Malasana pose: why and how to include it in your daily routines

Malasana, in its Sanskrit version, is translated as “garland”, probably because of the semicircular outline the pelvis assumes when in the full position. If we think of the fitness world, it can be considered a squat, a basic position highly efficient that addresses different parts of the body.

Malasana includes a set of benefits that make it a pose to add to our daily routines, either during the yoga practice or other moments. Some yoga teachers recommend two minutes of Malasana as the first thing to do in the morning. Learn how to do it and why is so healthy.

Malasana step by step

Have you ever noticed in some countries people don’t really sit, but squat? As well as most of the kids often end up in this pose! Squatting is healthy and natural for human beings. Despite that, the constant use of chairs, plus a countless number of hours working in desks, limits our capacity to squat.

Considering that, let’s learn how to squat again. Malasana step by step:

1. Adapting to your physical conditions, keep the feet together or hip-width apart.
2. Squat on the haunches, keeping the soles and the heels completely on the floor. Raise the seat from the floor and balance.
3. Widen the knees while you move your trunk forward.
4. Bring your palms together in front of the heart in Anjali Mudra, while pressing your elbows against the knees. This action will help to extend the torso.
5. Hold the position for 30 to 60 seconds.
6. Exhale and release.

Variations of Malasana

It’s possible to do the pose holding the ankles and bringing the forehead on the floor. A second variation is holding hands behind the back and rest the forehead on the floor.

Like any other yoga asana, there are multiple other variations to adapt the pose to each person physical conditions. For example, it’s possible to do Malasana with a blanket or block underneath the heels, for those who can’t keep the soles and heels on the floor.

Benefits of Malasana

Malasana is a key pose to work on our hips’ flexibility, but its benefits go way beyond that. It brings back our natural mobility, a topic extremely important in these days, since our lives were changing so much in the last decades, and we still don’t have enough clarity about the effects in our elderly days.

• Malasana allows a great stretch of the lower back, sacrum, the groin, and the hips.
• It instigates metabolism, but more than that, it activates the digestive system. For this, it is extremely helpful for those who suffer constipation and helps everyone to detox and clean their system. For that, Malasana should be included in everyone routines.
• It tones the belly and internal organs, promoting a good massage.
• Improves the posture, which results in benefits for back problems, shoulder problems, pain and tension.
• It increases range of motion in your ankles and knees.

Not so often found in the yoga sequences, Malasana is definitely something to work on, mostly if you feel your body has problems eliminating when no longer serves you. Try it and prove it for yourself!

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