How to “yoga squat”
Ever struggled do a “yoga squat”? This article gives you 5 modifications to help make yoga squat pose more accessible and comfortable. Working on these variations of the pose will help you to go deeper with your squat and get your heels on the ground!
Why do Yoga Squat or ‘Malasana’?
The Yoga squat or ‘Malasana’ is a fantastic pose for your health. It stretches and strengthens a lot of the muscles in your lower body, including your feet, ankles, calves and opens up the hip and groin area. It also helps aid digestion and can help maintain your pelvic health.
If you travel to India or Indonesia, it’s quite common to see people sitting on the ground in this pose (quite comfortably I might add!) But in the Western world, we don’t tend to sit in this low position very often - which means it can feel quite uncomfortable when we do it!
Research suggests that practising Malasana or Yoga Squat pose daily can reduce our risk of heart problems, so perhaps it’s time to build a couple of minutes of squatting into your daily routine!
How to get into Yoga Squat pose
To come into the pose, stand with your feet hip distance apart with your feet parallel or slightly turned outwards. All you need to do is imagine that you're sitting down, bending your knees and bringing your bum towards the floor as you keep your spine upright and your chest proud.
Once your bum is down, widen your knees slightly as you bring your elbows into your inner thighs and your hands to prayer pose.
If you find this pose difficult or uncomfortable, you are not alone! A lot of people struggle to do yoga squat pose. You may struggle to go deep in this squatting pose. You may find that your heels come up as you sink your bum downwards. Or you struggle to stay upright as you topple forwards or backwards. This is often to to a lack of flexibility or mobility in your ankles or hips.
So what can you do to improve at yoga squat pose?
There's a few different ways you can modify the pose to make it more accessible and comfortable for you. Below I’ve outlined 5 variations of the pose that might feel better for your body.
Modification of Yoga Squat #1
The traditional way to come into this pose is to stand with your feet hip width apart. In this variation try bringing your feet a little bit wider, toe slightly outwards to create more space for your body. Once you’ve brought your bum down you can even wiggle your legs a little bit wider to allow your torso and hips to come down inbetween.
Modification of Yoga Squat #2
So if you're still struggling to get those heels down, perhaps try bringing a blanket, low block or cushion underneath your heels. Place your heels onto a rolled up blanket or whatever you are using and then bend the knees. As your heels are already raised with the prop supporting them you may find that you have an increased range of motion and your hips are able to get lower. Come out of the pose the same way you came in.
Modification of Yoga Squat #3
Another version that you can do is use a block or a bolster. If it’s the block choose the setting (how high you want it) and put it on the mat beneath you. Then sit down to find the block with your bum. And then you can shuffle the feet around, finding a position that works for you. You may find that sitting on the block allows your spine to easily stay upright. When we're in this pose, we want to keep it nice straight back and the chest proud. Once you’ve found this then use the hands perhaps to open out the knees.
So three versions of yoga squat that you can try to deepen your squat. The next two versions of yoga squat I've got for you involve using a wall for support.
Modification of Yoga Squat #4
Bring yourself over to the wall. Starting once again with your feet hip distance apart, toes slightly outwards. Bring your hands to prayer pose and gradually lower yourself down the wall. And you may find that support of the wall behind you enables you to find yoga squat pose a lot more easily than before. So once you're there, again, perhaps allowing the the elbows to press those knees a little bit further apart.
To come out of the pose you can either rise up the same way you came in, but often with this wall variation of yoga squat it's easier to bring your bum all the way down to the floor, bring the knees over to one side to come out of the pose.
Modification of Yoga Squat #5
The final version of yoga squat is to come into reclining squat using the wall to support you.
To come into this pose, bring your bum as close as possible to the wall and swing your legs up, bend your knees and bring your feet to the wall. Once you're in position you may find you can shift your bum a little bit closer to the wall. See if you can then bring the backs of your arms to the inside of your thighs.
Press the feet into the wall pressing particularly in the outer edges of the foot. This switches on your bum muscles which will helps you engage the right muscles to work on increasing your mobility for a seated version.
This reclined version can feel more relaxing so you could spend some time in this pose perhaps focusing on your breath or meditating. To come out of reclining yoga squat pose, all you're going to do is bring your knees together, and then roll yourself over to come up.
Get more help with yoga squat with my video
I’ve put together a 5 minute video to help you try out all 5 modifications of yoga squat over on my YouTube channel:
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