Cat Cows

Instructions

1. Start on your hands and knees in a quadruped position.

2. Place your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.

3. Keep your elbows straight but soft, and spread your fingers on the floor.

4. Begin in a neutral spine position.

5. For cat, gently tuck your tailbone, draw your belly in, and round your back toward the ceiling.

6. Let your head and neck relax so your gaze moves down.

7. Then move into cow by tilting your pelvis the other way, lifting your chest, and allowing your belly to move toward the floor.

8. Gently lift your head and look slightly forward without crunching your neck.

9. Continue moving slowly back and forth between cat and cow.

Common Compensations

• Do not bend your elbows excessively as you move.

• Do not shrug your shoulders up toward your ears.

• Do not force the range of motion in your neck or low back.

• Do not move too quickly through the positions.

• Do not let the movement come only from one part of the spine.

• Do not hold your breath.

Extra Info

• You should feel gentle movement through your spine, rib cage, pelvis, and shoulders.

• You may feel a light stretch in your upper back during cat and in the front of your body during cow.

• This exercise is usually meant to improve spinal mobility and body awareness, not to create an intense stretch.

• You should not feel sharp pain in your neck, back, shoulders, or wrists.