Child's Pose

How to perform

1. 1Sit back on your heels and stretch your arms forward on the floor.
2. 2Let your forehead rest down and breathe deeply into your back.

Technique in detail

Kneel on the floor with your big toes touching and your knees together, or wider apart if that feels better. Sit your hips back toward your heels and walk your hands forward until your arms are long and your forehead rests on the floor. Let the whole body get heavy. Breathe slowly and direct the air into your back ribs — you should feel them widen with each inhale — and let each exhale settle the chest a little lower. Stay anywhere from thirty seconds to a few minutes. This is a rest position: nothing to push, nothing to win.

Common mistakes

• Hovering the hips high off the heels and dumping the weight into the shoulders. If the hips will not come down, place a cushion between hips and heels and let it carry you.
• Forcing the forehead to the floor. If it does not reach, rest it on a cushion or stacked fists — the neck should hang here, not work.
• Holding your breath or breathing only into the chest. The pose is a breathing exercise wearing a stretch's clothes; slow the exhale down and the rest of the body follows.

Equipment

• No equipment