English: Child’s Pose
Sanskrit: Balasana
You probably remember doing child’s pose during your yoga classes. Here we take a look at some of the benefits.
It calms the mind and gives you a rest
Placing your forehead / third eye helps to ground you this has an instant calming and soothing effect on the brain. The inward fold of the body, with the eyes looking back towards you sends a signal to your brain that you’re safe (similar to how a fetus is in its mothers womb), and that it’s ok to rest. This pose is amazing if you’re finding yourself anxious or in a place where you have many thoughts swirling around in your head.
It stimulates digestion
Child’s pose is a great way to massage the internal organs which may help move your digestion along. With your legs closed, so that your belly is resting on your thighs, take long, slow deep inhales and exhales in this pose will push your abdomen into your legs, and then draw it back up again. Doing this repeatedly is literally going to manually massage your intestinal tract. This is especially helpful for flatulence! (and those bloated days 😉 )
De-compresses the spine
In our modern world we all have some kind of habit that creates compression in your our lower back. This is because we tend to ‘dump’ our weight down there, and usually aren’t consciously pulling up and engaging your lower abdominal all day long. Folding over your legs immediately reverses the splaying of the tailbone that can cause lower back pain. Child’s pose allows you to open up and stretch this area of the body.
It’s a hip opener
Like your lower back, your hips may be taking a beating in your day-to-day life. Sitting in a chair for long periods of time can actually tighten all of the muscles in and around your hips. By taking your knees wide apart in your child’s pose so that your belly can relax in between them, you will be getting a nice stretch and opening through the hips. This is going to help reduce any hip pain you may be having, as well as help improve or maintain the health of your hips throughout your life.
