How to Do Cow Face Pose in Yoga and Its Benefits
Are you familiar with the cow face pose (Gomukhasana)? If you are doing yoga or have any idea about that, then you may have heard about it. We spend most of our time in offices and avoid physical activity.
Yoga has introduced many different kinds of poses for different purposes. Never mix it up with a cow pose both poses are entirely different.
It will target your shoulders, hips, arms, back, ankles, and hips. All of your body muscles will be involved in this pose. Many of you have lost your natural body posture and are seeking a reliable way to get it back. A proper stretch in all of these muscles will make you feel calm.
How to Perform Cow Face Pose?
It may seem complicated and difficult to perform cow face pose if you are a beginner. And we are damn sure that many of you have skipped this yoga pose because of the complexity of its posture.
But things could be different if you get it done with proper guidance, and that’s what we will tell you to have a look at!
- Sit on a flat surface and slide your knees close to each other. Cross your legs; the right leg should be on the left leg. Take your feet close to your hip.
- Your upper body posture should be straight.
- Take your left hand straight over your head and bend your elbow. Try to keep your hand in this position without shaking. Take your right hand down and lose it.
- Now lift your left arm and bend your elbow to take its forearm up your midline.
- Now hold your hands for a while and keep your body posture still.
- Now repeat the same process with the left leg and right hand.
- Only stretch your arms enough, it could be good for your shoulder. The shoulder joint will not be able to bear that stretch.
- Hold this pose for an inhale, then release and perform with the opposite leg and hand.
Beginners need to work more to understand and perform this yoga pose. If you are a beginner read all these instructions carefully and follow them while performing.
Note: Beginners can use a cushion or folded blanket if they feel their hips tight.
Mistakes While Performing Cow Face Pose
Many of you used to make the same mistake while performing this yoga pose. It will help if you keep your spine straight while holding your hands behind your back.
Hold your hands and lower your back down to keep it relaxed. Never twist your back while holding hands. It can cause a shoulder injury. Before holding hands, you must spread your collarbones to make things easy.
The second mistake is folding the same leg and the same hand side as we have instructed you to fold your right leg and left hand or left leg and right hand. You can note down all the key points which will help you achieve the perfect posture while performing this yoga pose.
Benefits of Cow Face Pose
All of the yoga poses have different benefits according to their targeted muscles. Have a look at the benefits of the cow face pose!
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Sciatica
If any of you are facing Sciatica nerve pain problem, this yoga pose will be perfect for you. It’s proven by the experts that you can get relief from this yoga pose. Many of your doctors have also recommended performing this pose for sciatica.
In 2021 there was a session for diabetes patients who performed this yoga pose. At the end of the sessions, they observed a decrease in glucose levels and an increase in insulin.
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Relieving Tension
Many of you may face tense situations because of certain problems. We suggest you perform the cow face pose, which will let you relax and tension free. There will be breathing patterns that will help you to calm your mind.
Best for relieving backache, you need to stretch your back muscles while performing.
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Fatty Liver Disease
20 minutes of this pose daily will reduce your liver’s fat. We aren’t just playing with words; the experts have proved all the benefits of this best yoga pose.
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Posture Improvement
You have seen the posture and can easily assume how it will improve your body posture. All those people who used to spend most of their time on the computer work. They can perform this quality yoga pose to maintain their natural body posture.
You can perform this pose for leg cramps. You can stretch your gluteal muscles and hamstrings, letting you move the lactic acid and convert it into glucose in the presence of oxygen.
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Improve Flexibility
You can stretch your arms, shoulders, chest, back, legs, and hip, making you flexible. You can achieve that kind of flexibility, which you are assuming right now, only when you consistently perform this. Your body will start adopting this continuous stretch, which will make you flexible.
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Deepen the Pose to Make It Impactful
Many of you will be performing this pose for an inhale and release after that. Experts have proved that tightening the pose and stretching your hands will make it more impactful and relaxing.
All your muscles, like the chest, hip, shoulders, and arms, will relax because of stretching. By folding forward, you can enhance the intensity of the cow pose.
Why Cow Face Pose?
You will have different experiences while performing this pose. Crossing your legs will make you realize how it feels when you cross your legs left over the right leg and right over the left.
Arms and chest stretching will let you change the stored lactic acid into glucose, making you feel stress-free and relaxed. Many health experts will suggest you perform this pose because of its multifunction’s and benefits.
While performing this pose, your thoracic spine will be opened along with your chest. It will counteract the bad effect of sitting for a long time during work. All these interesting factors will make you realize why you must perform the cow pose.
Your right knee is opposite to your left one and makes a shape like a cow face, \that’s why this pose is called the cow face pose.
Cow Face Pose Variations
It isn’t compulsory to perform this pose on the floor. You can perform in many different ways according to your ease. All of you are at different health standards.
So the experts have designed different variations you can pick according to your body’s health condition.
Let’s explore all of those variations!
1. Block and Strap Cow Face Pose
If you find performing the standard cow pose difficult, then a block and strap will be great. It’s easy to pose, you must sit on a block and adopt the same body position we discussed.
If your shoulder makes it difficult to clasp your hands, use a strap and hold it in both hands. Try stretching the strap by your lower arm, activating your upper arm muscles. Change the movement now, and stretch the strap by your upper arm, target the lower arm muscles to get more flexibility.
Along with this, try to take your hands close to each other, and at some point, you will be able to grasp your hands.
2. Cow Face Pose Triceps Stretch in a Chair
To perform this variation, you need to sit in a chair and can keep blocks or folded blankets under your feet. You have to sit as high as you can to make it perfect.
Keep your upper body proportion straight, lift one arm towards the ceiling, and bend your elbow; your hand should be on your back. Now lift the other hand and hold the elbow. You can use this hand to enhance the intensity of the stretch.
Stay as long as you can, follow the breathing patterns, and then change the side. Repeat the same process on that side and try to calm your mind through breathing patterns.
Conclusion
You will already be familiar with the benefits of the cow face pose. But many of you were finding proper guidance to make it happen. We hope that today’s discussion will help you get the right way to make it happen.
