SQUAT POSE…a posture that should be practiced daily. Open hips keep a healthy range of motion for our hips as we age.
A longer hold of the posture gets the the hips to open simultaneously. Strengthens the ankles.
Can also be a nice relief for low back pain.
Squat pose, not everyone will look the same in this pose (well any pose really). It’s important not to go too deep into at the start. As time creeps up, while you hold in relative stillness, it can make the posture really hard to be in it, all of a sudden you’ll get the urge to come out. Especially if your achilles’ tendon, and/or ankle are tight, then that limits how deep you can go or not go into a squat. For some maybe it’s deep, and for others not so deep. Things like blocks under your bottom or holding blocks instead of using your elbows can help modify the posture slightly. We don’t want feel intensity in the pose right away, as we want to marinate in this pose for at least 3-5mins.
TIME is our magic ingredient.
Let’s talk about how to get into the pose, there are many ways you can deepen this posture.
See the section on different variations you can try with props to help modify the pose for YOU!
But before we begin…
Keep in mind practice with intention and attention and only hold as long as you can still be breathing calmly and staying relaxed in the targeted area, which is the HIPS in this case!
Pain is not gain in Yin Yoga!
Also to note, only do this pose if you do not feel pain (pain can be defined as pinching, stabbing, numbing, stinging or warming , even sharp sensations).
If you feel pain, back out right away. Only progress into a deeper version of the pose if you lose sensations (the dully achy feeling of the targeted area). If you are feeling a dull achy feeling keep in relative stillness, anywhere from 3-5mins (if not longer). It is so important with anything to do with the hips to really be mindful and move slowly in and out of the postures and again come out if you feel pain. Pain is not gain in Yin Yoga.
Physical & Mental/Mindful benefits of Squat pose:
opens the hips, simultaneously
strengthens the ankles
releases the lower back
great pose to prepare for child birth
offers relief to lower back pain due to menstrual cycle
Meridian line deeply stimulated is the urinary bladder (spine) and also the liver and kidney
Stimulating urinary bladder meridian helps keep the mind open, receptive and clear
When liver/kidney line is stimulated this can help with fear and lead to wisdom in the mind
How to get into Squat Pose?
from standing take your feet wider than hip bone distance
lower your hips down, keep your needs in line with your toes as you lower down to the earth (or a block)
notice if the sensation is a strong one here (too strong, sit on block(s))
play around with the positioning of your feet, take them a little wider, or maybe narrow the feet closer together, truly this is yogis choice and depends on your anatomy and what you’ve been doing
keep your TOES pointed relatively to about 10 (left foot) and 2 o’clock (right foot)
when choosing your posture to hold in stillness and for time make sure the sensation isn’t too intense initially as the sensation builds as we hold for time
longer holds are beneficial for the deeper connective tissues so keep that in mind, gradually get into things, so you can hold for longer (rather than to an edge you think you should go and then you can’t hold)
actively push your elbows into inner knees while hands are in prayer 🙏🏻
you can actively push into your hands to create a 90 degree stretch for your wrists
notice your lower back and hips, try to relax the muscles in that region
Tip: If you find it hard to relax into the hips try sitting on a block
Caution: make sure to not feel any pain in the kneees as described above
if you feel a dull achy sensation in the hips, hold and stay (and breathe of course)
relax again completely, holding in stillness so you can feel the effects of the posture
NOT deep enough? Try staying longer in the hold or try taking your feet wider apart from one another or closer together. See how positioning of your feet changes the pose for you
to come out, slowly come out and begin to straighten your legs, drop your down and come into a standing forward fold, or our Yin Yoga pose dangling
when COMING OUT and bringing back movement proceed with caution and move SLOW!
Come out of any and all Yin Yoga poses SLOW!!
Squat with using props!
in squat pose a block can go under your bottom. Or even stack two blocks with the wider edge. Depending which side of the block you have it on you can play around the positions of block or blocks placement
blocks can be used to hold on to instead of placing elbows into inner knees
you can also use a bolster underneath you instead of a block. Depends if you like a hard surface or softer surface to sit on
heels not sealed to earth?! To help with this try placing your heels onto a rolled up blanket or maybe even use a foam chip block
Counter Pose for Squat pose
dangling pose is a great counter! As you can just take your hips high to the sky, by straightening your legs, dropping the head heavy and allow the sensations of the hip opening of squat pose to subside. Nice relief for the legs, hips and knees, coming out of squat.
downward dog is another great counter as it again gets your legs to straighten out more than squat pose
another way is to lay on your back in corpse pose / savasana to observe the effects of pose and longer hold if you want to get off the belly/front side of your body
As I always for counter poses move or don’t move, find what works for you, after you come out of a long held posture you will learn and know what you prefer. And each day is different. Depends on what we do
Enjoy the deep hip opener and for some, a release for the low back.
Our hips don’t lie and it’s important to keep open hips to have more range of motion which allows the low back more space.
ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND when practicing Yin Yoga, become the OBSERVER, move SLOW and with ease, approach your edge rather than striving to go to some defined EDGE, don’t feel pressure to look like me or anyone else. Start your practice from within and ask yourself where do I feel it? What does it feel like? Is it painful? Or is it offering a nice release?
Practice with intention and attention as Bernie Clark would say and intuitively you will know. This doesn’t come easy, it comes with practice.
Namaste,
Marzena
Discover and try other Yin Yoga poses
Sources & Other Resources
Yin Pose Info taken from The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga (Bernie Clark, 2005) ✔️Yinyoga.com
https://yinyoga.com/yinsights/squat/
The squat pose in Yin Yoga
https://www.bodywindow.com/squat-pose.html
Yin Pose Squat
https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yin-poses/squat