Gomukhasana

Cow's Face Pose

To come into this pose you will bend your left knee and place your left foot next to your right buttock. Then bend the right knee and cross the leg over the left placing your right foot next to your left buttock. The left arm reaches in line with your left ear, then you bend at the elbow reaching down the center of your spine. The right arm rotates internally and you reach the back of your hand up the spine. If you have freedom in your shoulders you will clasp fingers. If not you can use a strap and work towards bringing your hands to meet. In this arm position the spine is automatically straightened. Gomukhasana stretches the hips, thighs, ankles, chest, shoulders, armpits and triceps. This Asana tones the muscles and the nerves around the shoulders as well as the cardiac plexus. The nadis (comparable to the meridians of acupuncture) in the legs are squeezed stimulating the reproductive organs and glands, thus regulating hormonal secretions. Gomukhasana generates a perfect energy circuit surging in the spinal region. The arm position mimics the shape of the infinity symbol. This signifies the balance of prana between the higher and lower forces.