Twisting Cobra Pose
तिर्यक भुजंगासन
Tiryaka Bhujaṅgāsana — a beginner backbend that works the spinal erectors, obliques, chest.
How to do Twisting Cobra Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Set up in Cobra with the hands under the shoulders and the feet about hip-width apart.
Lift the chest to a comfortable height and hold it there.
Exhale and turn the head and upper ribs to the right, looking back towards the left heel.
Keep both hips pressed evenly into the mat so the turn happens in the ribs, not the pelvis.
Inhale back to centre, then repeat to the left, alternating slowly.
Hold: 5–8 slow rounds each side. Breath: Exhale into the turn, inhale back to centre.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Twisting Cobra Pose does
Described mechanically — what the movement does to muscle and joint. Not a list of conditions it treats, because a pose does not treat conditions.
- Combines spinal extension with rotation, loading the obliques while the back is already lengthened.
- Mobilises the thoracic spine in two planes at once.
- Keeps the spinal erectors working continuously through the turns.
Twisting Cobra Pose is one of 43 backbends in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that extend the spine and open the front of the body — chest, hip flexors and abdomen.
Who should skip Twisting Cobra Pose, or change it
- Pregnancy — a prone pose with a twist is unsuitable from the second trimester onward.
- Disc injury: extension plus rotation is the least forgiving combination for the lumbar spine, so leave this one out.
- Sacroiliac irritation, which the hip lifting on one side quickly aggravates.
- Neck injury — turn the ribs only and keep the head facing forward.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing any health condition, ask your doctor before starting a practice, and learn the pose itself from a qualified teacher who can see you move.
Common mistakes in Twisting Cobra Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeOne hip peeling off the mat so the twist comes from the pelvis rather than the ribcage.
FixWeight both hip bones down evenly and accept a smaller turn.
MistakeWhipping the head round while the spine stays still.
FixLead with the sternum and let the head arrive last.
What a practice like this costs in energy
Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values per style of practice, so Twisting Cobra Pose is mapped to the nearest published code — 02150, yoga, Hatha, 2.5 MET — and the figures below are for a practice of that kind, not for holding this one pose.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
Calculated as MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 kcal per minute — the standard ACSM relationship, shown in full on the method page. Scale it to your own weight by multiplying by your weight in kilograms and dividing by 70. The whole activity dataset, including every non-yoga activity, is at BurnLab.
Questions
How do you do Twisting Cobra Pose?
Set up in Cobra with the hands under the shoulders and the feet about hip-width apart. Lift the chest to a comfortable height and hold it there. Exhale and turn the head and upper ribs to the right, looking back towards the left heel. Keep both hips pressed evenly into the mat so the turn happens in the ribs, not the pelvis. Inhale back to centre, then repeat to the left, alternating slowly. Hold for 5–8 slow rounds each side.
What does Twisting Cobra Pose work?
Primarily the spinal erectors, obliques, chest, with the shoulders, glutes, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: combines spinal extension with rotation, loading the obliques while the back is already lengthened.
Who should not do Twisting Cobra Pose?
Pregnancy — a prone pose with a twist is unsuitable from the second trimester onward. Disc injury: extension plus rotation is the least forgiving combination for the lumbar spine, so leave this one out. Sacroiliac irritation, which the hip lifting on one side quickly aggravates. Neck injury — turn the ribs only and keep the head facing forward. Recent abdominal surgery. This is general information, not medical advice — if any of these apply to you, ask your doctor and learn the pose with a qualified teacher rather than from a page.
Is Twisting Cobra Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Twisting Cobra Pose is a beginner-level pose on this site, which means it is learnable in a first class and has a version that works for most bodies. The cautions above still apply.
How many calories does Twisting Cobra Pose burn?
The honest answer is that nobody has measured a single asana. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values for styles of yoga, not for individual poses. Twisting Cobra Pose sits closest to Compendium code 02150, yoga, Hatha, at 2.5 MET — about 92 kcal for 30 minutes of that kind of practice for a 70 kg adult. Holding one pose for a minute is a rounding error either way.
Related poses
More backbends — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.
Asana names are traditional. Every step, benefit and caution on this page is written for YogaPath rather than reproduced from any book, studio or other library — see how this site is written. Energy figures derive from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.