To be a child again...

In this crazy, fast-paced world it's hard to catch up or even catch your breath. Oh to be a child again without stress, worry or pressure! That's why I am a huge fan of Child's Pose (Balasana).

(picture taken during my evening class- Indonesia)

 

It's my go-to pose! It brings me close to the earth away from the busy, away from stress and allows me to realign and center myself. I really use and express this pose with my young students from the international school. I think teaching them to have a go-to pose or place that is safe and calming is an important tool to have. I also stress that it can be done pretty much anytime or place and is a handy tool to utilize throughout all of life. It's not complicated and very easy to accomplish. (Some people with knee injuries can tuck a towel between their knees and thighs or kneel on a towel for added cushion.)

 

It is also a restorative pose:

 

re·stor·a·tive

riˈstôrətiv/

adjective

adjective: restorative

1.

having the ability to restore health, strength, or a feeling of well-being.

"the restorative power of long walks" (google.com)

 

A tool that restores health, strength or a feeling of well-being, heck ya, I am totally in!! It's a great go-to! I also use this pose to aid tummy aches, backaches and stress (obviously) but the biggest one for me is inner-reflection. While in this pose I imagine myself giving into me -- acknowledging and appreciating my own power, uniqueness, strength and humility! Sometimes we don't get enough appreciation and/or forgiveness. With eyes closed, arms up cuddling my ears all I can hear is my own breath. It is very powerful!

 

From Yoga Journal (http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/475), here is a step-by-step on how to execute this fabulous restorative pose:

 

(bah-LAHS-anna)

bala = child

Step by Step

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

Exhale and lay your torso down between your thighs. 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 while you lift the base of your skull away from the back of your neck.

Lay your hands on the floor alongside your torso, palms up, and release the fronts of your shoulders toward the floor. Feel how the weight of the front shoulders pulls the shoulder blades wide across your back. (In the beginning of my yoga flow class we start with our arms reaching forward, palms down on the mat and shoulders reaching back)

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. To come up, first lengthen the front torso, and then with an inhalation lift from the tailbone as it presses down and into the pelvis.

I hope you find this amazing tool useful and enjoy the power in its restoration of health, strength and well-being!

 

 

Travel . Fitness . Yoga -- enjoy yours!