Gomukhasan
(Cow faced pose )

Gomukhasana is a sitting pose. The word Gomukhasana is derived from the Sanskrit language. The translated meaning of this pose is Go means cow,Mukha means face,Asan is the pose.
Hence, Gomukhasana is called a cow face pose. The legs look like the lips of a cow and the posture of hands looks like the ear which is up from one side and down on the other. Gomukhasana stretches your entire body. It opens up your shoulder. It increases flexibility and relaxation in your body.
Gomukhasana was originated from Darshana Upanishad in the 4^th century. Darshana Upanishad is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism in the Sanskrit language.  The text presents classical yoga similar to Patanjali.
This posture forms stability. This pose will help you to maintain stability. A seated yoga posture can be performed along with a seated yoga posture. This pose consists of various health benefits. This pose will open up your hips. It strengthens your hips and shoulder. practicing this pose in the morning with an empty stomach will provide more benefits to you. This pose will open up your chest and shoulders. Practicing this pose might help you in enhancing the health of respiratory organs. This pose could be beneficial in improving your posture. You must practice some preparatory poses before practicing the exercise to avoid any kind of injury. you can practice poses like dandasana or staff pose, sukhasana or comfortable pose, parivrtta sukhasana or twisted comfortable pose, elevated vajrasana or toe crusher pose. you can end up the pose by practicing some follow-up poses like badhha konasana or bound angle pose, balasana, or child pose. practicing preparatory poses or follow-up poses will increase the benefits of the pose and help you to avoid any kind of physical injury. Gomukhasana is a difficult pose to practice for a beginner. So, it becomes very important to practice poses like this to avoid injury and to enhance the benefit of the pose.
BENEFITS:

• Stretches your hips: The posture of sitting while practicing will help you to open up your hips. It will improve flexibility in your hips and increase movement.
• Reduce stress, anxiety, and fear: This pose will help you in reducing stress, anxiety, and fear by increasing the blood flow. The increased blood flow will enhance your mood and reduce the feeling of stress, anxiety, and fear.
• This pose will open up your chest and enhance deep breathing. It also improves your respiratory system.
• Beneficial in sciatica: Practicing Gomukhasana will help you to cure sciatica. Sciatica refers to the pain that radiates along the sciatica nerves. The pain started from your lower back and goes all the way down to the hips and buttock. This pose will be good to relieve the pain.
• Improves blood circulation: This pose will help in blood circulation. It is a great pose to practice for blood circulation. It will enhance the blood circulation in your body and keep your cardiovascular system healthy.
• Strengthen your body: This pose will strengthen your hips, arms, thighs, hips, shoulders, core, armpit, deltoid, and triceps.
• Strengthen your abdominal and spine: This pose will give a good stretch in your abdomen and spine. It will strengthen the abdominal and spine muscles.
• Relieves chronic knee: Chronic knee is pain is long-term pain, swelling, and sensitivity. Practice this pose will massage your knee and help in reducing the pain.
• Reduces high blood pressure: Gomukhasana is known for maintaining high blood pressure. This pose will balance the blood flow of your body and help you to calm down. It will thus help you maintain your blood pressure.
• Kidney and digestive system: this pose will stimulate the kidney and digestive system which will help you in better digestion. it will clean your body.
• Cure asthma: This pose will help you to improve your respiration. It will strengthen your respiration process and cure respiratory problems like asthma.
• Beneficial in mensuration: This pose is beneficial in the mensuration cycle in women. it will balance the hormones and improve the overall cycle.
• Improves sexual health: Practicing Gomukhasana will improve your sexual health. It will enhance the health and capacity of men by massaging the abdomen and increasing the blood flow.
• Beneficial in anal fissure: Gomukhasana will help you in treating anal fissure. An anal fissure is a small tear in the lining of the anus that may cause pain and bleeding.
• Beneficial in hemorrhoids: hemorrhoid is a problem of veins in the lower abdomen that cause bleeding and discomfort. Caused due to straining bowel movements, obesity, and during pregnancy. This pose will strengthen the abdomen and hence reduce the problem.
• Tone your body: This pose will help you to tone up your body. it stretches your thighs, belly, arms, torso, shoulders, and hips. Thus, helps to tone the body.
• Reduce fat: The stretch that an individual feels while practicing the pose will help them to reduce the excessive fat from the body.

TECHNIQUE:
Step 1: Sit on the floor with your legs being straight as you sit in a staff pose.
Step 2: Bring the left leg onto the right leg and vice versa to cross the legs as shown in the picture.
Step 3: Your heels should touch the hips or close to the hips. Press your legs downward to straighten your body.
Step 4: Elongate your spine and comfort yourself in the pose.
Step 5: Stretch your hands. Bring your hand’s closure to the backside of your back. One hand should be from the upward direction and the other should go back from the waist.
Step 6: Hold on to this pose for at least 20 seconds or as much as you can. Get back to the initial stage.
Step 7: Repeat the pose at least 5 times.
PRECAUTIONS:

• Do not practice the pose if you feel any kind of pain in the back, spine, shoulder, or hips.
• Avoid practicing the pose during pregnancy.
• Consult your doctor before practicing If you are suffering from any kind of injury.
• Consult your doctor before practicing if you have just recovered from do not practice the pose if you are suffering from abdomen infection, high blood pressure, hernia, shoulder injury, spinal injury, etc.
• Avoid practicing the pose in case of a severe knee injury. this might worsen your pain and cause discomfort.
• If you have a varicose veins problem, avoid practicing the pose as this might cause trouble and enhance your problem.
• If you have sciatica or frozen shoulder, consult your therapist, doctor, or yoga instructor first.
• In the case of hip replacement surgery, it is suggested not to practice the pose as this might trouble you.

PROPS AND MODIFICATION:

• If you are not comfortable sitting on the floor, you can sit on the blanket.
• Support yourself against a wall to keep your back straight.
• If you cannot hold your hands at the back, use yoga straps to stretch them to the maximum.
• To give yourself a challenge try to touch your knees with the head as we do in forwarding fold. This will stretch your spine and hips enhance flexibility and reduce fat.