7 reasons to love child's pose

1-Relaxation-Childs’ pose is a great opportunity to release all the tension in your muscles, and just be supported by the floor.  If Childs’ pose isn’t relaxing to you, use props, maybe behind the knees, or under the head & chest.

2-Grounding-How often, in daily life, do we put our foreheads to the floor?  Not much.  And yet, it’s a great way to connect with the earth again.  Placing the forehead on the floor can help to bring you out of the monkey mind, and into the body once again.

3-Pranayama-One of the things I love about Childs’ pose is how my breath seems amplified when I’m all curled up like that.  The sounds of my breath reverberate back to me off my legs.  This allows my focus to remain firmly on my breath…just where it needs to be.

4-Yin time-The ‘yin’ side of life is the calm, quiet, solitude side.  In Childs’ pose, I feel like I’m totally alone in the world.  I feel protected by my strong back, and I feel I can spend some time just being me.

5-Low back stretch-This posture is a great counter pose to some of the back-strengthening poses we do in yoga.  When we’ve done several locust poses, or camel poses, it can feel so good to just shift backward and stretch the lower back.

6-Neck softness-All day long, we hold up this 8-10 lb bowling ball we call a head.  Our necks get tired and stretched, often causing neck pain, headaches, and more.  But in Childs’ pose, all the weight of the head is on the floor.  What a nice break from our daily chore.  The muscles of the neck can relax and become soft, leaving that big head to be supported by the mat.

7-Breath consciousness in the back-We are often aware of the breath coming & going through the front of the ribcage, but it also moves through the back.  In Childs’ pose, because the front of the chest is compressed, we can focus on opening the back with the breath.  Our intercostal muscles rarely get such a great workout as when we’re actively bringing the breath into the back.