Yoga pose: Child's Pose

Earlier this week I wrote about dealing with grief and yoga.
One of the poses (Child’s Pose) is part of the mini practice I found and shared on Monday as well.
A few of my co-workers and I did a mini yoga practice yesterday. My friend Maria lead a short little meditative relaxing practice. And I lead the group through breathing; kneeling; Child’s Pose; Cow Pose; Downward Facing Dog; Cow Pose; Child Pose; back to kneeling.
There are so many amazing benefits with Child’s Pose as with all yoga poses.
The Yoga Journal website lists the benefits of this pose.
The anatomical focus according to the site is thighs. But I think it is also a gentle hip opener.
Therapeutic application: stress; overall benefits: Gently stretches the hips, thighs, and ankles and calms the brain and helps relieve stress and fatigue and relieves back and neck pain when done with head and torso supported.
This is a great beginner’s tip: We usually don’t breathe consciously and fully into the back of the torso. Balasana provides us with an excellent opportunity to do just that. Imagine that each inhalation is “doming” the back torso toward the ceiling, lengthening and widening the spine. Then with each exhalation release the torso a little more deeply into the fold.
There are various forms of Balasana (sanskrit for Child’s Pose). Sometimes I have my knees wide. Other times I have them closed, which forces me to breathe into my back. (There are variations of how you can have your arms.)