Techniques

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Lie on the floor with your face down. Relax all the muscles of your body. Deep your hands beside your body. Slowly raise your head and trunk like the hood of the serpent. Bend you spine backwards. Stretch you feet out so that your toes touch the ground. This will stretch the muscles of the back and shoulders well. There will be some strain on the abdomen. Hold this position for six to eight seconds. Bring your head to its original position. When you first lie on the ground, keep you chin on the ground.

Benefits

1. The full display of Bhujangasana gives one the appearance of a hooded neck.
2. The deep muscles of the back are alternately contracted and relaxed. The muscles thus exercised gain in health and keep the spine elastic.
3. Relieves an aching back, if the pain is due to overwork.
4. It influences the development of the abdominal muscles.
5. People suffering from flatulence immediately after meals, should practice this Asana.
6. This asana is very useful for people who suffer from backache on account of overwork or uncomfortable working conditions. It is also very helpful in the treatment of spondylitis and slipped disc.
7. The secondary influence is on the digestive system and the toning of the liver and kidney functions.
8. Those who have complaints about acidity and indigestion will find this Asana very useful.
9. It will help you shake off laziness and make you more active since it promotes extra blood circulation around all the nerve junctions which project from the vertebrae
10. Preganant women and those suffering from an inflamed appendix should not practice this posture.
11. The other two types of this Asana are
    Modified: Hands tied together on the hips and
    Casual: With the help of both the hands
12. The supporting energy and substance of the universe, and consequently of the individual, is imagine in India in the figure of the serpent, and the Yogi is the master of this power.
13. The serpent has been associated with rainbow by the Greeks, the Chinese, the French and the Africans among others. “The Celestial serpent ………. Symbolizes the rainbow and can form a bridge from this world to the next.” Cooper, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, 148-150. The snake goddess of ancient Europe, represented in many forms, was also linked to fertility. In Crete, she was known as a house-hold goddess.

Cautions

When the practitioner is only a beginner, he supports his rising thorax with hands, gradually increasing the angle between his arm and forearm. While practicing Bhujangasana the student does not give a full backward curve to his spine all at once, but tries to raise his vertebrae one by one. Note the pressure on the spinal curve it is traveling down the column step by step, till the thoracic part gets a good backward bend. Here he begins to use his hands more actively and partly with their help and partly with the help of the deep muscles of the back, starts working the lumbar region. While coming back to normal after maintaining the Asana, one should proceed gradually like a big aircraft which, firs touches its undercarriage wheels which are under the belly to the t the runway and then the nose wheels. The beginner should not do it with his breath during the exercise. To begin with maintain the posture for about 5 seconds.