There are many benefits of practicing wide legged child’s pose with a yoga bolster:
- Lengthen your spine
- Create space between your vertebrae, so the nerves that flow to your glands and organs can work better
- Open your inner groins
- Release pain in your hips
- Release pain in your lower back
- Bring your brain into an alpha state, where you can enjoy deep relaxation
- Open your shoulders
- Correct kyphosis
- Calm anxiety
- Relieve depression
- Overcome adrenal burnout
- Restore your energy
Here’s how you practice this delicious pose:
- Place a yoga bolster on a yoga mat or soft cushy carpet.
- Kneel in front of the bolster and bring your knees as wide as comfortable.
- Fold from your hips and extend your arms straight out in front of you on the bolster.
- Keep your neck straight and relax your forehead on the bolster.
- Breathe!
Many people are familiar with extended child’s pose, which is practiced as a resting pose in most yoga classes.
In fact, for beginners, child’s pose is the easiest to grasp.
This wide legged variation allows you to stretch your inner groins and hips as well as your back.
I like using the bolster out in front of me as it allows me to go into a deeper state of relaxation.
While many of us have heard that meditation is a good idea, actually being able to quiet our minds is the major obstacle.
By practicing restorative yoga with a bolster, our bodies can be physically supported to move into stillness so that our minds may follow.
Here’s one way I like to think about it:
If you were to throw a pebble into a pond, the pebble would produce concentric waves through the water.
The waves would gradually dissipate, returning to stillness.
When our bones and muscles are supported with the yoga bolster, the waves of thought in our mind can gradually lessen and we can actually move into a meditative state.
Although meditation is traditionally practiced either sitting down or lying, you can achieve the same mental state often even more easily through restorative yoga.
If you would like to learn more, call 678-612-8816 or email catherine@unlimitedenergynow.com to set up an appointment. I will organize the bolsters and blankets for you so your entire experience is totally luxurious and relaxing.
You can learn more yoga poses by visiting my gallery of photos at this link or watching my videos at this link.
To learn a sequence of restorative yoga poses, please read my blog at this link.
To join our regular yoga classes or set up an appointment for private instruction, please email catherine@unlimitedenergynow.com or call 678-612-8816. I’ve now taught yoga for 25 years.
Yoga classes meet every Tuesday and Thursday evening, 7:30 to 9 p.m. and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.