CHILD’S POSE
Balasana
(bah-Lahs-anna)
Bala=baby
Steps:
- Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together and sit back on your heels. You can separate your knees if you find this more comfortable.
- Exhale and fold the torso down over the thighs. Place your forehead on your mat. Lay your hands besides your thighs palms facing the ceiling. Broaden your sacrum across the back of your pelvis and narrow your hip points toward the navel, so that they nestle down onto the inner thighs. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of the pelvis. Lengthen the neck as you imagine that the crown of your head is reaching forward to the front wall. Allow the shoulders to open at the shoulder blades.
- Balasana is a resting pose. Stay anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.
- To come out of the pose, place your hands besides the shoulders and lift through the torso as you press your tailbone downward into the pelvis.
Modifications and props:
If it is difficult to sit on your heels, place a folded blanket between the thighs and calves. Or if it hurts to have the tops of the feet on the floor, place a blanket under the feet. To lengthen the torso, reach the hands up over the head. With each inhale, reach the hands further out lifting the buttocks up slightly. On the exhale, lay the buttocks back down to the floor.
Variations:
If you have injured knees, you can do this pose on your back. Just draw your knees in towards your chest and hold them with your hands.
Benefits:
Stretches the hips, thighs, and ankles; calms the brain and helps relieve stress and fatigue; relieves back and neck pain when done with head and torso supported
Contraindications:
Pregnancy, diarrhea, knee injury