Cow Pose is a gentle yoga pose that provides great benefits for the back, spine, and other areas of the body. Here’s a quick tutorial…

Cow Pose (Bitilasana) is one of the easier yoga poses for beginners, but it comes with some great benefits. You may be most familiar with Cow pose when combined with Cat Pose for a gentle flow sequence, but Cow can also be useful on its own. Both Cat and Cow poses are excellent for those with back problems, or those who spend a lot of time sitting.

Cow pose helps to improve posture by providing a gentle stretch to your spine, neck, and back. It also provides some strengthening benefits to your arms and upper body, improves coordination and body awareness, and provides a gentle massage to your inner organs which may help to enhance digestion.

Just about anyone can benefit from Cow pose, but if you do have back or neck problems, proceed with caution, and always listen to your body. If anything doesn’t feel good, stop. If you have low blood pressure, talk to your doctor before performing this pose. Cow Pose is best performed on an empty stomach, since it does engage your core muscles.

Here are step-by-step instructions from GotYoga.com for performing Cow Pose:

Step 1

Start by placing your body on the mat in a “tabletop” position while keeping your knees under your hips. Make sure your wrists, elbows, and shoulders form a line and are perpendicular with the mat.

Fixate on the floor with your eyes, and keep your neck neutral.

Step 2

As you take a deep breath, lift your pelvis and chest bones up toward the sky while allowing your abdominal muscles to relax and sink toward your sitting bones.

Slowly lift your head and gaze forward.

Step 3

While you exhale, come back to the tabletop position at the beginning of your pose. Repeat the same process from tabletop to cow pose anywhere between 10 and 20 times.

Image Source: GotYoga.com