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Happy baby pose tops the charts as a favorite amongst most yogis. Happy baby opens and stretches the hips, groin and back and promotes relaxation. Learning how to do happy baby pose will give you a comfortable pose to go to any time you are in need of rest or recovery whether during a yoga practice or simply stretching and recovering after a long day.
Its even a great pose to help stretch you back and hips before getting out of bed in the morning.
The name “happy baby” stems from the origin of the pose. Imagine a baby lying in his or her crib holding their toes, smiling and making silly noises. It’s a natural posture for our bodies from the time we are born. Happy baby pose has you start on your back, lift your legs wide into the air and then grab hold of your big toes with your index and middle fingers. As you hold your toes you begin to gently pull them down toward your body in order to coax your knees toward your shoulders. This simple pose opens up your lower back, the connective tissue surrounding the hip joint and even gives you a nice groin stretch.
In addition, the position itself helps promote relaxation, which is why it is such a great pose to do as you are winding down for the evening and preparing for sleep.
This pose is simple enough it can be done at any age and by people in nearly any condition. If you can lay on your back, you can do happy baby pose.
For other great ideas if you have tight hips, try our routine called 6 Poses to Relieve Tight Hips and you’re bound to feel better!
Use the links below to quickly navigate this guide:
- How To Do Happy Baby Pose
- What Muscles Does Happy Baby Work?
- Benefits of Happy Baby Pose
- How Many Calories Does Happy Baby Burn?
- Other Exercises Similar To Happy Baby
- Incorporating Happy Baby Into Your Workouts
How To Do Happy Baby Pose
1) Begin lying on your back and grab your big toes with your index and middle fingers.
2) Gently draw toes down so knee pull toward shoulders. Keep elbows gently pressing knees open.
3) Relax and breathe. Hold 30 seconds.
Watch as Chris Freytag teaches how to do happy baby pose in the video below!
What Muscles Does Happy Baby Work?
Happy baby is a yoga pose that stretches and opens up your hips and lower back. Happy baby also promotes relaxation. It’s an amazing pose that can and should be done both before and after a workout and especially as part of a yoga practice.
Benefits of Happy Baby
There are many reasons you should incorporate happy baby into your workouts. Here are just a few:
Stretch and Open The Hips
Whether you exercise frequently or spend most of the day sitting, hips and hip flexors are a tight spot on the body. Happy baby is a gentle way to open your hip flexors and relieve tight hips.
Stretch and Release Lower Back
There are many reasons for a tight lower back. It could be the back itself but it could also be a tight IT Band, tight hip flexors or any number of other things. Happy baby is a start to releasing the lower back. Once you begin with this gentle opening you can move to deeper poses.
Promotes Relaxation and Calm
Happy baby is often used as part of the final relaxation in a yoga practice. This pose is a great way to relieve tension, help you slow down your breathing pattern and calm the central nervous system.
How Many Calories Does Happy Baby Burn?
People often ask how many calories they are burning in their workouts. Most exercises will generally burn about 100 calories for every 10 minutes you are working at moderate to high intensity. Happy baby is a stationary yoga pose, not meant to be a big calorie burning move. However, in the context of a yoga practice, the rule above applies! Yoga can be a great way to burn calories. Consider happy baby the cherry on top at the end!
Other Exercises Similar to Happy Baby
If you like happy baby and the results you are getting, here are a few more yoga poses you might want to try.
Incorporating Happy Baby Into Your Workouts
Happy baby is a great exercise all on its own! However, you could also incorporate Happy baby into other workouts to mix them up. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Use Happy Baby as a Post Workout Stretch
Any workout you do is going to require a great stretch at the end to get your muscles released and prepared for the next time you exercise. Happy baby is a great stretch to use following a workout of any kind.
Post-Workout Stretch
This stretch routine includes happy baby and gives you an overall great way to finish any workout. Hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds.
Crescent Lunge on Knee – Right
Happy Baby
Use Happy Baby in a Yoga Workout
Yoga is known for building strength and calm as well as stretching your muscles and connective tissue. Happy baby is an amazing pose to incorporate into your yoga practice. Check it out in our Day Starter Yoga Workout:
Day Starter Yoga Workout
This invigorating yoga sequence is a great way to wake up and start the day! All you need is a mat or a little space to move.
Start in savasana and take 8-10 deep breaths. Then move to happy baby pose for 3-5 breaths.
Happy Baby
Then slowly rise to a standing position, step wide and go down into sun god and lift up 5 times with deep breaths.
Move to mountain pose and flow through the following 5 times:
Step your feet through and sit down and do each of the following for 3-5 breaths:
Happy Baby
Now go and enjoy a day full of energy!!!!
Use Happy Baby To Help You Sleep
Happy baby can be used as part of your bedtime routine to help calm your central nervous system and help prepare you to sleep. Try this short, slow sequence before you get into bed next time and see if it helps your relax. For each of the following poses, hold for 3-5 slow breaths.
Happy Baby
Here are 3 more workouts that incorporate happy baby:
How To Relieve Yoga With Headaches
