Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) is a staple in my morning yoga classes. Years ago, several of my students made up unflattering names for it—Cow Pie, Mad Cow, etc.—because it was so challenging for them. Now those same Cow Face naysayers have turned into Cow Face converts. Some of them even give up a bit of their Savasana (Relaxation Pose) to do it if I don’t offer it in class. The Cow Face arm position is another story, however. It can be quite a challenge, but with a yoga strap, anyone can reap the benefits.

Gomukhasana is quite complex. It’s classified as a hip-opening pose, as it stretches all the glutes—maximus, medius and minimus—as well as the piriformis and the tensor fasciae latae. My students—the ones who like it—find it very grounding, making it helpful a helpful pose toward the end of a practice. (Note that the photo that accompanies this blog shows only the arm position, not the leg position. You can find a description of the leg position in the above “Gomukhasana” link.)

Cow Face Pose Isn’t Just About the Hips

Cow Face Pose also opens the shoulders. The classic arm position features one elbow pointing upward and the other hand wedged behind your shoulder blades. Said to look like one raised and one lowered ear on a cow’s head, it creates a strong triceps stretch in the upper arm and a strong biceps and deltoid stretch in the lower one.

While the leg and arm positions are traditionally practiced together, they can also be beneficial on their own if you’re interested in putting more attention into either your hips or shoulders.

Why Use a Yoga Strap?

Today’s blog will focus on the shoulders. The traditional position calls for connecting the hands of your upper and lower arms in the upper back. But many people’s shoulders just won’t allow this. There are many possible reasons for this, including the construction of the shoulder joints. Some people’s shoulders are formed for stability. They may not be able to reach their elbow straight up toward the sky because their humerus bones will “hit” the back of the scapula before the arm gets to vertical. This particular shoulder configuration is not a sign that you’re a “deficient” yogi! It is well within what’s considered to be normal range of motion.

Others will find that when their dominant arm is the lower one, that their hands can’t touch, even though they may connect when the dominant arm is the upper one. This may be due to increased strength and stability in the dominant arm’s biceps and deltoids, although there could be other reasons.

In any case, a yoga strap can help. It can bridge the gap between your hands, creating a connection. Connecting the hands is important for energizing the arms in Gomukhasana. Whether you connect the fingers or use a yoga strap to connect your hands, your Gomukhasana will be more dynamic if you can connect your hands.

How to Use a Yoga Strap in Gomukhasana

If your hands don’t connect in Gomukhasana, try this:

1. Extend your left arm out in front of you, turning your palm outward, internally rotating your shoulder. Swing your arm around behind your back. Bend your elbow and place the back of your hand on your low back. Now scoot your the back of your hand up your back any amount—anywhere from the lower ribcage to between the shoulder blades.
2. Hold a yoga strap in your right hand. Dangle it over your back. Turn your right palm to face inward, toward your head. Bend your elbow and find the yoga strap with your left hand. Walk your right and left hands toward each other. If you’d like to add some extra energy to your shoulder experience, “stretch” the strap, pulling upward with your right hand and downward with your left.
3. Stay for five to ten deep breaths. Let go and let your arms relax. Take five to ten deep breaths before practicing your other side.

If you’d like to see more uses for Yoga Straps, as well as how to use Hugger Mugger’s other premium props, please visit the Yoga Props Guide.

Years ago, I heard Judith Hanson Lasater pose this question: “Who should practice backbends?” Her answer: “Anyone who’s growing older.” This, of course, means everyone. Most of us spend our days bent over one thing or another—desks, electronic devices, counters, etc. Moving our shoulder joints and spines in the opposite direction counters the tendency to hunch forward. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the traditional text that describes the 15 poses that have endured through the millennia, includes only one backbend as essential to asana practice: Dhanurasana (Bow Pose).

When Britain colonized India, they imported British gymnastics to the country, and specifically, to the practice of yoga. So most of yoga’s backbends actually came from the colonizers. That doesn’t mean these imported backbends are not helpful for our bodies, however. In fact, the range of backbends in the current asana canon ensures that there will be at least one backbend to fit every person’s structure.

The Benefits of Backbending

Backbending confers multiple benefits:

• Strengthening the muscles that extend the spine to help us maintain healthy, upright posture
• Expanding the chest and anterior shoulder joints
• Stretching the abdominal muscles
• Lengthening the hip flexors, muscles that tend to shorten when we spend long hours sitting
• Revitalizing the body in general; backbends tend to heat and energize our bodies and minds

Dhanurasana Challenges and Solutions

There’s no doubt that backbends can be challenging. Some people’s structures are made for backbends; others, not so much. We can prep our bodies for backbending, but for some people, a more stable spinal structure will limit how far their bodies will go. The extent to which your lumbar spine will extend is one determining factor. People with a curvier thoracic spine might also find some backbends more challenging. But this is all entirely okay. Anyone, no matter how “deep” your backbends look, can enjoy the benefits.

Dhanurasana can be challenging for people with any of the aforementioned structural qualities. But it’s also easy to modify, using a Yoga Strap to connect your hands with your feet.

How to Practice Dhanurasana (Bow Pose) with a Yoga Strap

1. Gather your props: Yoga Mat, Yoga Strap and a Yoga Blanket (optional). If your hip bones are sensitive to pressure, you might want to place a folded Yoga Blanket across the center of your mat.
2. Lie face down on your mat, with your pelvis on your Yoga Blanket if using.
3. This is the tricky part: Bend your knees, drawing your heels in close to your glutes. Place your Yoga Strap around your feet or ankles and hold onto the ends of the strap, one in each hand. Hold the strap taut enough so that it doesn’t slide down your legs toward your knees. Of course, you can avoid this awkward move by having a friend or teacher place the strap around your feet if you’re not practicing alone.
4. Lie face down again, but with your knees bent and the strap ends in both hands.
5. Root your pelvis into the floor and lift your chest and legs, walking your hands toward your feet to keep the strap taut.
6. Keep your head in a neutral position, facing straight ahead. There’s a tendency to throw your head back in backbends, but in prone backbends in particular, this can strain your lumbar spine. This is because when your neck is hyperextended, your hyoid bone pushes forward and disengages your digestive organs. You can read more about this here.
7. Stay in the pose for 5 to 10 deep breaths. When you’re finished, return to a prone position. If you want to practice Dhanurasana again, keep ahold of the strap. If not, let go and relax with your head resting on your hands.

Earth Week is a great time to recommit to greening our lifestyles. This includes all areas of our lives—how we eat, how we travel, how we work and how we play. It also includes how we practice yoga. Are we practicing sustainable yoga? And how would that look?

In the past decade, the yoga products industry has stepped up to the plate for the environment. We now have lots of choices: mats made from rubber, jute, PER and TPE; cork, bamboo and recycled blocks; and yoga towels made with bamboo and PER, to name a few. We can use our buying power to support a cleaner, more sustainable environment. This is one way to green our yoga practice.

What Is Sustainable Yoga Practice?

But how sustainable is your practice itself? One of the wonderful aspects of asana practice is that it can help us replenish the prana we spend during our daily activities. We take in prana through food, water, breath and what we “feed” our minds. We spend it when we talk, move about and use our brains to think and/or solve problems as we move through our days. Asana practice, with its unique marriage of breath and movement, can help us restore our energy reserves—as long as we practice in a way that is sustainable.

In the same way that leaving a light on in a room you’re not occupying wastes energy, over-engaging in different parts of the body can waste and deplete energy. Since all is connected within our bodies and minds, when we practice any asana, nothing is left out of the benefits. However, there are parts of the body that need to engage, and other parts that can simply settle back and receive.

How to Practice a Sustainable Yoga Forward Bend

1. Sit in Danadasana (Staff Pose) on a yoga mat.
2. Palpate your lumbar spine. Are the “knobs” of the spinous processes poking out? If so, sit on a folded yoga blanket to elevate your hips. Make sure your pelvis is tilting forward so that your spine can be neutral, not rounded.
3. Root your sit bones and your heels. If you keep your knees bent in forward bends, a variation that protects your back, sacroiliac joints and hip joints, place a rolled-up yoga blanket under your knees so that you can ground your legs more effectively.
4. Bend forward from your hip joints, not from your waist, any amount. Stop at the angle where you can keep your spine long.
5. If you find that you’re straining to reach toward your feet, use a yoga strap to connect your hands with your feet. Loop a strap around your feet and pull gently on the ends to help you sit upright.
6. Now move your awareness up your body. Are you contracting your abdomen? Do you really need to tighten your belly? When you tighten your abdomen, how’s your breathing? When you hold your belly in constant contraction, your diaphragm can’t move freely, inhibiting the flow of prana-rich breath. Let go of your abdomen.
7. Check your shoulders, throat and facial muscles. Do you really need to tighten your shoulders, your throat or any part of your face? Soften your entire upper body so that you feel your torso and arms oscillating with your breath. In this way, your body is moving with the breath instead of against it. Struggling with yourself depletes energy. Working in partnership with your breath replenishes it.

Slow Down

If you feel tired or agitated after your asana practice, you might want to re-examine how you’re practicing. Asana practice is supposed to replenish us, not fatigue us. Maybe you could use a longer Savasana. Judith Hanson Lasater recommends at least 15 minutes for Savasana if you want to relax your body completely and allow your mind to settle.

Slowing down might be a good strategy. Not only does a slower practice tend to build rather than deplete energy, but it gives you a chance to investigate how you’re practicing—whether you’re spending energy in parts of your body that don’t need to be working so hard.

The Power of Choice

I like to think of my yoga and meditation practices as the time when I get to observe my habits of body and mind. This is where the true power of practice lies. When we see clearly that we are practicing a habit that may be causing difficulty somewhere else in our lives—e.g. tensing our shoulders or jaw in asana practice and then complaining of neck and shoulder tension—we have a chance to make a different choice.

So if I feel that something I’m doing in my yoga practice is draining my energy, I can start to dismantle my old habit and cultivate a newer, healthier one. Over time, that new habit integrates into my daily life. When my mind and body are sustained, I feel more self-contained and less likely to go outside myself to have my needs met, which brings us back to sustaining our beautiful planet.

Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) is a staple in my morning yoga classes. Years ago, several of my students made up unflattering names for it—Cow Pie, Mad Cow, etc.—because it was so challenging for them. Now those same Cow Face naysayers have turned into Cow Face converts, even sometimes giving up a bit of their Savasana to do it if I don’t offer it in class. The Cow Face arm position is another story, however. It can be quite a challenge, but with a yoga strap, anyone can reap the benefits.

Gomukhasana is quite complex. It’s classified as a hip opening pose, as it stretches all the glutes—maximus, medius and minimus—as well as the piriformis and the tensor fasciae latae. My students—the ones who like it—find it very grounding, making it helpful a helpful pose toward the end of a practice. (Note that the photo that accompanies this blog shows only the arm position, not the leg position. You can find a description of the leg position in the above “Gomukhasana” link.)

Cow Face Pose also opens the shoulders. The classic arm position, with one elbow pointing upward and the other forearm wedged behind your shoulder blades—said to look like one raised and one lowered ear on a cow’s head—creates a strong triceps stretch in the upper arm and a strong biceps and deltoid stretch in the lower one.

While the leg and arm positions are traditionally practiced together, they can also be beneficial on their own if you’re interested in putting more attention into either your hips or shoulders.

Gomukhasana Arms

Today’s blog will focus on the shoulders. While the traditional position calls for connecting the hands of your upper and lower arms in the upper back, reality is, many people’s shoulders just won’t allow this. There are many possible reasons for this, including the construction of the shoulder joints. Some people’s shoulders are formed for stability. They may not be able to reach their elbow straight up toward the sky because their humerus bones will “hit” the back of the scapula before the arm gets to vertical. This is within the normal variations in range of motion.

Others will find that when their dominant arm is the lower one, that their hands can’t touch, even though they may connect when the dominant arm is the upper one. This is probably due to increased strength and stability in the dominant arm’s biceps and deltoids. Or there could be some other reason.

In any case, a yoga strap can help. It can bridge the gap between your hands, creating a connection. Connecting the hands is important for energizing the arms in Gomukhasana. Whether you connect the fingers or use a Yoga Strap to connect the hands, your Gomukhasana will be more dynamic if you can connect your hands.

How to Use a Yoga Strap in Gomukhasana

If your hands don’t connect in Gomukhasana, try this:

1. Extend your left arm out in front of you, turning your palm outward. Swing your arm around behind your back. Bend your elbow and place the back of your hand on your low back. Now scoot your hand up your spine any amount—anywhere from the lower ribcage to between the shoulder blades.
2. Hold a Yoga Strap in your right hand. Dangle it over your back. Turn your right palm to face inward, toward your head. Bend your elbow and find the yoga strap with your left hand. Walk your right and left hands toward each other. If you’d like to add some extra energy to your shoulder experience, “stretch” the strap, pulling upward with your right hand and downward with your left.
3. Stay for five to ten deep breaths. Let go and let your arms relax. Take five to ten deep breaths before practicing your other side.

If you’d like to see more uses for Yoga Straps, as well as how to use Hugger Mugger’s other premium props, please visit the Yoga Props Guide.

The first time I encountered yoga props was way back in 1982. I’d been practicing asana for about six months when I joined an Iyengar-based class. The props were rather crude back then. We used discontinued carpet samples instead of yoga blankets. (The 1970s kitchen carpet samples we practiced with are burned into my memory!) There were no yoga blocks or yoga bolsters, or even yoga mats. A funky thrift store necktie served as a yoga strap.

By far the necktie/yoga strap was the most utilized prop in those classes. By connecting their hands and feet with a yoga strap in seated forward bends, students were able to keep their spines in a neutral position, no matter how tight their hamstrings were. This protected the sacroiliac (SI) joints and the intervertebral discs.

Yoga props are one of the gifts that B.K.S. Iyengar bequeathed to the practice of asana. The yoga props that have become almost universal in studios these days derive from his designs. That’s where Hugger Mugger founder Sara Chambers got the idea for making a yoga strap that was much more functional than those old neckties. Like Iyengar’s strap, Sara’s yoga strap included a buckle. This made it possible to secure the strap in a loop, making it useful for a whole bunch of different poses.

Anyway, I digress. The importance of maintaining a neutral spine in forward bends shouldn’t be underestimated. Even if your hamstrings are pretty flexible, sitting on the floor with one or both legs stretched out in front of you is likely to cause your lumbar spine to round. When we bend forward, the vertebrae exert pressure on the fronts of the discs. In addition, the SI joint gaps. We can get away with this once in a while. But when you practice this way daily, we risk injury.

How to Practice Janu Sirsasana with a Yoga Strap —and Other Helpful Props

1. Gather your props: yoga mat, one or two yoga blankets, yoga block and yoga strap.
2. Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. Reach back and feel your lower spine. If the spinous processes—the knobby protrusions on the back of each vertebra—are poking out into your back, this means that your lumbar is in a convex rather than concave curve. If you know your hamstrings are on the tight side, try sitting on a folded yoga blanket to help your pelvis tilt forward more easily, which will also allow your spine to find its natural curves more easily.
3. Bend your right knee out to the side so that your foot is in contact with the left inner thigh. If your knee is at all uncomfortable in this position, place a yoga block under your thigh to elevate your knee.
4. Check your lumbar spine again. You may still feel the spinous process poking out. If so, place another folded blanket under your hips.
5. Take a yoga strap and place it around the balls of your left foot. Hold the strap with both hands and pull it toward you to help you bring your spine upright. Stay upright in the pose rather than bending forward.
6. Take five to ten deep breaths, grounding your sit bones as you lengthen your spine upward.
7. If you decide to bend forward from here, keep the strap taut as you bend forward. Make sure that your pelvis moves forward with the rest of your spine.

Some say there are two generations of yoga: one before the widespread use of yoga props, and and one after.

Before props hit the mainstream, yoga was less about perfecting asana and instead focused heavily on the spiritual and communal aspects of yoga. Then, therapeutic and restorative yoga became more popular and Iyengar invented some wooden benches, chairs, bungees, and ropes for people with restrictions. Suddenly, yogis everywhere found themselves sinking deep into that juicy pose with the help of a prop.

But props weren’t always so widely welcomed.

It was as if people were ashamed of them when they were first introduced in the 1970’s. This was probably because teachers would only give them to students who couldn’t do certain poses. Overall, yogis tried to use as few props as possible.

Now that we have props available, the practice has become more about the meditation or spirituality alone. People are into pushing their bodies physically. Yoga has become as much as a fitness craze as Pilates or CrossFit.

And the ego continues to rise to the occasion.

Yoga blocks are saviors for tight hamstrings.

Drop Your Ego, Grab a Yoga Prop

Today, it’s common to walk into a yoga class and the teacher says, “grab two blocks and a strap” or perhaps “a blanket, bolster, and chair.”

But still, some would rather sacrifice the benefits of the asana for the ego, sometimes dangerously pushing the body, to prove to themselves or others that they can do the pose without props.

But the ego is fooling them. They aren’t getting the full benefits from the pose, or even really doing the pose, if their alignment is all wrong.

Let’s face it, we all have restrictions.

Props give all yogis the opportunity to reap the same amazing benefits that were previously only available to those who mastered the most advanced asanas. At the same time, the yoga props are training the mind and body so we can get there someday.

Don’t let the ego push the body around, and never skip out on the benefits of the asanas for the sake of the ego. Even if you’re strong, flexible, uninjured, or advanced in your yoga practice, you may still benefit from a little extra help or support. Overcoming your ego means learning to be OK with that!

Even when you finally “perfect” a pose without the help of a prop, another door opens to new world filled with advanced versions of that pose, related asanas and binds. So it’s never ending, really. There’s always more to learn. That’s what props are here for; they’re learning tools.

Becoming more and more interested in proper physical alignment a natural step in the yogic journey; it’s a good thing, and here’s why. Think of how many times in a day you find your shoulders scrunched up by your ears. You adjust your shoulder blades back down your back. Ahh, relief. Then, a few hours later stress has welcomed them back up by your ears, again, ouch!

Eventually, if you practice enough, you won’t have to remind yourself to put your shoulders where they belong so often. The alignment will become more natural.

The same is true in yoga.

Sometimes your body might feel like two entirely different bodies, right side to left side. Whether it’s because of a natural dominant side, injuries, or simply bad habits, you will probably feel major differences from one side of your body to the other.

But the two sides of our bodies don’t have to be so different. Just because they might be today doesn’t mean that we can’t work towards balance tomorrow. Yoga props can help bring the body back into balance.

Sometimes two is better than one! The use of yoga straps in supta padangustasana can help reset an unbalanced sacrum.

But Props Are A Crutch!

That may be your ego talking again. You brought your mat with you, didn’t you? That’s a prop — the most common one we use in the yoga studio, in fact. Why do you use a sticky mat? Probably so your feet and hands don’t slip and you can find stability, comfort and stillness. Simple. So, why stop there?

Whoever decided that yoga props are embarrassing and only for those with restrictions is blindly denying the fact that we all start somewhere.

Yes, props do help yogis into asanas that they can’t yet do without help. But the key word is yet. When using props in your yoga practice, you deserve major kudos because you’re working towards performing the asana in proper form and not risking tearing a muscle to impress a yoga teacher or fellow yogi! Now that, my friend, sounds much more embarrassing than resting on a block or two in pigeon pose.

Yoga props can be restorative, too. We’re human — we all get stressed. Our bodies respond to this. You may find that there is nothing better than lying in supported fish pose with a two blocks under your back when it feels tight after a long day or a night of tossing and turning. Props help us find even more depth and comfort in the poses we’re already comfortable in so we can focus on what’s really important: being present and turning inward.

I’m sure you’ve heard a yoga teacher somewhere say something like, “Progress is a journey. It is not a competition. Where you are is where you are right now. There is no right or wrong.”

This isn’t just inspirational mumbo jumbo, though. There really is no right or wrong in the yoga room. Our bodies are all unique and can feel different from one day to the next. The point of practicing yoga is not to look good to others or to stroke the ego. We are supposed to learn the poses and reap the benefits while enjoying the process of endless progression.

Yoga straps can help train the shoulders and chest for more advanced backbending.

Instagram makes it easy to share progress with world. Side by side, two pictures of the same pose invoke a “before” and “after” effect that leaves the world forgetting about what’s in between: the process.

A picture of a beautiful pose doesn’t reflect a beautiful practice. A beautiful practice is made up of the journey the yogi has taken to arrive in the asana on their mat. Many flexible people can strike an impressive pose, but are their hips aligned correctly? Are their quadriceps engaged? Did they remember to breathe?

In the mean time, don’t push it! Let props help you learn alignment in new asanas so you can eventually remove the props and take that beautiful photo.

There is no end-game in yoga — we have the endless opportunity to improve. One day, or one year, or however long it takes, when we finally achieve that previously impossible pose, we can rejoice, remember how far we’ve come, and then get back to work.

Hugger Mugger Your Ego

Hugger Mugger is an established, innovative yoga company that has been making quality yoga props and clothing since 1986. You may recognize Hugger Mugger mats, blocks, straps, and more from on our our online yoga classes on YogaToday.

What is a “hugger mugger” anyway? What does it mean? (Maybe you’ve wondered this while finding stillness in savasana.)

Hugger mugger literally means “to conceal.” It’s a very old term often used in Shakespeare plays.

Hugger Mugger found it roots when Sarah Chambers took a workshop with Mary Dunn, who needed a strap to show a modification for a pose. Another student in the room had a belt, which worked even better than the neckties that yogis were using at the time. The belt inspired Sarah, but she knew she could create something better.

One week later, she showed up to class with two inventions: a cotton strap with a D-ring and a pair of maroon velour gym shorts. The shorts had thigh-hugging elastic bands that kept the shorts in place during inversions and wide-legged poses. They hid what we don’t want to show to the yoga room.

Just like props, the shorts provide that one bit of comfort that eliminates distraction. With this distraction removed, the yogi can focus on the pose instead. Props help clean the process up a bit by providing comfort. It makes sense why someone would name a company that makes yoga props and clothing “hugger mugger.”

Today’s versions of original Hugger Mugger designs.

Props help conceal and maybe even silence the ego so we can accept where we are in our yoga journey. No one needs to know, or even cares, that you need help in an asana. The process is personal and really none of anyone else’s business except your own.

The props create a nurturing space to improve — to do the work.

Eventually you’ll remove the block or release the strap.

You’ll find the body and mind have learned how to do the asana without help.

Then get back to work.

About the Author

Jess Goucher is a snowboarder, yogi, food lover, and lacrosse coach living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. When she’s not snowboarding, you’ll find her on the trails with her husky, Tao, or helping out with production at YogaToday.

Talasana (Palm Tree Pose) is a variant of Tadasana (Mountain Pose), the basic standing pose upon which all other poses are built, at least according to the Iyengar tradition. When I studied with Iyengar in 1989, I felt that if, after three weeks of intensive classes, I had an inkling of an understanding of Tadasana, I’d be more than happy. I feel it’s the key to understanding all the rest of the asanas.

If you think of Tadasana as the trunk of the palm tree, like a swaying palm tree, Talasana can sway because of the tree’s deep roots and solid trunk. In Talasana, we set down roots, stabilize our trunk, and allow our coconuts (skulls) and arms (leaves) to bend with the wind. Okay. That’s a pretty corny image, but it actually might be a helpful way to approach the practice.

Practicing Palm Tree Pose

1. Stand on a yoga mat with your feet about hips-width apart. If you know where your ischial tuberosities (sit bones) are, you may want to experiment with setting your feet directly below them. Give your weight to your feet. Then extend your feet into the floor as if you are putting down roots. You may feel a gentle upward rebound in your body as you plant your feet. If so, you are experiencing what Donna Farhi calls “active yield,” creating a balanced relationship to the force of gravity.
2. Take a few deep breaths in Tadasana, feeling how your relationship to gravity shifts on the inhalation and exhalation.
3. Raise your arms overhead. There are several ways to connect your hands. The traditional hand position is to interlace your fingers and turn your palms upward. Another variation that I like is to clasp one wrist with your other hand. You can also widen your arms to at least shoulder-width apart and hold a strap (as in the photo). Experiment with all these options to decide which works best for you on a given day.
4. Root deeply through your right foot, extending the pelvis down into your foot, and bend to the left.
5. Stay for 5 to 10 breaths, allowing your body to be moved by your breath.
6. Explore twisting and bending from here. Take some time and play with it. See what areas of tension you can uncover by moving around. A palm tree bends in the direction of the wind. Use your internal wind (your breath) and your body awareness to guide you to where your torso, shoulders and arms need the most attention.
7. Stay easy with it. As with all yoga asana, Talasana practice is not a performance. It’s an opportunity to explore and awaken the unconscious corners of our bodies and minds.
8. When you come back to the center, stand silently in Tadasana to allow Talasana to settle into your body, and to feel what has changed. Then move to the other side, remembering that your second side is a whole new exploration.

Talasana is a great respite from sitting at a desk. Make a commitment to getting up from your desk every 20-30 minutes to practice Talasana. Note how your mind and body respond to even a short respite.

All the sites I read when looking for other viewpoints on Talasana spoke a bit apologetically about how easy it is, how it’s only a stepping stone to the more important, fancier poses. I disagree. While Palm Tree Pose can serve as a great warm-up for asana practice, it is a worthy pose on its own. You don’t need a yoga mat or to change into yoga-specific clothing to practice. It’s a pose you can weave into your life, in the little windows of time sprinkled throughout the day. If you want to grow a yoga practice, Talasana gives you a place to set down your roots.

Updated article from January 7, 2015.

I’ll start out with the assumption that all good yoga practitioners will practice moderation during the holidays. But then I’ll add a dose of reality. It’s easy to slip, and honestly, it’s probably okay once in a while.

My yoga and meditation teacher, Pujari Keays, used to teach that it’s good to give yourself a “goop day” once in a while. This means that it’s okay to slip off your usual healthy regimen sometimes. It’s not what you do once in a while, he said, it’s what you do most of the time that determines your overall health. Plus, stressing out over your food is probably not healthy for digestion, or for your mental health.

That said, the holidays are a time when it’s easy for a goop day to turn into a goop week, or even longer. Feeling guilty about this is not helpful. It’s really okay once in a while. But the sugar highs and crashes, and overeating in general may start to sap your energy. If you normally eat healthy, you may even feel the aftereffects more acutely than someone who’s used to eating lots of rich, sweet foods.

How to Enjoy Healthy Holidays

Celebrate with friends and family, but do take some time out to take care of yourself too. Here are some ideas:

1. Practice yoga. Especially if you’re traveling, this can be a challenge. But see if you can carve out a time for some practice, or take a class. Even 15 minutes can revitalize you. Here are some ideas for staying consistent while you’re traveling.
2. Drink water. Especially if you’re drinking more alcohol than usual, it’s important to keep yourself hydrated. It’s easy to forget to drink water when the weather is cold, but it’s important to keep up your hydration habits in the winter, especially if you’re indulging in more food and drink than usual. Drinking lots of water is the most efficient way to detox your body.
3. Eat well the rest of the day. If you know you’re going to be attending a party where there’s likely to be heavy sugar, make sure you fill up on healthy stuff for your other meals. Eat lots of veggies and if you can, make yourself a protein drink with some phytonutrient-rich berries. If you normally take supplements, make sure you continue these during the holidays.
4. Don’t stress out over your lapses. Eating too many Christmas cookies may indeed make you feel less than optimal, but it does no good to beat yourself up for it. Chastising yourself is not helpful. Do notice how overindulgence makes your body feel. That’s good information that might help you adjust your choices later on.

Practice Bound Supta Baddhakonasana (Supine Bound Angle Pose)

There’s nothing like a reclining restorative pose to help regenerate your energies. Bound Supta Baddhakonasana can also help unwind abdominal cramping and soothe a sour stomach.

1. Sit in Baddha Konasana on a soft surface. You can spread out a yoga mat or a blanket.
2. Take a yoga strap and wrap it around the back of your pelvis, just below your waist.
3. Feed your strap over your thighs and ankles, and under your feet.
4. Buckle your strap and pull it tight—but not too tight. You should feel some support from the strap to sit up straight, but make sure it’s not so tight as to be uncomfortable. Take care to position the buckle so that it’s not digging into your ankle or thigh.
5. Lean back on your hands and point your tailbone toward your heels. Take a few breaths here.
6. Relax onto your elbows. Take a breath or two before lying all the way back.
7. You can also lie on a yoga bolster or pillow if you like.
8. If your knees or inner thighs are uncomfortable, you can place yoga blocks under your knees (see the above photo). If you’re traveling and don’t have blocks, roll up some blankets or towels and wedge them under your thighs.
9. Breathe deeply into your abdomen, allowing it to expand as you inhale and to relax as you exhale.
10. Stay in Supta Baddhakonasana for 3-5 minutes or longer. When you’re ready to come out of it, if your buckle is accessible, loosen your strap. Then lift your knees and place the soles of your feet on the floor. If your buckle isn’t accessible, use your arms to lift you up to a seated position.

Gomukhasana is quite complex. It’s classified as a hip-opening pose, as it stretches all the glutes—maximus, medius and minimus—as well as the piriformis and the tensor fasciae latae. My students—the ones who like it—find it very grounding, making it helpful a helpful pose toward the end of a practice. (Note that the photo that accompanies this blog shows only the arm position, not the leg position. You can find a description of the leg position in the above “Gomukhasana” link.)

Cow Face Pose Isn’t Just About the Hips

Cow Face Pose also opens the shoulders. The classic arm position features one elbow pointing upward and the other hand wedged behind your shoulder blades. Said to look like one raised and one lowered ear on a cow’s head, it creates a strong triceps stretch in the upper arm and a strong biceps and deltoid stretch in the lower one.

While the leg and arm positions are traditionally practiced together, they can also be beneficial on their own if you’re interested in putting more attention into either your hips or shoulders.

Why Use a Yoga Strap?

Today’s blog will focus on the shoulders. The traditional position calls for connecting the hands of your upper and lower arms in the upper back. But many people’s shoulders just won’t allow this. There are many possible reasons for this, including the construction of the shoulder joints. Some people’s shoulders are formed for stability. They may not be able to reach their elbow straight up toward the sky because their humerus bones will “hit” the back of the scapula before the arm gets to vertical. This particular shoulder configuration is not a sign that you’re a “deficient” yogi! It is well within what’s considered to be normal range of motion.

Others will find that when their dominant arm is the lower one, that their hands can’t touch, even though they may connect when the dominant arm is the upper one. This may be due to increased strength and stability in the dominant arm’s biceps and deltoids, although there could be other reasons.

In any case, a yoga strap can help. It can bridge the gap between your hands, creating a connection. Connecting the hands is important for energizing the arms in Gomukhasana. Whether you connect the fingers or use a yoga strap to connect your hands, your Gomukhasana will be more dynamic if you can connect your hands.

How to Use a Yoga Strap in Gomukhasana

If your hands don’t connect in Gomukhasana, try this:

1. Extend your left arm out in front of you, turning your palm outward, internally rotating your shoulder. Swing your arm around behind your back. Bend your elbow and place the back of your hand on your low back. Now scoot your the back of your hand up your back any amount—anywhere from the lower ribcage to between the shoulder blades.
2. Hold a yoga strap in your right hand. Dangle it over your back. Turn your right palm to face inward, toward your head. Bend your elbow and find the yoga strap with your left hand. Walk your right and left hands toward each other. If you’d like to add some extra energy to your shoulder experience, “stretch” the strap, pulling upward with your right hand and downward with your left.
3. Stay for five to ten deep breaths. Let go and let your arms relax. Take five to ten deep breaths before practicing your other side.

If you’d like to see more uses for Yoga Straps, as well as how to use Hugger Mugger’s other premium props, please visit the Yoga Props Guide.

I was first introduced to poses associated with yoga in grade school, when my sisters and I took ballet lessons. I remember practicing Baddha Konasana—called “Butterfly” in girls’ ballet classes—every day. With ballet’s emphasis on turnout, Butterfly is one of its important warm-up exercises.

Practicing Baddha Konasana requires and develops outward rotation of the hip joints—that is, if the hip joints are shaped in such a way that outward rotation is even possible. The pose develops outward rotation by stretching the adductors (the muscles that draw the leg in toward the center) in the groin and inner thigh. In yoga, Butterfly is touted for its internal benefits: it stimulates the abdominal organs, improves circulation, soothes menstrual discomfort and sciatica, and helps relieve menopause symptoms.

One of the challenges of practicing Baddha Konasana is maintaining your natural spinal curves. Because not everyone’s hip joints turn out easily, for some, the low back will have in order for them to be able to maintain balance. This is especially true for people whose knees end up quite a bit higher than their pelvic bones.

There are several ways of alleviating this problem. One is to sit higher on one or two folded Yoga Blankets or a Meditation Cushion. Another way to work with Baddha Konasana is to use a Yoga Strap to support your pelvis.

How to Practice

To practice Baddha Konasana, have a few Yoga Blankets handy. A thick mat, like the Para Rubber Mat in the photo, should provide enough padding under your anklebones. If you’re on a thinner mat, you may want to place a blanket on top of your mat. Bend both knees and place the soles of your feet together, allowing the legs to release out to the sides. Reach back and check your lumbar spine by placing a few fingers on the spine. If your vertebrae are poking out in your low back, this means that your back is rounded (in flexion). Fold your blanket and sit on it with your pelvis on the blanket and feet on the floor. Check your spine again. If your vertebrae are still poking out, you might want to try sitting up even a little higher.

Now take a yoga strap, make a large loop in it and place it around your body. I recommend using an 8- or 10-foot strap for this, unless you know that your heels come quite close to your pubic bones in this pose. Place the back of the loop around your pelvic rim—not your waist. Then take the loop over your ankles and under your feet. Tighten the loop on your yoga strap so that your feet move closer in to the body—there can be a very wide disparity here, as some practitioners will have a lot more space between the ankles and pubic bones. Tighten the strap until it is snug around your pelvis and helping you sit up straighter.

If your knees are not comfortable, you can elevate them with Yoga Blocks. Here’s an article that goes into detail about this.

You may also want to try lying down with the strap in position. If so, lean back on your hands, lift your pelvis and extend your tailbone toward your heels. Set your pelvis back down and lean onto your elbows. Here, you may want to loosen your strap a bit. Then lie all the way back onto the floor.

I’ve found Supta (Supine) Baddha Konasana to be excellent for relieving cramps and general abdominal distress. You can remain in Supta Baddha Konasana for a few minutes if you like, as long as your knees feel comfortable.

Here’s a post that explains Baddha Konasana in more detail.

Here’s another post that explains the benefits of Supta Baddha Konasana.

If you’d like to see more uses for Yoga Straps, as well as how to use Hugger Mugger’s other premium props, please visit the Yoga Props Guide.