How long should you hold Happy Baby Pose?

Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, one or two rounds, breathing slowly and letting gravity, not your arms, pull the knees toward the floor. If the low back lifts before the time is up, ease the pull rather than add more time.

How do you make Happy Baby Pose easier or harder?

If the feet are out of reach or the low back rounds up, hold the shins instead of the feet, or loop a strap or towel around each foot. To deepen it, hold the outer edges of the feet directly and gently press the knees closer to the armpits with each exhale.

What does Happy Baby Pose do, and who should be careful with it?

It's a gentle way to decompress the low back and open the inner thighs and hips at the end of a session or a long day of sitting. Skip the deep knee-to-armpit pull if you have a hip replacement, a groin injury, or low-back pain that increases the closer the knees get to the chest.

Beginner

Happy Baby Pose

Happy Baby is a gentle, floor-based hip opener that lets gravity do the work while your back stays supported. Drawing the knees toward the armpits and holding the feet lengthens the inner thighs and glutes and decompresses the lower spine. It is a soothing way to finish a session or unwind tight hips without loading the joints.

Equipment: Body Weight
Body part: Glutes, Thighs
Type: Stretching, Yoga
Browse by muscle: Adductor Magnus, Gluteus Maximus

How to do it

1
Lie on your back and draw both knees toward your chest.
2
Reach up and take hold of the outer edges of the feet, or the shins if the feet are out of reach.
3
Open the knees wider than the torso and stack each ankle over its knee.
4
Gently pull the feet down so the knees draw toward the floor beside the armpits.
5
Press the tailbone and lower back down into the floor.
6
Breathe slowly and hold, rocking gently side to side if it feels good.

Tips

Keep the head and tailbone resting on the floor rather than curling up to reach the feet.
Hold the shins or use a strap around the feet if the low back rounds up off the floor.
Flex the feet and drive the heels toward the ceiling to keep the ankles stacked.

Variations

Common mistakes

Curling the head and shoulders up off the floor to reach the feet turns a resting pose into a crunch and lifts the low back off the ground.
The tailbone and low back curl up off the floor as the feet get pulled down too hard, rounding the very area this pose is supposed to let rest flat.
The knees drop narrower than the torso, which turns the pose into a plain knees-to-chest hug and takes the stretch away from the inner thighs.
Once the ankles stop stacking over the knees, the shins angle inward and the feet stop flexing, so the position quietly loses its stretch.

Frequently asked

How long should you hold Happy Baby Pose?: Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, one or two rounds, breathing slowly and letting gravity, not your arms, pull the knees toward the floor. If the low back lifts before the time is up, ease the pull rather than add more time.
How do you make Happy Baby Pose easier or harder?: If the feet are out of reach or the low back rounds up, hold the shins instead of the feet, or loop a strap or towel around each foot. To deepen it, hold the outer edges of the feet directly and gently press the knees closer to the armpits with each exhale.
What does Happy Baby Pose do, and who should be careful with it?: It's a gentle way to decompress the low back and open the inner thighs and hips at the end of a session or a long day of sitting. Skip the deep knee-to-armpit pull if you have a hip replacement, a groin injury, or low-back pain that increases the closer the knees get to the chest.

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