How to Practice Child’s Pose, Balasana, and Ease Waist Pain

Finding Relief Through Balasana: How to Practice Child’s Pose and Ease Waist Pain

UmaPrykhodko, CC BY-SA 4.0,
 via Wikimedia Commons

In the quiet realm of yoga, where breath meets stillness and movement is a meditation, there exists a posture that feels like a homecoming for the body—a return to safety, softness, and surrender. That posture is Balasana, or Child’s Pose.

Though it may appear simple at first glance, Balasana offers profound benefits, especially for those seeking relief from waist or lower back pain. Practicing this gentle, grounding pose with awareness can soothe not only physical tension but also emotional heaviness, acting as a kind of internal reset.

Let’s explore, step-by-step, how to do Balasana properly, and why it can be a powerful remedy for aching waists and overburdened backs.

How to Practice Balasana (Child’s Pose)

Before beginning, find a quiet space where you can settle down comfortably. A yoga mat is helpful, but not strictly necessary—a soft surface, such as a carpet or a folded blanket, can work just as well. You may also wish to have a cushion, bolster, or folded blanket nearby for added support.

Step 1: Begin in a Kneeling Position

Start by kneeling on the floor. Let your big toes touch behind you, and gently open your knees about hip-width apart. If your hips are tight or your knees feel strained, you can widen your knees even more or place a folded blanket between your thighs and calves.

Let your spine grow tall, and take a few moments to settle into your breath.

Step 2: Fold Forward Gently

UmaPrykhodko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On an exhale, slowly lower your torso forward between your thighs. Allow your chest to rest between—or on top of—your legs, and let your forehead gently touch the mat or floor. If it doesn’t reach comfortably, place a yoga block, a folded towel, or your hands stacked beneath your forehead for support.

You can stretch your arms forward, palms facing down, if you’d like a slight spinal extension and shoulder stretch. Alternatively, you can bring your arms back alongside your body, palms facing up, to encourage a more inward, restorative sensation.

Step 3: Settle and Breathe

As you settle into the pose, close your eyes and breathe deeply. With each inhale, imagine creating space in the back body—expanding the ribs, the waist, and the lower back. With each exhale, feel your body melting more deeply into the floor, releasing tension.

Remain in the pose for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. Let your breath guide you—there’s no need to rush.

To come out of the pose, gently walk your hands back toward your body, lifting your torso slowly and mindfully. Sit back on your heels or come into a comfortable seated position.

Modifications for Comfort

Iveto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There is another vdersion of the same Balasan, it is easier and simpler one.

Balasana should never be painful. If you experience discomfort in the knees, place a blanket or cushion between the hips and heels. If your hips don’t easily rest back, use a bolster or a stack of pillows under your torso to elevate the chest and reduce pressure.

For people with limited mobility or tight hips and thighs, practicing Child’s Pose with wide knees and support beneath the chest or head can be especially helpful.

These exercises and yoga postures provide good exercises to calves, hips and the hamstrings. Hath Yoga has devised postures providing complete exercise to all of the limbs and muscles of our body. This posture, Balasana, Child Pose is one of the simplest yoga postures. It provides exercises to back muscles and calves. 

How Balasana Helps with Waist (Lower Back) Pain

Waist pain, often described as discomfort or aching in the lower back area, is incredibly common. It can stem from prolonged sitting, poor posture, tight hip flexors, stress, or strain from lifting or repetitive movement. Fortunately, Balasana offers several mechanisms of relief, both mechanical and neurological.

1. Gentle Stretching of the Lower Back

When you fold forward in Child’s Pose, the spine naturally rounds and elongates, offering a gentle stretch to the muscles along the lumbar spine. This decompression can relieve built-up tension in the erector spinae (the muscles that run along the spine), as well as in the quadratus lumborum (a deeper muscle often involved in waist pain).

This subtle stretch helps release muscular knots and improve circulation, aiding the healing process.

2. Spinal Decompression

In our daily lives, gravity constantly compresses the spine. Child’s Pose, by lengthening and rounding the back, helps to counter this compression in a non-aggressive way. It creates space between the vertebrae, relieving pressure on the intervertebral discs and allowing the spinal fluid to move more freely.

This decompression is especially important for people who spend long hours standing or sitting with poor posture.

3. Relaxation of the Nervous System

UmaPrykhodko, CC BY-SA 4.0,
 via Wikimedia Commons

Child’s Pose is inherently calming. The forward-folded position encourages a shift into the parasympathetic nervous system—what’s often referred to as the “rest and digest” state. This relaxation response helps reduce stress-related tension that often manifests in the lower back and waist area.

By calming the nervous system, Balasana addresses the root cause of pain that might be more emotional or stress-driven than structural.

4. Support for Pelvic and Hip Muscles

Tight hips and hip flexors often pull on the lower back, creating discomfort in the waist region. Child’s Pose encourages gentle opening of the hips and lengthening of the pelvic region. This can bring balance to the muscle groups surrounding the waist and improve overall spinal alignment.

Over time, consistent practice can reduce chronic tightness and prevent future strain.

5. Encouraging Mindful Awareness

Finally, Balasana invites mindfulness. When we slow down and tune into the breath, we become more aware of habitual tension patterns. Are we clenching our lower back without realizing it? Are we bracing or holding stress in the hips?

By bringing awareness to these habits, we gain the power to consciously release them. In this way, Balasana becomes not just a physical stretch, but a practice in somatic intelligence.

When to Use Balasana for Pain Relief

You can use Child’s Pose as a stand-alone posture or as part of a larger yoga sequence. It’s particularly helpful:

• After a long day of sitting at a desk

• As a break during a workout or yoga class

• Before bedtime, to unwind the spine and prepare the body for rest

• First thing in the morning, to gently wake the body

If you’re experiencing acute lower back pain, always listen to your body. Balasana should feel like a relief, not a challenge. If pain persists or worsens, consult a physical therapist or doctor.

A Posture of Return

Balasana reminds us that healing doesn’t always come through effort or action. Sometimes, it’s in the surrender—in the willingness to bow down, to pause, and to be still—that we find release.

So the next time your waist aches or your spirit feels heavy, come to your mat—or even your carpet—and fold inward. Let the ground hold you. Let your breath carry you. And let Child’s Pose guide you gently back home to your body.