Today’s pose is awesome because it’s one of those poses that our bodies have been designed to do, but because of how our lifestyles have changed in the last 50 years, we’ve lost the mobility and the range of motion to perform the Malasana or the Squat. The fact that it’s taken only 50 odd years for our bodies to ‘forget’ a basic and intuitive movement is unsettling. After all, the last 50 years is a minuscule time frame in the history of human evolution. Imagine the kind of effort required to undo the effects of millions of years of evolution!
There are some contraindications for the Malasana. If you have a knee, ankle or hip injury then I would suggest that you practice with props.
Benefits of the Malasana:
- Great to open up the hip joint.
- Massages the abdominal and digestive organs and stimulates elimination.
- Strengthens the legs, ankles and knees.
- Helps in reducing back ache, even for pregnant women.
- Conditions the lower body for child birth.