Garland Pose (Malasana)

Pronunciation and meaning

Malasana: mah-LAHS-uh-nuh. Three open a sounds, with the stress on LAHS.

Mala means garland, like a string of beads, and asana means posture. It is the yoga name for a deep, heels-down squat with the palms pressed together at the chest.

How to do Garland Pose

1. Stand with your feet a little wider than your hips, toes turned out slightly.
2. Bend your knees and lower your hips toward the floor between your heels, keeping your heels down if you can.
3. Bring your palms together at your chest and press your elbows lightly against the insides of your knees.
4. Lengthen your spine upward, letting the chest lift away from the thighs rather than rounding forward.
5. Keep your knees pointing the same way as your toes and your weight spread across both feet.
6. Stay for five to eight breaths, then place your hands on the floor, lift your hips and roll up slowly to stand.

Make it easier

• Slide a rolled blanket or folded mat under your heels if they lift.
• Sit on a yoga block, or two stacked, under your hips to take weight off the knees and ankles.
• Hold on to a door frame, a sturdy table leg or the seat of a heavy chair in front of you.
• Take the feet wider apart and turn them out more if the hips feel blocked.

Pregnancy and after birth

Pregnancy. Adapt. Sit on a block or two so the squat is supported, keep the feet wide, and come up slowly with a hand on something steady. Some people are advised to avoid deep squats in later pregnancy, so check with your OB or midwife about what suits you.

After birth. Adapt. After your OB or midwife has cleared you to exercise, start with a high, supported squat on blocks and a relaxed breath. If you feel heaviness or pressure in the pelvic floor, come out of it, and mention it to your doctor, midwife or a pelvic floor physiotherapist.

For more on practising through pregnancy, see Joahnna Lee Yoga.

Common mistakes

• Letting the knees collapse inward past the big toes.
• Rounding the back and dropping the head toward the floor.
• Forcing the heels down before the ankles are ready, which usually tips you backwards. Use a blanket.
• Bouncing at the bottom of the squat instead of settling.

Garland Pose is a resting squat as much as a stretch. Many people find it awkward at first, especially with the heels down. With a blanket or a block it becomes an easy place to pause between standing poses.

In yoga for beginners, a rolled blanket under the heels is often all it takes to make the squat comfortable enough to stay in.

On a slower day, the same wide knees can rest on the floor in Frog Pose, the wide-kneed Yin hold.

Standing taller with the feet wider and the thighs level gives you the wide squat pose, Utkata Konasana. This squat with the arms inside the legs is also the starting point for Firefly Pose, an advanced arm balance.

Why is garland pose also called a yogi squat?

Outside the Sanskrit name, the same shape goes by plainer ones. Squat pose and yogi squat both describe Malasana: a deep squat with the heels down or supported, the knees wide and the chest lifted between them. Most studios use the names interchangeably, so if a teacher calls for a yogi squat, this is the pose they mean.

What sets the yoga version apart from a gym squat is the stillness. You lower once, settle, and breathe there for several breaths rather than moving up and down. The palms meet at the chest, and the elbows press lightly into the inner knees to help the spine lengthen.

If the heels lift, a rolled blanket under them keeps the squat restful. If the knees complain, sitting on a block turns it into a supported seat. Either way, the aim is a comfortable low squat you can stay in, not the deepest one you can reach. For a slower stretch of the same inner thighs, the wide knees can rest on the floor in Frog Pose.