 

1. Starting Position

This neutral hands and knees position is the pose you take before beginning your dynamic movements in and out of Cow and Cat. It’s also the pose you return to after you’ve completed all your rounds and are ready to come out of the pose. 

To set up for the pose, place a folded blanket cross-wise in the middle of your mat to cushion your knees. Then come into a hands and knees position, with your knees on the blanket and your hands on the mat. Align your hips directly over your knees and your shoulders directly above your wrists. Now, evenly spread your palms and fingers, and press your hands into the floor. To keep your arms straight, firm the muscles around your elbows. While keeping it parallel with the floor, lengthen your spine from your tailbone to the crown of your head.

To come out of the pose, after completing a set of of dynamic Cat/Cow, simply sit back on your heels.

2. Cow

This is the first position in the dynamic sequence of Cat-Cow. It takes your spine into a backbend,  strengthening your back spinal muscles, while stretching the front of your belly and chest, and encouraging a full inhalation. 

To come into the pose, as you start your inhalation, gradually arch your spine into a backbend shape. Start by moving from your pelvis, lifting your tailbone and sitting bones up as your pelvis tips forward over your leg bones, relaxing your belly and lower back down, and lifting your chest and head forward. Keep your chest lifted and your collarbones broad as you continue pressing your hands into the floor and firming the muscles around your elbows.As you move, focus your attention on the smoothness of your breath and sensations that arise. When you’re ready to exhale, you’ll move into Cat pose.

3. Cat

This is the second position in the dynamic sequence of Cat-Cow. It takes your spine into a forward rounding position, which strengthens your abdominal and front chest muscles, while stretching your back muscles and encouraging a long exhalation. 

To come into the pose, as you start your exhalation, gradually round your spine toward the ceiling, Start by moving from your pelvis, turning your tailbone and sitting bones down as your pelvis tips backwards, hollowing your belly towards your spine, and releasing your neck and head toward the floor and looking back to your knees. Keep your neck relaxed as you continue pressing your hands into the floor and firming the muscles around your elbows. As you move, focus your attention on the smoothness of your breath and sensations that arise. When you’re ready to inhale, you’ll move back into Cow pose. If you’ve finished your final round, inhale and return to the starting position instead.

4. Seated on a Chair

This version allows anyone who cannot bear weight on their arms or get down onto the floor to do similar spinal movements as the classic pose. It’s also an excellent office/traveling pose because you can do it sitting on most chairs.

To set up for the pose, find a chair with a firm seat. Then sit near the front edge of the chair, with both your feet on the ground, your thighs parallel to each other, and your knees directly over your heels. Straighten your arms and rest your hands on your thighs or knees. Create an inner lift of your spine from your sitting bones to the crown of your head. 

To come into the Cow position, as you start your inhalation, gradually rock your pelvis forward, and lift and arch your spine into a gentle back bend. Allow your chest to move forward and up and lift your chin a few inches. To come into the Cat position, as you start your exhalation, gradually rock the pelvis back and round your spine gently towards the back of your chair. Drop your chin a few inches toward your chest. As you move in and out of the two positions, focus your attention on the smoothness of your breath and sensations that arise. When you’ve finished your final round, return to your starting position before moving on. 

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Featured Pose: Cat-Cow

 by Baxter

The dynamic sequence of Cat-Cow is a familiar feature in most modern yoga classes. However, this is certainly not an ancient yoga pose, and most likely made its way into our present practice from the world of physical therapy, where it is often used to address low back pain. In fact, I have found it so useful for my weekly crew of back-challenged yogis that it shows up just about every week in our class. What is so great about Cat-Cow is that it not only is an excellent way to move your spine through a pretty full range of the motions of gentle forward bending and back bending, known as flexion and extension respectively, but you also start connecting movement with breath. That connection is helpful both for cultivating present moment awareness and for cultivating an aspect of agility. 

Cat-Cow is also a good transition pose. You can use to it transition from seated poses—like your initial sitting meditation—down to reclining poses. And you can use after a series of reclining poses as a transition to sitting or standing poses. Cat-Cow also requires a bit of arm and upper back strength to do properly, so is an upper body strengthening pose. And since you are bearing weight on your hands, it builds wrist bone strength, which could be helpful for folks with osteoporosis, as the wrist is the second most commonly fractured area for people with OP. 

I prescribe this for: 

• general spinal stiffness 
• low back pain 
• upper body weakness 
• osteoporosis and osteopenia 
• arthritis or stiffness of the hips 
• arthritis of the spine 
• held tension anywhere from hips to neck
• improving breath capacity
• beginner’s experience of pranayama
• general stress reliever
• warming up for any other physical activity
• part of any gentle practice

Nina recommends this pose for depression, lethargy or for times when you just don’t feel like practicing. Moving with your breath can help perk you up, and if you’re not up to doing standing poses (such moving dynamically from Mountain pose into Arms Overhead pose), kneeling on the floor can feel more accessible. You’ll often find that six or so rounds of Cat-Cow will energize you enough to move onto Downward-Facing Dog and from there into a full practice.

Cautions: While this pose is generally well tolerated by most practitioners, it can be challenging for people with certain physical problems. People with wrist pain issues may have to modify the pose by doing it on fists, fingertips, or forearms. Those with knee pain may have to use extra blankets to pad your knees or do the seated or standing versions. Those with active spinal pain in the lower back or neck may have keep the range of motion more moderate as you assess how your body responds to the movement 

Classic Version

1. Start in Hands and Knees position. I recommend using at least one blanket under your knees, as over time the patella of your knees can be very sensitive to pressure. Position your hips directly over your knees and your shoulders directly over your wrist joints, and bring your spine and head into a more neutral alignment, fairly parallel with the floor. Keep your elbows straight at all times, and press evenly with the palm of your hands into the floor.

2. As you take an inhalation, begin to arch your spine into a gentle backbend (the Cow position of Cat-Cow—I like to imagine I’m a Happy California Cow!), allowing the arch to travel from your tailbone all the way to the crown of your head. Allow your sitting bones and tailbone to lift up, your mid-spine and belly to drop down a bit and your chest and head to turn forward. With practice you’ll become more efficient in completing this series of movements on a comfortable inhalation. ()

3. On your next exhalation, begin to dome your spine in the opposite direction (the Cat position of Cat-Cow—I imagine I am an angry cat on Halloween!). Allow your pelvis to tip backwards, with your tailbone and sitting bones turning towards the floor, your mid-spine to round towards the sky, and your neck and head to release down so you can look back at your knees. Push strongly into the floor with your arms. With practice you'll become more efficient in completing this series of movements on a comfortable exhalation. 

4. Move back and forth with your breath between these two shapes for at least six rounds of breath, and more if you are so inclined. 

After coming out of the pose, I always recommend you shake out your wrists and hands to release and stress or tension in those areas, before moving on to other poses.

First Variation: Seated Cat-Cow 

This is a great alternative for anyone how has trouble getting down onto hands and knees, or as an office alternative when you would not want to be down on your hands and knees! Of course, unlike classic Cat-Cow, you won’t get the arm, upper body, or wrist strengthening benefits. 

1. Start by sitting near the front of the chair seat, with your feet hip-distance apart and planted firmly under your knees. Straighten your arms, and place your hands on or near your knees. Before moving into the pose, establish the lift of your spine, from your sitting bones through the crown of your head.

2. On an inhalation, start moving from your pelvis, rocking your hips forward so your weight comes more onto the front edge of your sitting bones. As you continue to inhale, gently lift your spine and lengthen into gentle backbend. Lift your breastbone forward and up and allow your head and neck to lengthen up and back. This is the Cow equivalent of Cat-Cow. 

3. On your next exhalation, start moving from your pelvis, rolling your pelvis in the opposite direction, moving the back of your waist backward and rocking onto the back part of your sitting bones. As you continue to exhale, allow your middle back to move back as well and drop your chin toward your chest. This is the Cat equivalent of Cat Cow. 

4. Repeat these movements for at least six rounds of breath. After you finish, you may want to stand up for a moment to stretch your legs out. 

Second Variation: Standing Cat-Cow

The standing version of Cat-Cow is a good counter-pose to release any tension in your spine and neck after practicing long holds of standing poses. Of course, as with seated Cat-Cow, you won’t get the arm, upper body, or wrist strengthening benefits. 

1. Start by standing in Mountain Pose. Then bend your knees slightly while keeping your spine upright and place your hands on the fronts of your thighs.

2. On an inhalation, tip your pelvis forward over your thighbones, gently arch your spine into a backbend while turning your chest up and lifting your chin to take your head slightly back. Keep the back of your neck feeling long to protect your neck. This is the Cow equivalent of Cat-Cow.

3. On your next exhalation, tip your pelvis baclin the opposite direction, rolling it back over your thighbones so your sitting bones and tailbone turn down toward your heels. Allow your spine to rounds backward and your head and neck drop gently towards your chest. This it the Cat equivalent of Cat-Cow. 

4. Repeat for at least six rounds of breath, and then return to Mountain pose. 

Third Variation: Reclined Cat-Cow 

This version is for people who cannot bear weight safely on thier hands or knees, or in those who are severely fatigued. It does not work your arms as the classic Cat-Cow does, nor does your neck area move, but your spine does get to flex and extend. I usually refer to this variation as “Pelvic Rock and Roll.” 

1. Start by lying on your back with your knees bent, your feet on the floor about a foot from your hips and hip-distance apart, and arms relaxed at your sides. 

2. On an inhalation, rock your pelvis towards your heels, allowing your lower back to arch away from the floor. This is the Cow equivalent of Cat-Cow. 

3. On your next exhalation, roll your pelvis back towards your shoulders, allowing your lower back to come gently down to the floor and turning your tailbone and sitting bones up towards the ceiling. This is the Cat equivalent of Cat-Cow. Be careful not to launch up into Bridge pose—your hips remain on the floor in this pose. 

4. Repeat for at lease 6 rounds of breath. 

When you have finished, stretch your legs out long on the floor  to release any tightness in your front hip joints. 

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Friday Q&A: Cat-Cow, Back Extensor Muscles, and Mountain Pose

Following on the heels of one of our recent posts about osteoporosis (OP) came this inquiry about some suggestions for particular asanas:

Q: What about the cat pose in cat/cow sequence? Can you make any possible modification in focusing more on rounding the fanny end of the spine, rather than the shoulders?  Best poses for back extensor strengthening? Anything that reinforces Tadasana?

A: Even though the motivation for asking for these three suggestions may not have been directly related to osteoporosis, Cat/Cow is great as a weight-bearing posture for strengthening the wrist bones.  Poses that strengthen the back torso extensor muscles, which attach all along the spinal column, would strengthen the bones of the spine. And Mountain pose (Tadasana) done with engaged leg muscles is weight-bearing on the feet, so could translate into strengthening of the bones of the legs and hips. That said, let’s now look at the specific issues at hand:

Starting with Cat pose in the dynamic practice of Cat/Cow, we usually encourage the spine to round evenly toward the ceiling, keeping the arms engaged and elbows straight, releasing the crown of the head towards the floor, and tipping the pelvic backwards into retroversion, with the sit bones and tail bones turning down.  If you observe a group of students doing this, you will see some students who seem to have more movement and rounding in the upper back and some who seem to have more in the lower back. There can be many reasons for this, which we won’t go into today, but if you want to emphasize the pelvic tuck and lumbar flexion part of the formula, you might try the following at home:

1. Find a landing that is just one step off the floor.
2. Come into hands and knees position, with your knees and shins on the low landing and your hands down on the floor.
3. Practice Cat/Cow as usual, and see if you don’t have more awareness of the lower back and pelvis. If you are not sure, switch it around with shins on the floor and hands on the landing and see what you feel.

Also, more actively hollowing the lower belly up towards the spine as you exhale into Cat shape can bring more rounding of that “fanny end” of the spine. Finally, doing the pose positioned sideways to a mirror that gives you visual feedback can help you see where you tend to have more movement, and you may be able to play around and bring more movement into the lower half of the spine.

The back extensor muscles, which line the entire back of the head to tailbone region of body, primarily take the spine into back bending actions, but can also contribute to some rotation of the spine, as well as side-bending. If we just consider the back bending actions of these muscles, anything from the obvious Cobra, Locust, Upward-Facing Dog, and Bridge poses and on into the more advanced backbends will strengthen the back extensor muscles nicely. And you can play with both dynamic or static versions of these poses as I have written about previously. And even a pose like Warrior 2, with a slight feeling of backbend and rotation, will work these muscles likely. Also, every time you come up from Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) to arms overhead, as you do in Sun Salutations, you are activating your extensors nicely. Use your deductive skills to look at other poses and see if you can imagine the extensors in action as well.  There are lots more in addition to those I have mentioned.

And as for ways of reinforcing the alignment of Mountain pose (Tadasana), I like to do a reclining versions of this pose, on the back, with the feet pressing into the baseboard of a wall, putting even pressure in the balls and heels of the feet. I also recommend standing with the back to a wall, with the heels close to the wall—perhaps just a few inches away—and with the buttocks flesh lightly touching the wall. Depending on the build of your chest, your shouldblades may or may not touch the wall. From this position, lengthen up to the crown of the head.  Also, all of the poses that strengthen your extensors, as discussed above, are helpful for achieving better posture in Mountain pose. I like to do Locust pose (Salabhasana) first dynamically (moving in and out with the breath) and then held for several breaths, and then practice Mountain pose to see if there is a change in posture.

Give all this a try in your next home practice and see how it all feels to you.

—Baxter 

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Featured Pose: Seated Cat-Cow Pose

by Baxter and Nina

This deceptively simple, gentle pose from our office yoga series brings mobility to your entire spine, allowing you to move your spine in two of the six important movement directions in which your spine can move, extension (back bending) and flexion (forward bending).  Mobility in the spine is important for maintaining the health of your spine, and for your entire body since your spinal cord, which communicates with your entire body, moves through your spine. Although most people don’t think of having arthritis of the spine, but it is a significant problem (see Arthritis of the Spine) and moving your spine is the best medicine for arthritis in this area. The gentle spinal movements can even help relieve back pain.

The pose also benefits your hip sockets because your sitting bones move back and forward with your spine, bringing movement into your hip sockets, which can get stiff from sitting from long periods of time. And because you move with your breath in this pose, inhaling into the backbend and exhaling into the forward bend, it’s a good way to learn breath awareness and beginning pranayama.

Accessible to everyone who can sit up, the pose is also so gentle that almost everyone, in any condition to do it. You can do it in any type of chair, even in the car! (In fact, Baxter did it just yesterday, while he was stuck in a !@#$%! traffic jam coming back to the East Bay from San Francisco.)

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

• low back pain or stiffness
• arthritis or stiffness of the hips
• arthritis of the spine
• held tension anywhere from hips to neck
• beginner’s experience of pranayama
• general stress reliever while sitting at your desk
• warming up for office yoga or any other physical activity

Instructions: Start by sitting near the front of the chair seat, with your feet hip-distance apart and planted firmly under your knees. Straighten your arms, and place your hands on or near your knees. Before moving into the pose, establish the lift of your spine, from your sitting bones through the crown of your head.

As you inhale, start moving from your pelvis, rocking your hips forward so your weight comes more onto the front edge of your sitting bones. As you continue to inhale, gently lift your spine and lengthen into gentle backbend. Lift your breastbone forward and up and allow your head and neck to lengthen out and back, coming into the Cow backbend.

As you exhale, start moving from your pelvis, dropping your pelvis in the opposite direction, moving the back of your waist backward and rocking onto the back part of your sitting bones. As you continue to exhale, allow your middle back to move back as well and drop your chin toward your chest, coming into the Cat forward bend.

Repeat both the Cow and Cat positions, moving with your breath, allowing your inhalations and exhalations to be slightly longer than they are when you are taking a resting breath. Do the pose for a minimum of six rounds up to any number that feels good to you.

Cautions: Because these are mild, everyday movements, those pose is relatively safe. However, if you have been instructed by your doctor to avoid certain movements of your spine, for example, some people who have lumbar disk problems are warned about forward bending movements being potentially dangerous, you should try smaller movements at first and see what your body can handle. The same cautions apply to people who have significant injuries to their necks.

Note from Nina: Oopsie! I just realized we already wrote up this pose in April (see Chair Cat Pose). Naturally, that write up is different if you care to compare it with the new one. I think it's time for us to move onto an entirely new set of poses....

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