How to do Chair Pose

Welcome back our monthly Kids Love Yoga (#kidsloveyoga) challenge.

Each month, we feature a new yoga pose in hopes of inspiring you to practice the yoga pose with your children. Check out the collection of pictures below, where children from around the world demonstrate the focus pose. This month’s challenge is Chair Pose.

My husband is Australian, and we have made extra effort to surround our daughter with Australian animals, books, and characters. Her favorite Australian animal is the kangaroo, and she often hops around the house like a kangaroo. To motivate her to get ready for bedtime, we sometimes “hop like a kangaroo” up to the bath! Being a kangaroo is our favorite way to practice Chair Pose, and she’s been doing it since she was an infant.

Join us for this month’s pose: Chair Pose

Sanskrit name: Utkatasana

Benefits:

Increases stamina, stability, balance, and strength.
Strengthens the leg and spine muscles.
Stretches the shoulders and chest.
Stimulates and energizes the body.

You could pretend to be a kangaroo, chair, farmer on tractor, skier, horseback rider, thunderbolt, baseball player, or helicopter (twist upper body).

Description:

Stand tall in Mountain Pose. Walk your feet close together so that your big toes are touching, but your heels are slightly apart.

Exhale as you bend your knees, bringing your knees to touch, and sink down as if you are sitting on a chair.

On an inhale, bring your straightened arms up in front of you, bringing your biceps toward your ears, with your flat palms facing each other, but not touching. Your spine is straight (no arch in your back), your belly is tucked in, and your shoulders and chest are open.

Take a few deep breaths. Feel the heat generating throughout your body. Try to sink a little deeper.

Come out of the pose in an inhale. Take a moment in Mountain Pose to rest.