Cobra

How to do it

Lie face down on the floor, legs extended behind you, tops of the feet pressing into the mat. Place the hands flat under the shoulders with the elbows tucked in close to the ribs (not flared out). Inhale and peel the chest off the mat, lifting only as high as feels good — the hips and pelvis stay on the floor. Shoulders pull down and back. Gaze stays forward or slightly down, not strained up.

Why it's good for runners

Running pulls you forward — shoulders round, chest closes, anterior chain shortens. Cobra is a small, low-grade reversal of that posture, done with the floor supporting most of your weight. Stacked inside Sun A, you get six gentle anterior-spine openers in a row without holding any of them long enough to strain.

Common mistakes

Don't push the hips off the floor — that's Up Dog, a different pose. In Cobra, hips and pelvis stay grounded; the lift is a chest lift, not a hip lift. And don't crank the head back; the gaze stays soft and level with the spine.