Cat/Cow—Marjaryasana/Bitilasana

The Intention

This series is supposed to come out every other Thursday as part of your paid subscription. I sent this first one and then did no more. But now that I’m in a writing rhythm, this is back on my plate. I’m excited for that. I’m resending this first one to get us started. Your next exploration of a pose and why I use it in classes will arrive in two weeks.

The Pose

Cat/cow is a fairly standard pose that you’ve probably encountered in a yoga class. Begin by coming into tabletop position on the floor: knees under hips and wrists under shoulders.¹ Toes can be turned under, so your feet are flexed, or you can have tops of the feet on the ground; try both ways and see what works best for you. Spine is neutral in tabletop, so your gaze is at the floor and the crown of your head points forward toward the wall in front of you. As you inhale into cow pose, drop the belly, tailbone moves upward, draw shoulders back and down, and look up. As you exhale into cat, round the spine, draw shoulder blades away from each other, tailbone tucks, glide your chin toward your chest. Inhale, drop the belly and look up. Exhale, round the spine and look toward your belly.

This pose brings movement to the spine, lengthening the three parts of it: cervical, the neck; thoracic, the middle where your ribs are; lumbar, low back. It also gets your pelvis tilting. All of this helps to engage the muscles in your abdomen and back. The weight bearing on your wrists helps to strengthen them.

Modifications

If the pressure on your knees is too much, try putting a blanket under them for extra padding.

Alternately, if your wrists or knees can’t bear weight, of if you just want a different way to do this pose, try it sitting. You can do the rounding and extending of the spine with your legs crossed on the floor or in a chair, feet flat on the ground. Place your hands on your thighs, and as you round the spine, move the hands to your knees; as you arch the spine, draw your hands toward your hip creases.

Another cool modification I like is to change the breathing: inhale when you round the spine and exhale as you drop the belly. It can be difficult when you start out, because you tend to have less space to breathe into when your spine is rounded. If you imagine breathing into the back body, that can help you create “mental space” for the breath.

Why I Like This Pose for Grieving and Anxiety

Grief and anxiety are very internal, isolating, intimate experiences. They are hard work. While we might be supported by loved ones and friends, medical professionals and therapists, spiritual directors and teachers, we spend a lot of time in our heads. This is the cat portion of this pose. We naval-gaze: remembering experiences with the one who died, ruminating on all the things there are to worry about, regretting or shaming or guilting ourselves, wondering why we feel or think the way we do, maybe even struggling to draw the breath in because we feel like we’ve been punched in the gut.