मालासन
Malasana — the Garland Squat
mālā = garland — the body folded like a hanging garland
The deep squat our grandparents rested in — hips low, heart open, hands in namaste.
In the simplest words
Squat down low like you're sitting on your heels near the ground — the way people sit around a campfire. Put your hands together at your chest and let your elbows gently push your knees apart. Comfy? That's your hips saying thank you.
What it is
Feet planted a little wider than the hips, the body sinks into a full squat and stays there, elbows resting inside the knees, palms joined at the heart. For most of history this was simply how people sat — to cook, to wash, to talk — and the hips, knees and ankles were kept supple by daily visits. Malasana returns that inheritance: it opens the hips more honestly than force ever could, wakes the ankles, and gives the lower back the decompression chairs quietly stole.
Before you practise — health first
Knee injury keeps this high (sit on a low stool instead); late pregnancy squats only with support and a doctor's blessing; heels on a blanket beat wobbling. Rise slowly if the head spins.
Getting into it
Stand with feet slightly wider than the hips, toes turned a little out.
Bend the knees fully and lower the hips all the way down between the ankles.
Heels reach for the floor — a folded blanket under them is classical and wise.
Join the palms at the heart; elbows gently widen the knees; spine grows tall.
Stay, breathing into the lower back; come up slowly, or sit back onto a cushion to rest.
The breath
Slow breaths into the belly and lower back — the squat breathes downward.
What it is kept for
Hips, ankles and lower back; digestion (the tradition's sitting for it); reclaiming the resting squat itself.