What is Balasana?
Balasana is also called Child’s Pose. In Sanskrit, Bala means child and Asana means pose. It is a resting pose where you kneel down, sit on your heels, and fold forward with your forehead on the floor. It makes your back and mind feel calm.
My best friend Meera never sat small.
Even when we were kids on the floor of her room, she sat cross-legged like a judge. Back straight. “I have to be the strong one,” she would say. Her parents fought a lot. So she learned early that if she stayed strong, everyone around her would be okay.
For 18 years, that’s who she was. The strong one. When I failed my entrance exam, she made me chai. When her dad left, she didn’t cry. She just packed his clothes. When I had my first breakup and was howling on the phone, she said, “Don’t worry, I’m here. Cry.”
How to Do Balasana?
Step 1: Kneel on the floor, big toes touching.
Step 2: Sit back on your heels, knees wide apart/
Step 3: Breathe out and fold forward, forehead on the mat.
Step4: Stretch your arms in front or keep them beside your body.
Step 5: Stay here for 30 seconds to 1 minute and breathe slowly.
She never cried in front of me. Not once.
In yoga, there is a pose called Balasana. Child’s Pose.
It’s the simplest pose and the hardest for people like Meera. You kneel down, your big toes touch, you open your knees wide, and then you just… fold. You bring your forehead to the mat. Your arms stretch in front of you, or they rest beside you, palms up. You make yourself small. Tiny. You surrender.
The teachers say it’s a resting pose, but that’s not true. It’s not resting. It’s a pose of surrender. You are telling your body, “For once, you don’t have to hold everything up.” Your back releases, your shoulders drop, your chest is tucked into your own thighs. You are held by the ground.
Meera hated Balasana. I remember we went for a yoga class together once. The teacher said, “Go into Child’s Pose if you need to.” Everyone folded. Meera stayed in downward dog, her arms shaking. I whispered, “Just rest.” She whispered back, “I can’t. If I go down, I won’t be able to get up.”
Benefits of Balasana
- It calm your mind and reduces stress.
- It relaxes your back and shoulders
Last year, Meera called me at 2 am. Her husband had left. No fight. Just a letter on the table. She was sitting on her kitchen floor.
I went to her house. And for the first time in 18 years, I saw her small. Not crying loudly. Just folded. Knees to her chest, forehead on the cold floor, arms around herself. Exactly like Balasana, without knowing it was yoga
I didn’t say “be strong.” I didn’t say “you’ll be okay.”
I just sat next to her and folded myself too. Two grown women on a kitchen floor, foreheads on the tiles, doing Child’s Pose without a mat.
And she finally cried. For her dad, for her husband, for all the years she had to be the tall mountain for everyone else. She cried till her body shook, and the tiles were warm where her forehead was.
That’s what Balasana is. It’s not weakness. It’s permission. Permission to say, “I am tired. I am small today. And the floor will hold me.”
We stayed like that for a long time. No fixing. Just two children on a floor.
She still is the strongest person I know. But now sometimes, when life is too much, she texts me just one word.
“Balasana.”
And I know it means — today, I need to be small. And I reply, “I’m folding with you.”
Sometimes the bravest thing is not to stand tall. Sometimes it’s to kneel down and let the earth hold your forehead.
Disclaimer: For informational purposes only. Listen to your body and consult a healthcare professional before starting any new practice.