Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana)

Pronunciation and meaning

Gomukhasana: go-moo-KAHS-uh-nuh. Go as in the English word, and the stress falls on KAHS.

Cow Face Pose is a seated shape with the knees stacked one on top of the other and, in the full version, one hand reaching down behind the back to meet the other reaching up. Go means cow and mukha means face; the stacked knees and elbows are said to look like one. It stretches the outer hips and the shoulders.

How to do Cow Face Pose

1. Sit on a folded blanket. Bend your right knee and bring the right foot beside the left hip.
2. Cross the left leg over the right so the left knee stacks above the right, and bring the left foot beside the right hip.
3. Sit evenly on both sit bones, adding height under you if one hip lifts.
4. Reach the right arm up, bend the elbow and let the hand drop between the shoulder blades.
5. Reach the left arm out, bend it behind you and slide the back of the hand up the spine. Hold the fingers, or hold a strap between the hands.
6. Sit tall for five breaths, release the arms, change the legs and arms and repeat.

Make it easier

• Keep the bottom leg straight if stacking both knees is too much.
• Do only the arms, sitting on a chair or in Easy Pose.
• Yin Shoelace: the same legs, folding forward over them with the arms resting, held for three minutes.

Pregnancy and after birth

Pregnancy. Adapt. Sit high, keep the knees less stacked so the belly has room, and keep the arm stretch, which is comfortable for many. Leave out the forward fold. Check with your OB or midwife before you start.

After birth. Adapt. Once your doctor or midwife has cleared you, the arm half is a kind stretch for shoulders rounded by feeding and carrying. Add the legs on a high seat when the hips are ready.

For more on practising through pregnancy, see Joahnna Lee Yoga.

Common mistakes

• Sitting low with one hip lifted, so the lower back twists. Add a blanket.
• Arching the lower back and pushing the ribs forward to make the hands meet.
• Letting the top elbow fall forward toward the face.

Cow Face Pose has a funny name and a serious stretch. It reaches the outer hips and the shoulders at the same time, two places that often tighten together after long days of sitting.

In Yin yoga the legs are often practised as Shoelace, folded forward and held, and the arms on their own with a yoga strap.

If the knees will not stack, sitting cross-legged on a cushion for the arm stretch is a good way in.

Stacking the shins rather than the knees gives you Fire Log Pose, also called Double Pigeon. The outer hip stretch here is a step toward Compass Pose, the advanced seated stretch.