Wide Child's Pose (Prasarita Balasana): how to do it and why it helps

How to do Wide Child’s Pose step by step

1. Kneel on your mat with your big toes touching behind you. Sit back toward your heels.
2. Slide your knees apart, about as wide as the mat or a little wider, while your big toes stay together.
3. Breathe out and walk your hands forward, folding from the hips so your chest sinks down between your thighs.
4. Stretch your arms forward with the palms down, shoulder-width apart. Rest your forehead on the mat, a block or a cushion.
5. Let your hips sink back toward your heels and your belly soften. Relax your shoulders, jaw and hands.
6. Stay for 30–60 seconds or longer (6–12 slow breaths). Feel your back widen as you breathe in.
7. To come out, walk your hands back toward your knees and slowly roll up to sit on your heels, lifting your head last.

Where you feel Wide Child’s Pose: what it stretches and strengthens

Widen your knees and let your chest sink toward the mat. In the 3D guide, turn on Body guide: areas that stretch glow green and areas that work glow saffron.

Benefits and precautions

Wide child's pose (Prasarita Balasana) is a restful kneeling forward fold in which your knees open wide, your big toes touch and your arms stretch forward. It gives the hips, inner thighs, lower back and shoulders a slow, easy stretch, and it is one of the best places to pause in any practice. This page explains how to do it, what it stretches, how it compares with the classic pose, and how to adapt it for knees, kids and pregnancy.

What is wide child's pose in yoga?

What is child's pose in yoga? It is a kneeling rest in which you fold forward over your thighs, like a child curled up asleep — which is also why it is called child's pose. Balasana keeps the knees together; the wide knee child's pose opens them apart so your chest can sink lower.

The Sanskrit words are prasarita ("spread out, extended"), bala ("child") and asana ("pose"). So the wide legged child pose Sanskrit name, Prasarita Balasana, simply means "spread child pose". In many yoga classes it is called extended child pose because the arms reach forward, which gives a longer child pose stretch and extra stretch benefits for the shoulders. The Sanskrit for extended child pose is often given as Utthita Balasana, but the shape is the same one you see in the 3D guide.

How to do wide child's pose well

How to do child pose so that it feels like rest, not strain:

• Toes together, knees wide. Touching big toes keep the pelvis level. Open the knees only as far as your inner thighs are comfortable.
• Hips back first. Let the hips drift toward the heels before you reach the arms long.
• Active or passive arms. For the extended child's pose stretch, press the palms lightly and reach. To rest, soften the arms completely.
• Support the head. If your forehead does not reach the floor, place a block or folded blanket under it so the neck is not hanging.
• Breathe into the back. Each inhale widens the ribs against the thighs; each exhale lets you sink a little more.

This makes it one of the easiest poses for child's pose exercise for beginners: you can stay a minute or more, and there is nothing to balance. In a wide legged child pose, yoga teachers often let you choose how wide the leg position is — there is no single correct width.

Wide child's pose benefits

What does child's pose do, and what is it good for? The wide version is mainly a gentle hip opener and back release. The open knees give a mild wide child's pose adductor stretch along the inner thighs, the forward fold lengthens the lower back, and the reaching arms open the shoulders. In short, wide knee child pose benefits are about gentle release, and the child pose yoga benefits that matter most are:

• Back relief. Child's pose for lower back pain is a common part of gentle routines, because the spine rounds softly with no load. As a child's pose exercise for back pain it works best as a rest between strengthening poses — see the full yoga for back pain plan for beginner yoga poses for back pain.
• Easier breathing. With the knees apart the belly is not squashed, so breathing feels freer than in narrow Balasana.
• Calm. A folded, supported shape with the forehead down is soothing; it is often used for stress and before sleep.

What muscles does child's pose stretch?

So the answer to child's pose exercise muscles worked is simple: it is a passive stretching exercise, and no muscles need to work hard. Turn on the Body guide in the 3D demo to see these areas glow green.

Wide knee child's pose vs Balasana and other poses

Wide vs classic: wide legged child's pose vs Balasana — the wide version opens the hips and makes room for the belly; the knees-together version rounds the back more and stretches the lower back more deeply. Try both and use whichever feels better.

Extended puppy pose: in extended puppy pose the hips stay high over the knees, so the stretch moves into the upper back and shoulders.

Seated wide angle pose: Upavistha Konasana stretches the inner thighs with straight legs and is much more intense.

Variations: twist, reach and props

• Child pose with reach: walk both hands to the right, then the left, for a side-body stretch.
• Revolved wide child pose: slide one arm under your chest, palm up, and rest that shoulder down. This wide knee child pose with a twist is the same move as thread the needle — a child's pose exercise with twist or rotation for the upper back.
• Bolster version: lay a firm cushion lengthwise between your thighs and rest your chest and cheek on it.
• Standing child's pose stretch: if you cannot kneel, place your hands on a table or chair back, walk your feet back and let your hips move back while your chest sinks.

Wide knee child's pose contraindications and knee tips

Most people can do this pose, but yoga poses sitting on knees need care if your knees complain. Yoga modifications for bad knees: put a folded blanket or cushion between your hips and heels, pad the knees, or use the standing version. After a total knee replacement, deep knee bending and kneeling are often limited for a while; ask your surgeon what your total knee precautions are before you try it. See also yoga poses for knee pain in yoga for knee pain. In pregnancy, the wide knees make room for the belly — see yoga for pregnancy.

Child pose for kids and beginners

This is one of the most kid friendly yoga poses and easy kid yoga poses: children can pretend to be a sleeping mouse or a turtle in its shell. Among child friendly yoga poses and flexibility poses for kids, it works as a calm-down break between active stretching poses for kids, and it belongs on any list of yoga poses for kids that are easy for beginners. More yoga poses for children are on our yoga for kids page.

Poses to pair with wide child's pose

As wide knee child's pose prep, do a few rounds of cat-cow on hands and knees. It fits naturally after downward dog or cobra, and before lying poses such as happy baby, whose benefits (a gentle hip and lower back release) are similar. Practise it with the voice guide in the guided sessions.

This page is for general education. Check with your doctor before starting yoga if you are pregnant, have a medical condition or an injury. Stop if you feel pain, dizziness or shortness of breath.