Forehead to the Floor

Across our many cultures there are some gestures that need no translation. The open arms of welcome, the embrace of fellowship and love, a woman’s swinging hips – these gestures and movements evoke a meaning that is immediately felt and understood by all.  Another of these cross-cultural gestures is the act of bringing our forehead to the floor.  Bringing our forehead to the floor is an age old gesture of respect and devotion.   We bring our forehead to the floor in prayer and in humility.  We use it to salute our god, our king, our guru or master.  When the emotion is real, when we do revere and trust our god or master, there is a peace that can come from this submission and it is this feeling of peace that is the essential aspect of my favorite yoga pose, the child. 

The child is, for most, a very easy pose.  To take the pose we simply kneel on the floor

then forward bend to bring our forehead to the floor.  Our arms relax along side our bodies, our buttocks rest on our heels and we sink into the ease, comfort and peace that this pose can offer.  For some there will be difficulties but these can be easily mediated by props.  If the knees are painful we keep them open or place a rolled towel between the thighs and calves.  If the ankles hurt we pad below them.  If the forehead does not easily reach the floor we simply build up pillows in front of us until we can relax the neck and release the head.  It is important to be able to rest the neck because for the pose to be successful you should stay in it for a while.  I also believe that it is this touching of the forehead to the floor (or some approximation of it) that taps us into the archetypal power of this position.   

And yes there are physical benefits too.  As a forward bend it stretches and releases the spine without involving our sometimes tight hamstrings.  It is also the ideal pose to take if you have a tension headache.  Yoga is best as a preventative program for headaches but there are a few restorative poses, including child, which will help when you already have one.  If you have a headache I would recommend that you take the child pose and then put one fist on top of the other and place your forehead on your fists and gentle gently rock your head from side to side. As you breathe give yourself over and trust that headache will pass.  Do not strive to make anything change. Just let go and watch the breathe and try to relax.

With or without a headache Child is a pose for rest and rejuvenation and acceptance.  .  Physically, emotionally and spiritually it is a physical enactment of humility and acceptance.  Try it – bring your forehead to the floor and wait.  The pose will bring on the prayer if the prayer doesn’t bring on the pose. 

Previously published in Women Today