Yoga Pose:
Garbha Pindasana
Important Note
Take special precautions while doing any asana. If you are learning yoga, then take the advice of a knowledgeable person. Do not put any kind of force in the event of pain or unable to do so. Keep in mind that you will be able to succeed only with constant practice.
Brief Introduction Of The Garbha Pindasana
Garbha Pindasana is a pose that belongs to the Lotus Posture group. This is among the yoga poses of an advanced level, and has similarities to the Inverted Tortoise Pose. This is a Hatha Yoga posture that dates back to the medieval times. The posture is also referred to simply as Garbhasana, and is known in English as the ‘Embryo Pose’. The unique name of this pose comes from the fact that when one performs this pose, he / she appears as an unborn offspring.
How To Do The Garbha Pindasana?
Here are the steps to the performance of this posture.
- Sit in the Lotus Posture or Padmasana. Enter the Cockerel Posture or Kukkutasana.
- Now sit on a Yoga mat and allow your buttock to go down, with the knees elevated.
- Have your body weight supported by the buttock rather than the hands.
- Next, bend the elbows.
- Use your fingers to hold the ears. In order to be able to do it, you have to adjust your knee height and lean the head slightly forward.
- Close the eyes or fix your gaze on anything that is right before you. Breathe in a normal way.
- Remain in this position for as long as you can comfortably stay in.
- Take the fingers off the ears to release yourself from this posture.
- Move your legs down.
- Take your hands off the inverted posture. Release your body from the Lotus Posture.
- Enter the Lotus pose, with your legs crossed on your alternate side. Then repeat the above steps again.
- You can initially practice this pose for 1 – 2 minutes. Gradually, with time and more practice, you can extend it to as long as 5 minutes.
- The pose also has a variation. While performing this pose initially, you can put your hands in the Anjali posture. It is the easiest way to carry out this asana. Once you practice for a few days, you can try the upper arms posture. With time, you can try to hold your ears and clasp your palms behind your neck.
- While practicing, your spinal column takes a front curve. You can counter this by trying any follow-up pose among these, such as:
- Fish Pose or Matsasana
- Crocodile Pose or Makarasana
- Cobra Pose or Bhujangasana
- Tolangulasana, Kukkutasana and Padmasana are the different types of preparatory poses for this posture.
- The various Follow Up poses for Garbhasana include Halasana, Mandulasana and Ardha Chandrasana.
- To make this pose even more challenging, focus on your breath. Although there is no need to concentrate a lot on breath control, you are supposed to breathe freely and naturally. If you experience any issues in breathing normally during the pose, you may inhale and exhale deeply – so as to check how you feel.
Benefits Of The Garbha Pindasana
There are many advantages of this posture:
- Stimulates the Nabhi-chakra – With the practice of this specific posture, you can activate your Nabhi Chakra or the energy center that is believed to be in the navel, and awakening which is believed to advance your spiritual progress.
- Tones your organs – As your body enters an embryo position, it can tone up various internal organs of your body – such as pancreas, adrenal glands, kidney and liver, and make them function in a proper way. It can also offer relief from various digestive issues, such as constipation.
- Cures nervous problems – With the practice of this pose on a regular basis, you can tone your nerves and cure many nervous disorders in a natural way. This is because this posture stimulates the Parasympathetic Nervous System of the body, and provides practitioners with relief from various psychosomatic ailments – such as heart diseases, high blood pressure etc.
- Controls stress and anger – When you practice this pose regularly, you can get relief from anxiety, depression and anger. This pose is said to be very useful in maintaining emotional balance, and providing practitioners with relief from temper problems.
Precautions To Be Taken While Doing The Garbha Pindasana
- There are some precautions to observe in order to perform this pose in a safe way.
- Keep in mind that some complex bending is involved in the Embryo pose, and thus, pregnant women need to avoid practicing it.
- Those with knee injury or pain need to avoid this type of yoga posture, given that it might aggravate the problem for them. Also, those with hypertension need to avoid this Yoga posture, so as to prevent a worsening of this problem.
- If you are a beginner, you can place a bolster between your knees, so as to put your head, arms and upper body therein, and make yourself feel comfortable during the pose. It can be useful for pregnant women and fat people. You may even put a blanket between your buttock and heels, and sit on it. It can help reduce your hip and knee pain. It is common in the beginning to either fall backward or forward. To prevent a fall, do the posture beside a wall to get support from it.
- In case you have hairy legs, you might find it tough to put your arms in between them. Those with very muscular or fat legs can also experience problems. Thus, you may use water or oil to be able to make it easy for your arms to get between your legs. It can make it easier for you to perform the pose.
Conclusion
Garbha Pindasana is said to restore the original mental state of a person as in the foetal position he or she had been in when in the womb of their mothers. This is the state when the mind is free of all worries, and stays calm and cool. When in Garbhasana, those subconscious memories of the days in the womb are brought back, which calms the nerves down. When the pose is practiced regularly, it can be quite useful for the body and mind. It can stretch the whole body and benefit your well being in many ways.
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