Tiryaka Bhujangasana (Twisting Cobra Pose): steps, benefits and precautions

How to do Twisting Cobra Pose step by step

1. Lie on your front with your legs a little wider than hip-width apart and the tops of your feet on the mat. Place your palms under your shoulders, elbows close to your body.
2. Breathe in and lift your head and chest into cobra pose, elbows slightly bent, lower belly and hips on the floor.
3. Breathe out and turn your head and upper chest to the left. Look over your left shoulder toward your right heel.
4. Keep both hips pressed evenly into the mat, so the twist happens in the upper and middle back, not the lower back.
5. Hold for 2–3 slow breaths (10–15 seconds), shoulders away from your ears.
6. Breathe in and turn back to the centre, then breathe out and turn to the right, looking toward your left heel.
7. Return to the centre and lower slowly to the mat. Rest with your cheek on your hands.

Where you feel Twisting Cobra Pose: what it stretches and strengthens

Turn your head to look over your shoulder at the opposite heel. In the 3D guide, turn on Body guide: areas that stretch glow green and areas that work glow saffron.

Benefits and precautions

Twisting cobra pose (Tiryaka Bhujangasana) is cobra pose with a turn: you lift your chest, then rotate your head and upper body to look back over one shoulder at the opposite heel. It adds a gentle spinal twist to a classic backbend, so the back strengthens and the sides of the waist and neck stretch at the same time. It takes only a minute, needs no props and is easy to learn once plain cobra feels comfortable. This guide covers what the name means, how to do it, what it is good for and when to leave it out.

What is twisting cobra pose?

What is a cobra pose in yoga? It is a backbend done lying on your front, with the chest lifted like a cobra raising its hood. The Sanskrit for cobra pose is Bhujangasana (bhujanga means serpent or cobra). Tiryaka means oblique or turning, so Tiryaka Bhujangasana is the "turning cobra". You will also see it spelled Triyak Bhujangasana. Cobra pose explained in one line: the legs and hips stay on the floor while the back muscles lift the chest; the twisting version then turns that lifted chest to one side. Among yoga spinal twist poses, it is one of the few done lying on your front.

It belongs to the family of types of cobra pose: baby cobra, full cobra, sphinx and the twisting version. In the Bihar (Satyananda) tradition it is one of five poses used in the Shankhaprakshalana cleansing practice, together with Tadasana, Tiryaka Tadasana, Kati Chakrasana and Udarakarshanasana. That practice needs expert guidance, but the pose itself is simple.

Spanish-speaking yoga students know the cobra as postura de cobra, and Portuguese speakers say postura da cobra or pose da cobra. The voice guide speaks both languages.

How to do twisting cobra pose: key details

If you already know how to do the cobra pose, you only need to add the turn. The steps above explain the full sequence; these points keep it comfortable:

• Legs a little apart. A wider stance steadies the pelvis, so the hips stay down as you turn. Some traditions tuck the toes under; the 3D figure keeps the tops of the feet on the mat, which is gentler on the toes.
• Lift first, then turn. Come into cobra on a breath in, then twist on a breath out. Do not twist on the way up.
• Turn from the chest. Let the breastbone lead and the head follow. The neck should feel a stretch, not a strain.
• Keep it equal. Hold the same time on both sides, and come back to the centre between them.

Rotate the 3D figure to see how the chest turns while both hips stay on the mat. The voice guide says the cues as the figure moves.

Twisting cobra pose benefits

The benefits of twisting postures in yoga come from gently moving the spine in a direction we rarely use. Twisting cobra combines that rotation with the usual cobra pose benefits: a stronger back and a more open chest. So what is cobra pose good for? As a cobra exercise for the back, it builds the muscles that hold you upright. People who sit at a desk often feel the twist along the middle back and the side of the neck. The benefits of yoga twist poses are about mobility and comfort; claims that twists "detox" organs are not supported by good evidence.

What does the cobra pose stretch and strengthen?

Press the Body guide button beside the 3D figure to see the stretched areas in green and the working areas in saffron.

Is twisting cobra one of the asanas for back pain?

Gentle back extension and rotation are part of many yoga asanas for back pain relief, and the benefits of cobra stretch work can include less stiffness. But twisting while the spine is arched loads the small joints of the lower back, so this is not the first pose to try when your back hurts. Start with yoga for back pain, which begins with gentler options, and add the twist later.

If you take Ayurvedic medicine or any other treatment for back pain, keep taking it as advised and tell your doctor about your yoga. The Back Pain Relief session on our practice page has voice guidance in 28 languages, so you can follow yoga for back pain in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi or your own language.

Pain when doing cobra pose: what to change

If you feel pinching in the lower back, lower your chest, move your hands a little further forward and turn less. Pain in the neck means the head is turning too far; lead with the chest instead. When should you stop cobra altogether? When pain is sharp, spreads down a leg or stays after you come out.

Variations and similar poses

• Baby cobra twist: stay low with the hands light, then turn the head only. This yoga baby cobra pose version carries the half cobra pose benefits with the smallest load.
• Sphinx twist: rest on your forearms and turn your head to look over one shoulder. Good for sore wrists.
• Chair yoga cobra pose: sit tall, hold the back of the chair seat, lift the chest and turn gently. See chair yoga.

Cobra pose vs upward facing dog: in upward dog the arms are straight and the thighs lift, so it is much stronger; an up dog yoga pose vs cobra comparison is really strength vs gentleness. Cobra vs seal pose: seal is a passive yin backbend on straight arms. Once twisting cobra is easy, the benefits of bow pose (Dhanurasana) are the next step in backbending.

Before and after twisting cobra

Warm up with cat-cow and plain cobra pose for one or two rounds. Afterwards, rest in child's pose; moving from cobra to child's pose releases the lower back after any backbend, and the child's pose to cobra stretch can be repeated a few times as a flow.

This page is for general education. Check with your doctor before starting yoga if you are pregnant, have a medical condition or an injury. Stop if you feel pain, dizziness or shortness of breath.