How to Properly Do a Frog Pose, Plus Its Benefits

The stretch and increased mobility of the Frog Pose have created one of the best yoga poses for your hips, pelvic muscles, and inner thigh muscles.

Baby goats aren’t the only animals that can enhance the yoga experience. It is true that having goats to cuddle with when doing yoga can be a transformative adventure, it is not the only animal that can have a transformative effect to the meditative, muscle-building endeavor. While everyone is obsessing over the little goats, the Frog Pose is dominating the world of yoga.

This yoga pose, when done properly, will indeed make you look like a frog. Although I’m not sure if you’d want to do yoga with frogs in the same way you do with baby goats… With that aside, the Frog Pose is known for stretching out the pelvic region and can help improve your posture. Quickly becoming a beloved yoga, thanks to the stretch of the hips and the increased mobility, the Frog Pose is a wonderful addition to your daily yoga practice.

Give it a shot using our article, How to Properly Do a Frog Pose Plus Its Benefits, as a guide!

Yoga

Yoga is a practice that involves the mind and the body to promote physical and mental well-being. It uses the flow of movement, as well as deep breathing and other practices of meditation, to involve both the body and the mind. Yoga involves physical, mental, and spiritual practices and disciplines to create the experience that you know and love.

Yoga comes from India, introduced almost 5,000 years ago, and comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ meaning to join. Yoga joins the mind, body, and spirit in its process. As practiced in the United States, yoga is made of asanas, pranayama, and dyana. A yoga asana is a yoga pose that is typically held still. Pranayama is the breathing technique used in yoga and the dyana is the meditation aspect that is present in various yoga practices.

The Benefits of Yoga

There are many known and studied benefits of yoga practice. Many people that enjoy the yoga practice also enjoy one or more of the following benefits. If you’re looking for a sign to try yoga, this is it!

Yoga has been shown to improve several physical skills including balance, strength, and flexibility. Yoga can also assist with back pain, particularly the Frog Pose as you will see later, and can ease the symptoms of arthritis. The practice of yoga can be great for your heart health and sleep and can give you more energy to approach the day. This energy can be physical and mental, addressing both aspects of your life. Yoga also promotes self-care and can provide you with a wonderful community.

The mindfulness practice of yoga has been known to improve additional aspects of your life. This practice has led to better body images, more mindful and healthy eating habits, and a boost for weight loss maintenance.

Yoga can stimulate brain function and has also been a part of various studies showing stress reduction, increased levels of anxiety relief, managing depression symptoms, and increasing quality of life.

Furthermore, yoga has manifested additional health benefits varying from a reduction in inflammation to increased immunity to fight off illness. It has also manifested the benefits of better bone strength.

Yoga Poses for Beginners

Yoga is great for people of all skill levels! There are different poses for different levels of skill so that you don’t overwhelm yourself on the first go, but also so you don’t get bored as you improve. The different poses are constantly challenging you to reach new potential and to do your best.

The poses listed below are excellent poses for beginners and provide many benefits without an expert skill level.

Child’s Pose

This is a great “default position”. Resting in Child’s Pose before moving to our next asana is a wonderful way to receive the benefits of the Child’s Pose. It can also be helpful to do at the beginning or end of your yoga session.

This pose can relax various aspects of your body, such as the spine and back or the shoulders and neck area, and can stretch your knees, ankles, back, hips, and thighs. This is one of the best and most accessible poses for relaxation and stretching.

Downward-Facing Dog

The Downward-Facing Dog is an excellent pose for strength and flexibility, in addition to being a great stretch for your hamstrings. This pose strengthens your arms, your shoulder muscles, and your back in the process.

The Downward-Facing Dog pose can stretch your back considerably. Keeping your left foot and your right foot flat on the ground while executing this yoga asana will give you the most benefit out of the asana.

Plank Pose

Similar to a plank in other workout styles, the Plank Pose has you balance the weight of your body on your arms as you would for a pushup. Each shoulder should be balanced above each wrist with the arms straight, and your feet should be about shoulder-width or hip-width apart.

As you hold this pose, it will help to build strength in your core muscles. Strengthened core muscles can tone your abs if you are looking for that effect, and build upper body strength as well.

Cobra Pose

The Cobra Pose may indeed make you look like a snake, rearing up and ready to strike. This yoga asana is tremendous for your back. Not only does it strengthen your back muscles, but it also increases the flexibility in your spine. Additionally, the Cobra pose can strengthen your chest, your abdomen, and your shoulders.

For this pose, you want to be careful if you have recently had a lower back injury. You don’t want to overdo it and reinjure your back. Be aware of how your body is feeling when doing this pose. Injuring your back can be debilitating.

Corpse Pose

Much more enjoyable than the asana sounds at first, the Corpse Pose is a great all-around yoga pose. If you take a yoga class, you will frequently end with this pose. The pose is perfect for relaxing all of your muscles after a yoga session.

The Corpse Pose is often accompanied by a relaxing meditation session. For this pose, you will want to feel as though your entire body weight is melting into the mat. Try to feel the tips of your toes and your fingers and let your body relax with each breath you take.

Frog Pose Introduction

Mandukasana is the Sanskrit name for the Frog Pose. This yoga asana is meant to be a hip-opening pose to promote flexibility and strengthen the pelvic muscles. If you have a recent knee or hip injury and still experience knee or hip pain, the exercise may not be for you at this moment. Wait until you have healed fully to begin attempting this pose. 

The Frog Pose is known to be rather difficult. It is labeled an intermediate-expert pose that challenges even the best of us. Before you do a Frog Pose be sure that you are fully warmed up and have done some stretching and flexibility movements prior to beginning your attempt on this yoga asana. 

There are a few materials that you may want to procure. You may want to do this pose on top of a yoga mat to prevent bruising on your knees. You may also want to rest your head on a yoga block or a stack of cushions when holding the Frog Pose. 

Now that you are warmed up and you have everything in place, let’s get into the details of how to properly do a Frog Pose, plus its benefits!

How to Properly Do a Frog Pose

Here are some steps to ensure that you are properly doing the Frog Pose!

First, you want to start on all-fours as if you were in the tabletop position. You want to have your shoulders directly above your wrists. Your elbows and knees should be aligned with your hips. You will want to put your weight on your hands.

Next, move your legs to create a wider gap between your left knee and your right knee. You may want to move your right leg out first, then your left leg, maintaining the alignment with your hips. Create as wide a gap as you can without straining.

If you experience knee pain, you may want to stop what you are doing and take some moments to stretch. If the pain persists, perhaps ask your doctor about this pose and any underlying conditions that you may have.

While you are widening the gap between your knees, your knees should remain at a 90-degree angle and your toes should be pointing out and away from the body. Try not to tuck your toes as you are moving your knees.

Once you have widened the gap sufficiently between your knees, you will want to take a deep breath in through the nose, and exhale through the mouth. Upon exhaling, your forearms down to the ground. Your elbows should be shoulder length apart and the shoulder should be right over the elbows. You can place your palms face down on the ground and spread the fingers in your right hand as if you have webbing between them. Do the same with your left hand. Your head can rest on your yoga blocks if you have them.

After your forearms and palms are on the ground, inhale deeply through the nose. While you are inhaling, try to lengthen your spine. Do this by directing your head and pelvic floor muscles in opposite directions. This will be a great stretch for your spine. 

Now you will want to engage your core muscles. Pull your belly button upward to your spine. Try to imagine them as merging. Your core muscles will keep you steady and prevent all of your weight from pushing back onto your knees.

To deepen the pose you can sit further into your hips. This should target your hip flexors and stretch the connective tissue in your hips some. Your groin and groin muscles should be getting a very nice stretch at this point. Be sure you are not experiencing pain but are feeling extra blood flow in those areas. 

Finally, you will want to hold this position for at least a minute. This will really open up your hips, get the blood flowing through your groin muscles, and engage a wide variety of muscles.

To Safely Release the Frog Pose

An extremely important aspect of executing the Frog Pose is the release. This pose puts strain on your body and you don’t want to risk injury by quite literally snapping out of the pose.

You will want to gently lift the forearms off the ground and steadily place your palms face down on the ground in front of you. You will need to gently, and slowly, walk your hands back toward your pelvic floor. Carefully bring your toes and feet together behind you. Once you have your feet together and your hands at your hips, bring your left knee into your center, then the right knee. Rest your glutes on your heels.

Plus Its Benefits! 

Mandukasana, the Frog Pose, is an excellent asana for many different reasons. It has many benefits that have been studied and shown through the execution of the asana. Check out the benefits of the Frog Pose below!

Lower back tightness and stress may be relieved through the Frog Pose. The Frog Pose can also help strengthen the back to prevent further strains to the back. If you are seated for extended periods, particularly at a desk or driving job, this pose may work wonders. The posture of this pose and the strengthening of the back muscles can help maintain your back health while sitting for extended periods.

The Frog Prose is excellent for hip mobility. Particularly if you are engaged in a form of athletic activity that can create tight hips, like cycling or running, doing the Frog Pose regularly can help increase your hip mobility and range of motion.

The Frog Pose may also assist with blood circulation and managing blood pressure. Even though the Frog Pose emphasizes the groin muscles and hip area, it also activates the areas of the shoulder, core, the abdominal muscle, and the inner thighs. Because the Frog Pose stretches so many different portions of the body, there is much more blood that can flow through the body. Stretching individual areas can increase blood flow in those areas. Stretching many different areas increases blood flow even more.

These benefits are all in addition to the general benefits of doing yoga!

Additional Suggestions for Yoga Poses

There is a whole world of other animal poses in yoga! Each pose has unique benefits and stretches different muscles. Try out a few of these different animal kingdom poses, see which ones you like, and try some variations on the pose. Bear in mind that there can be many different styles of doing one yoga asana. Try some and see which ones fit your needs the best.

The Cat-Cow Pose

The Cat-Cow Pose, also known as the catcow stretch, is an oscillation between two different poses. Begin in a tabletop pose, all fours on the ground. For the cat, you will want to slowly raise your pelvic floor, while exhaling and experience your spine rolling upward to mimic a cat arching its back.

Take another deep breath and feel your spine roll down toward the ground while pulling your belly button inward. You will want to push your pelvic floor down to the ground and pull back your shoulder blades back and gaze forward. This is now the cow position.

Alternate between the two positions to stretch your back. This is a great pose for lower back strains and other problems. It can increase the spine’s mobility and give your back additional support and strength to overcome future strains.

The Camel Pose

This pose is great for achieving balance. The pose is meant to balance the front and back of your body. Begin in a stable kneeling position. Make sure that your knees have a firm connection with the ground and that you feel sturdy. Keep your shins flat on the ground, as well as the tops of your feet.

Keep your thighs at a 90-degree angle to the ground and begin to slowly lean back. Pull in your belly button to engage your core muscles. Rest your hands on the backs of your calves near your heels, or, if you are feeling extra spicy, cross your arms behind you and do the same thing. Raise your chest and feel it stretch. This position should help your glutes stretch and relax.

Hold the position while taking deep breaths through the nose and exhaling out of the mouth. When you feel ready, slowly release your hands, relax your chest, and return to the kneeling state you began in.

Final Thoughts

This guide is meant to assist you on your journey to become self-aware of your body and mindful of its habits, through the course of yoga. The Frog Pose, as well as yoga itself, has many benefits both for your mind and your body. Take advantage of them.

Integrate the breathing habits of yoga into your daily routine. Make mindfulness a priority. Feel the connection between the different parts of your body and be aware of how they interact.

Yoga is a great journey of self and of self-exploration. Bring yourself to embrace the Frog Pose, even though it may present challenges. Now you know how to properly do the Frog Pose and the benefits that it can have on your body and your health. Continue on this journey and share it with your community.

Happy Frog Posing!