In Gomukhasana, however, one is seated with the toes pointing backwards. The lower leg is the ‘anchor’ leg, with the shin and front ankle and top foot much as in Virasana. The upper leg has to negotiate the depth and width of the lower leg thigh and its hip is therefore tilted up higher than the lower leg hip. Its foot is also in front of the lower leg foot, but still has to point backwards and only the top of the foot and front ankle are able to press into the floor.
This makes everything feel uneven and the balance is sometimes precarious.
As always with such poses, the harmony and equilibrium has to come to the body by means of the breath and the mind.
The balance of the lower body in full Gomukhasana is helped by the action of the arms.
This is because, when the left leg is underneath, the left arm is the upper one, and when the right leg is underneath the right arm is the upper one. There is thus a crisscross action between the arms and the legs, that ‘braces’ the pose and enables the trunk to become more even.
This allows the breathing to stabilise and quietness comes to the mind.