Some poses in yoga offer great stretches but many bodies aren’t actually capable of getting in to the pose in the first place. That might be because of tight muscles, tendons or ligaments. But it can also be the way your bones and joints are shaped. Some of those things you can’t change.
So instead of trying to make your body fit something, try making the pose fit you.
An excellent example is cow faced pose. The full version looks like this. For many people our hips and knees don’t have this range of motion. That’s ok, you don’t actually need it. You can still get a great stretch.
That’s where the upside down part comes in!
Here’s a gentler, easier and restorative version of the pose:
- Lie down on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor
- Cross your right thigh over your left
- Bring your knees towards your chest
- Option 1: Gently hug your knees
- Option 2: Each hand grabs a shin, if that’s easy slide your hands down your shins towards your ankles
- Option 3: Catch the outside edges of your feet with your hands
If this version is still a bit too intense, try this pose at the wall. Just rest your feet on the wall instead of holding on to your knees.
We’ll tackle the stretch for the arms in this pose on another day!
