Child’s Pose (Balasana) – Health Benefits, How to Do It & Precautions

balasana in yoga — (source: timesnownews)

Balasana, or the Child's Pose, is a yogasana that not only helps to relieve stress and anxiety levels but also relieves back pain as it stretches your back. Read on to know the benefits of Balasana and how to perform it correctly as well.

What Is Balasana or Child’s Pose?

Child’s Pose or Balasana is a simple yoga asana that is perfect for both beginner and expert yoga practitioners. An effective way to stretch your hips, thighs, ankles and back, this yoga posture is a resting posture that allows you to reconnect with your soul.

In Sanskrit, the word ‘Bala’ means ‘child’, and ‘Asana’ means 'posture/exercise'. As this asana involves facing the floor in the form of a child, it is named Child's Pose. It is a counter exercise for many other types of exercises, as it helps to slow down your breathing after rigorous activity. Also known as Shashankasana or Garbhasana, there are several advantages of doing Balasana. Let us find the top benefits of doing Child’s Pose.

What Are the Health Benefits of Balasana?

Child’s Pose is easy to follow and is an extremely beneficial yoga posture that boosts flexibility and enhances muscle strength. Additionally, it tones your body and improves your breathing. Here are the top 15 health benefits of Child’s Pose:

1. Relaxes Your Mind

A stressed-out mind affects the body resulting in an unhealthy lifestyle. To prevent yourself from such instances, do the Child’s Pose yogasana regularly. You will feel an instant soothing experience after you rest your forehead slowly on the floor while doing this exercise. As you close your eyes, your brain sends a signal to the central nervous system. This relaxes your mind, promotes a feeling of safety and reduces anxiety levels.

2. Boosts Digestion

Regularly practising this yoga posture will improve your digestive system. As you rest the stomach on the top of your thighs, it massages the abdominal organs and allows movement of the digestive system. During the posture, ensure deep inhales and exhales in gentle and repetitive rhythms. As you do it repetitively, it will strengthen your intestinal tract and reduce the risk of acidity.

3. Stretches Lower Back

If your job involves constant standing or sitting, it might lead to compression in your lower back, causing severe back aches. The reason behind this is that we tend to put all our body weight on the lower body part and do not involve the lower abdominal muscles in activities for days. During this asana, stretching your body widens your lower back area, allowing your body to strengthen and lengthen.

4. Opens up Your Hips

As you sit for prolonged hours due to work pressure, the muscles around your hips tend to tighten, thus causing discomfort. In Child's Pose, as you widen the knees and allow your stomach to rest in between the knees, your hips get stretched. This posture reduces hip pain, maintaining the health of your hip muscles.

5. Stimulates Blood Circulation

One of the many benefits of Balasana includes stimulating blood circulation if you regularly practise this yogasana. As there is increased blood circulation, it allows optimal functioning of the abdominal organs boosting the overall health of your body.

6. Strengthens Ligaments

Healthy ligaments help to stabilise your joints and promote bone health. If you lack strong ligaments, it might lead to several health issues. Practising Balasana regularly strengthens and stretches the ligaments and the tendons of the knees, thus helping you to perform daily activities smoothly.

7. Stretches Shoulders and Ankles

Child's Pose stretches your ankles and shoulders, allowing improvement in the movement of the body. As you stretch your upper body part while doing this yogasana, it increases mobility and boosts your body’s balance. Additionally, it allows flexibility, thus preventing any injury to the shoulders and ankles.

Other Benefits

The additional benefits that you can enjoy by doing Child’s Pose are:

Child’s Pose is an effective and natural therapeutic exercise that releases body fatigue and promotes relaxation.
It is a resting yoga posture that releases tension from your body and fights insomnia by calming your body and promoting healthy sleep.
Practising Child's Pose regularly strengthens the muscles, allowing your body to be more energetic.
Balasana releases the tension from your chest as it opens up the chest muscles and boosts the respiratory system.
Child's Pose stretches your spine when you bend down and pull the lower back.
This posture reduces the risk of constipation since it involves massaging the abdominal organs.
Balasana helps to fight against restless leg syndrome, which is caused due to anxiety or too much restlessness in the body.
This yogasana promotes healthy eating habits as it improves your digestive system.

How to Perform the Child's Pose (Balasana)?

childs pose in yoga — (source: yogateket)

Step 1: Start by coming down to your knees and hands on a yoga mat.

Step 2: Now, spread your knees wider while keeping the tops of your feet and the big toes touching the floor.

Step 3: Then, allow your belly to rest between your thighs. Slowly bend your forehead to the floor. Now, relax and calm down, and let your shoulders, jawline and eyes release stress.

Step 4: Stretch your arms in front of you, moving the palms to the floor. You can also bring your arms to the backside facing the palms upwards.

Step 5: Inhale and exhale evenly and reconnect with your soul by focusing on your breathing.

Step 6: Remain in this posture for 5 minutes and then return to the sitting posture. Now slowly open your eyes.

Step 7: Rub your palms and place them on your eyes and face to feel the warmth.

What Are the Tips for Practising Child’s Pose?

Child's Pose is a very simple yogasana that rejuvenates your mind, body and soul. Now that you are aware of the advantages of Balasana, you must keep in mind certain tips and tricks that will ease your practice:

Practise Several Times: If you attend a yoga session, the trainer will help you with the initial phases of the yoga practice to ensure perfection. You must practise the same at home regularly. Note down when you feel discomfort so that you can tell it to your trainer. They will come up with variations to help you continue with the yogasana.
Breathe Evenly Throughout the Asana: The key to yoga is controlled breathing. Allow slow, long, thin, and steady breathing when you practise this exercise. Regulated breathing will ensure your body is relaxed and you have proper oxygen inflow during the exercise.
Use Props and Cushions: In case you feel discomfort while practising Child’s Pose, you can use props and cushions to rest your hands and knees. Additionally, you can use folded blankets that will provide support to your forehead and the knees and reduce the chances of strain.
Avoid Neck and Head Movement: While your body relaxes during the asana, do not suddenly move your head and neck during the posture. This can cause a sprain in your neck, thus resulting in severe muscle pain.
Do not Force Yourself: Avoid exerting too much force while practising this exercise. If you feel exhausted or feel discomfort, stop doing the exercise immediately and consult your doctor.
Separate Room for Practice: You should practise yoga early in the morning in a peaceful environment. However, you can also choose a soundproof room to practise yoga as this will allow better composure of the body and mind and allow relaxation during the exercise. Lesser commotion is always beneficial during yoga sessions.

What Are the Precautions and Contraindications of the Child’s Pose?

Keep in mind the precautions and the contraindications to avoid any injury during the yogasana:

If you suffer from a neck, back, or shoulder injury, it is not ideal to practise this asana.
Avoid performing Child’s Pose if you suffer from severe knee and joint pains or injuries.
Wear comfortable sports clothes during the yogasana to ensure easy stretching.
Until an experienced trainer guides or permits you, you must not perform Child's Pose if you are pregnant.
Try to do some warm-up exercises before practising this yogasana. This will calm down your mind.
It is ideal if you perform Balasana during the early hours of the morning on an empty stomach. Therefore, avoid consuming heavy meals before doing this exercise.
If you have had any back, knee, or leg surgery, consult your doctor before attempting this exercise.
Empty your bowel before performing this yogasana to ensure comfort.

What Are the Easy Modifications of a Balasana?

Although it is easy for beginners to perform this exercise, in case you feel any discomfort, you can come up with variations of Child's Pose. Here they are:

While doing the posture, you can stretch your arms forward, facing the palms upwards. Then, you can try to bend the elbows to allow the palms to touch and place the thumbs at the backside of the neck.
Additionally, you can keep your knees closer instead of keeping them wide.
You can also tuck your toes under if you feel pain while keeping your feet flat on the ground.
To take the extra stress off your shins, roll a towel underneath.
Use a couple of bolsters, pillows, or cushions to support your weight underneath the stomach and chest.

Now that you have an idea of what Balasana is and already know about benefits of Balasana, you must regularly practise this exercise to ensure a healthy body posture. This yogasana is perfect for relieving stress and calming your body and mind.

FAQs About Balasana - Child’s Pose

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Can I battle depression by practising Balasana regularly?

Yes, practising Child's Pose or Balasana regularly will uplift your mood and allow you to be energetic from within. Thus, it boosts your mental and physical health, enabling you to battle depression.

What are the preparatory poses of Child’s Pose?

The preparatory poses of Child’s Pose include Tabletop Pose and Cat Pose. You must perform warm-up poses before practising the Child’s Pose. This will calm down your mind and body.

Does Child’s Pose help with relaxation and relieves stress?

Performing the Child’s Pose or Balasana helps in stretching the hips, ankles and thighs which in turn relaxes the digestive tract and helps in reduction of stress.