In times of stress, anxiety, or nervousness, Yoga generally helps. A proof? Next time whenever you are faced with such a situation, just strike a Yoga pose and you’ll see the effect immediately. One such asana (pose), widely known for its calming and relaxing effect, is the child’s pose, or balasana. In this you get into a comfortable position with your legs stretched apart, your arms extended, and forehead on the ground, making it an extremely grounding pose. Gradually, your breathing rate decreases, inducing a calming and relaxing effect. The child’s pose is generally practiced at the start of the practice or whenever one wants to catch up on breath. It’s an amazing asana to end the practice too. But, do you know that there are several variations of balasana, which you can do as per your comfort and need. So let us look at some such variations one by one.
Variations Of Child’s Pose Or Balasana
Although there can be several variations of the child’s pose, let us look at four of them one by one.
Wide-Legged Child’s Pose
This is the variation that comes to mind when one thinks about the child’s pose. Here’s the step-by-step guide on how to do this.
- Start on your all fours with your palms under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
- Separate your knees as much as possible and bring your two toes to touch each other.
- Extend your arms as much as you can, start bringing your upper body down so that your abdomen rests between your thighs.
- Bring your forehead to the floor and bring your focus to your breath.
- Breathe deeply and with mindfulness and you will experience all your worries melting away.
Stay in this pose for two to three minutes or as long as you can.
Simple Child’s Pose
This is a simple variation of the child’s pose that puts little to no stress on your arms. Here is how you can do it:
- Start in a tabletop position with your knees under your hips and palms under your shoulders.
- Bring both your legs to touch each other.
- Start folding down until your forehead rests on the floor.
- Instead of extending your arms as you did in the wide-legged child’s pose, you can keep your arms to your sides.
- Close your eyes and start to relax by bringing your focus to your breath.
Stay in this pose for a few minutes and then come out of this pose gently.
Child’s Pose With Extended Arms
This child’s pose variation is a mix of the wide-legged child’s pose and the simple child’s pose. Here’s the guide on how to do this:
- Start on your all fours with your palms under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
- Do not separate your legs as you did in the wide-legged child’s pose. Instead, bring your knees together just like in the simple child’s pose.
- While exhaling, start folding down till your forehead rests on the floor.
- Instead of keeping your hands to your sides as you did in the simple child’s pose, extend them as much as you can like in its wide-legged variation.
- Close your eyes and breathe gently.
- Bring all your awareness to your breath and relax.
Stay in this pose for as long as you can.
Wall Child’s Pose
This is another child’s pose variation that you can try. To strike this pose:
- Start in a tabletop position with your knees under your hips and palms under your shoulders.
- Separate your legs by bringing your knees as far from each other as possible.
- Instead of folding down like in other variations, press your palms against a wall.
- Extend your arms in the upward direction as much as you can.
- Let your head hang heavy, preventing any strain on your neck.
- Close your eyes and start bringing your focus towards your breath.
Stay in this pose for as long as you want and come out of it gently.
Benefits Of Child’s Pose
Now that you know the many variations of this simple pose, let’s take a look at some of its benefits:
- It provides a gentle stretch to your legs, arms, and spine.
- It is believed to help with back pain.
- It includes a calming effect, hence, is a relaxing pose.
- As you bring your attention to your breath, it improves mindfulness and thus can help with concentration.
Hence, as you can see, a child’s pose has several health benefits. Another good news is that you don’t need anything to practice it, not even a yoga mat. Just get on your bed, or the floor and do child’s pose or any of its variations and get the many health benefits.
