Introduction to Child’s Pose

Enjoy the beauty of supported child’s pose (balasana)! This yoga pose requires us to do less, with more awareness.

For many of us, this pose possesses a deep physical and psychological memory of our time as an infant. The shape of the pose is useful for many reasons, but in particular, it allows us to focus on the patterns of our breathing, the health of our organs and our level of awareness in moving from the abdomen.

It is a very simple pose to begin with physically, yet it requires patience and the ability to surrender to gravity and a state of non-doing. It also helps cultivate the mindset necessary for deeper rest and relaxation.

Step 1:

Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips.

Step 2:

Exhale and lay your torso down between your thighs or on the support of a bolster or pillow. Broaden your sacrum across the back of your pelvis. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of the pelvis while you lift the base of your skull away from the back of your neck.

Step 3:

Lay your hands on the floor, either extended forward or alongside your torso with the palms faced up, and release the front of your shoulders toward the floor. Feel how the weight of the front shoulders pulls the shoulder blades wide across your back with this variation.

Step 4:

Balasana is a resting pose. Stay anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. Beginners can also use balasana to get a taste of a deep forward bend, where the torso rests on the thighs. Stay in the pose from 1 to 3 minutes.

This yoga tip is brought to you by Kathryn McCann of Hang Zen Yogis.