Happy Baby, or Ananda Balasana in Sanskrit, is a playful, restorative yoga pose that encourages gentle stretching and relaxation. This posture targets the inner thighs, hips, and lower back, helping to release tension and create a sense of openness throughout the lower body. It can be a soothing pose for calming the mind, easing the stress, and reconnecting with a sense of lightness and joy. Happy Baby is often used toward the end of a yoga practice to release the hips and lower back, preparing the body for deeper relaxation, meditation, and final rest.
How do you do Happy Baby?
Step 1.
Start by lying on your back.
Step 2.
Draw your knees up towards your chest and grab a hold of the outer edges of your feet. If you can’t reach your feet, you can grab your ankles or calves.
Step 3.
Bend your knees in towards your armpits, keeping your feet flexed, soles of feet facing up.
Step 4.
Keep your spine long, lengthening your tailbone and stacking ankles over knees.
Step 5.
Relax your head, neck, and shoulders. You might embody the ease and playfulness of a baby as you rock side to side or smile.
Benefits of Happy Baby
Opens the groin, inner thighs, and hips
Helps lengthen the spine
Relieves tension in the lower back
Soothes the central nervous system and lowers your heart rate.
Variations of Happy Baby
Rock side to side, evening out the sacrum
Take turns extending one leg or the other
Perform #1-2, then extend opposite leg long in front of you, activating the straight leg and flexing foot.
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