The single most popular pose in a yoga class is, in my experience, Child’s Pose (Balasana). A favorite of pregnant women and surgical nurses alike, Child’s Pose is the ultimate resting posture because it’s passive and soothing, yet very effective in bringing the body into an immediate state of relaxation. Here’s why: all sorts of daily activities wreak havoc on our musculature. Repetitive motions, such as driving, heavy machine work on a factory line or long periods of standing can wear out the body quickly.

     Coming down to the floor takes the weight off your sacrum, knees, and ankles. Reaching forward frees the shoulders, keeping the chest and upper back supple enough to support open airways and full breathing. The tops of the feet have a chance to rest and lengthen, counteracting standing and bearing weight all day. The quadriceps are stretched as the spine elongates. As the spine elongates, we get a very gentle traction-like effect, as we would in Downward Dog. Child’s Pose achieves similar full-body inclusion in an easier way. Experiment with different levels for your forehead: try yoga blocks, stacked blankets or the bare floor. Wedge props in wherever you need extra support so you can hold this posture as long as possible. Child’s Pose can be adapted for someone sitting in a chair.

     For example, my grandma can’t get down on the floor right now. To give her this posture, I would seat her in a chair slightly higher than a table, and just have her lean onto the tabletop edge with her forehead down and her arms outreaching. Such simple forward bends as Balasana are among the most effective ways for closing the body down. Allowing the spine to decompress and the sacrum to rest, we soothe the body by bending in half. Such postures tell our parasympathetic nervous system to kick in to rest and repair the body.

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