It all starts in our bodies–our bodies are the coarsest things we have to work with.
If we can bring more mindfulness to our bodies, then we can extend that mindfulness towards our minds, spirits, and lives. We especially need all the mindfulness we can get as we approach the upcoming election. Regardless of where we stand on the political spectrum, bringing more mindfulness to our bodies, minds, spirits, and lives, can help all of us engage more deeply in the upcoming election.
This month, in the Body focuses on the second transitional posture of the Friendly Warrior (Signature) Series of fearlessYoga. Ananda balasana, aka happy baby, offers us an opportunity to connect to our back bodies–to our past and where we come from. May we practice it towards the integration of our past experience with our present experience.
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Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Lie on your back. Breathing out, draw the knees in towards the chest. Open your knees out towards the sides of the body. Keeping the hinge in the knees, open the soles of the feet up towards the sky.
2. With the hands, grab a hold behind the knees, or the shins, or the ankles, or the outer edges of the feet. If it’s helpful, you can loop a strap around the arch of each foot as an extension for your arms. Extend through the heels and balls of the feet as if pressing the feet against a wall. Gently resist with the hands or strap.
3. Draw the tailbone down towards the earth. Extend through the crown of the head, lengthening the spine. Rock gently side to side.
4. Maintain the posture for 3 to 5 breaths.
To exit the posture, on an outbreath allow the feet and legs to come back down towards the earth.
Take a couple of moments to notice the effects of ananda balasana/happy baby posture.
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Benefits
– Gently opens the hips, inner groins, and the back body
– Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and fatigue
Contraindications and Cautions
– Pregnancy
– Knee injury
– Neck injury–support head on a thickly folded blanket
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