Happy Baby

By: Premadasa Gangadeen

Whenever I consider this pose, I can instantly go back into the feeling of embodying it. I’ve practiced it many times, both in a passing flow of postures as well as in an extended hold. It’s been a static hold at times and sometimes a dynamic hold of rocking up and down the spine or side to side at other times.

I’ve practiced it since the early days of my life and there is a good chance you have as well! This is a posture which feels the greatest for me as it suits my physical disposition and the story of my body. It also offers some great relief to my back, spine, hips and sacrum. I’m sure that on deeper or more subtle levels it is also serving me in so many ways.

Usually when I teach this posture, Ananda Balasana, it figures toward the end of my class as a lead-up to Savasana or Yoga Nidra. I do so to offer an opportunity for a final release of tension and as a reminder that sometimes it is best to assume a child-like perspective within our awareness. This posture implies a vulnerability, surrender and trust toward being nurtured by the posture, the practice and potentially the sense of being cared for by a great benevolent energy within this moment. In many ways it resembles a reversion from the material aspects being a physical manifestation back to a non-physical entity once surrounded by silence and pure awareness or no-thing.

There are many variations of Happy Baby and they all will serve you well provided that you maintain a loving and sacred approach to yourself within the posture. Be sure to breathe deeply yet softly in and out of the body as though you are the tiny and precious babe you once were earlier on.

Here’s a basic step-by-step instruction to finding yourself within this pose. Enjoy!

1. Lie on your back, knees bent with the soles of your feet flat on the ground and separate them between the width of your hips and shoulders.

2. Extend your arms down the sides of your body so that your fingertips can lightly brush against your heels.

3. Windshield wipe the knees from one side to the next with one knee leading the other (instead of both knees falling over at once).

4. Cross the ankles, hold onto the knees and stir them around in a circle for a few rotations. Recross the ankles and stir in the opposite direction for the same amount of rotations.

5. Reach the fingers behind the knees and draw the knees in toward the chest on the exhalations. Allow the knees to recoil back toward the starting position on the inhalations. Experiment with the sensation of keeping the low back flat to the floor and then letting the tailbone lift and lower according to the breath.

6. Reach your hands to the outer edges of your feet and draw the knees down toward the shoulders, sides or armpits on the exhalations. Arms can either come between the legs or they can remain around the outside of them. Again play with the sensation between keeping the low back into the floor versus allowing it to gently lift and lower on the breath. 7. Rock side to side, hip to hip for five repetitions. 8. Lift the chin to the chest on the exhalations while curling the tailbone off of the floor. Keep the chin at the chest to help maintain a rounded shape to the spine and gently roll back and forth on the spine. Inhale back and exhale forward for five repetitions.

9. Return to a stationary position on your back with knees bent. Some options from here are to remain with knees bent, feet flat or you can join the soles of your feet and allow your knees to fall out to the sides for supine cobbler pose. Prop the outer knees according to your practice. After 5- 10 deep breaths you can either continue with your own practice or come into Savasana as a deeper resting pose.