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“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” ― Siddhārtha Gautama (Gautama Buddha)
The above quote was the brainchild of arguably the most spiritual being to have ever walked on planet earth. His story is essentially a mythological legend, and as someone who is known for his incredible sense of inner peace, these words of his hold a tremendous amount of weight.
His teachings have been relevant since they have been made public, and they are especially relevant today. Quite a lot of us tend to lose our sense of inner peace, which can open the doors for serious physical and mental health consequences. Thankfully, something can be done about it with the help of a Yoga Asana. This article is about that very Yoga posture. Quite fittingly, perhaps, it is known as the Happy Pose, or as it is known in its homeland, the Sukhasana.
Let's embark on a trip into the depths of this simple posture, exploring the benefits of Sukhasana, unraveling a step-by-step guide on how to perform theHappy Pose, delving into the anatomy of Sukhasana and finally, addressing common questions and doubts that may arise about Sukhasana.
Sukhasana also known as Easy pose is a simple Yoga posture that helps its practitioners to relax, bring their focus back to the things that matter to them, and even have that hard-earned moment of calm. Arguably, Sukhasana is the easiest Yoga pose that one can do. This position essentially requires you to sit across the length of your mat with your legs folded and keep your back straight, which means that in comparison to several other Yoga poses out there, the Sukhasana demands very little from the student in terms of physical strength and flexibility.
The name of the position translates to the Easy Pose the Pleasurable Pose or the Joyful Pose, since the first part of the name, Sukha can mean all of those things. The pose is named as such and is known by the kind of names that have been mentioned because:
The earliest descriptions of this pose can be found in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th-century text that describes several other asanas and is written in Sanskrit.
Now that you have got a brief introduction to the pose, let us now take a look at the benefits of performing the Sukhasana daily.
Sukhasana also known as Easy pose may be a simple pose to get into, but it is an asana from which the student can benefit in too many ways to keep it out of a yoga routine. A few of them can be found below:
Sukhasana Helps You Bring The Focus To Yourself And Other Important Things: When you slip into the Sukhasana, you are momentarily disconnecting yourself from the noise of the outside world. Once the noise dies down, you start gaining a clearer picture of your priorities, such as your family, friends, kids, career or education. But most importantly, you also start taking note of your current sense of being and rediscovering the things that make you the person you are. For this reason alone, the Sukhasana must be practiced.
Sukhasana Helps You Have A Moment Of Calm: When the inner peace of an individual is meddled with, one can look forward to a downfall in terms of mental and physical health. More often than not, we resort to unhealthy ways of gaining the same, even if it is for a few moments. That is where the Sukhasana can come to your rescue.
When in position, you will notice that the noise is fading away, but there are a few sounds that you might want to pay attention to. You can try focusing on other sounds individually in the environment, as it is considered to be quite therapeutic. On top of all of that, with regular practice, you should also learn to focus on things that bring you joy and happiness, aiding you in restoring your peace.
Sukhasana Can Make You Or Your Little Ones Taller In The Long Run: This asana stretches the spine and makes the back stronger. If spines are stretched and elongated at an early age, it could pave the way for a fairly tall stature for the young Yogi, hence we would recommend you to get your little one to do the Sukhasana as early in their lives as possible.
Sukhasana Can Make Your Legs Stronger Bending of legs while getting into the Sukhasana and maintaining the pose for a considerable amount of time causes little tears in the muscle tissues of our legs. Don't worry because that is a good thing. These tears only make the legs stronger if the student’s diet is rich in protein, vitamins and the kind of carbohydrates that are beneficial for the body.
Sukhasana Helps Your Body Relax: The main focus of this position is to simply let all of your body parts relax. Once they do, you will feel the tension that had made you rigid over the day or several days in the recent past go away. A relaxed body is a body with a high degree of endurance, which is one of the reasons we believe that Sukhasana must be a part of every Yoga routine.
One can only make the most out of the Sukhasana also known as Easy pose if the pose is executed with as much attention to every movement as possible. Rest assured, the steps will be straightforward to follow. After all, it is called the Easy pose for a reason. However, this Yoga asana is not without its minor intricacies. You will learn more about them in the step-by-step guide below.
Sukhasana Step 1: Sit across the length of your mat in Dandasana.
Sukhasana Step 2: Bend your left knee in such a way that you can place your left foot right under the thigh of your right leg. Maintain a certain degree of elevation between your left knee and the mat.
Sukhasana Step 3: Bend your right knee just like how you bent your left one in Step 2. Be sure to maintain a certain distance in the end out here as well.
Sukhasana Step 4: Point the toes of your feet upwards.
Sukhasana Step 5: Let your arms rest and make sure that the opposite side of your palms are resting comfortably atop your knees.
Sukhasana Step 6: Do the Gyan Mudra to enter into the final position.
Finally, stay in this pose for as long as you are comfortable. The longer you stay in it, the better. We would personally recommend that for starters, you should hold the position and breathe normally during the process for anywhere between 60-90 seconds.
Just like most of the Yoga poses, the Sukhasana should also be done in the morning as well. It should ideally be done at the break of dawn as it is believed that doing the Sukhasana in the morning helps the student have a greater sense of clarity regarding the chores of the day. In addition to the same, regular morning practitioners of this pose are believed to be able to deal with daily stressors more efficiently.
If you are unable to do it in the morning for any reason, you can do a repetition during the evening too. One of the best parts of the Sukhasana is that it can also be done on a full stomach. However, we would still recommend you to maintain an empty stomach and bladder for 4-6 hours to avoid any break in the flow.
There are certain circumstances under which you should ideally stay away from doing the Sukhasana also known as Easy pose. But, that doesn’t mean that you cannot do the pose at all. The severity of the scenarios which are listed below can vary from person to person, which is why you should consider consulting your respective healthcare professional before making the final decision. Some of the aforementioned circumstances are as follows:
Sukhasana focuses on a very select yet crucial set of body parts. This feature of the asana is one of the things that makes it so brilliant. However, you can only appreciate the brilliance of something if you have a clearer idea regarding its workings, which is why there is an anatomical exploration of the Sukhasana for you to go through. It can be found below.
You begin to enter into the Easy Pose by folding your legs. As you do so, you are activating your hip flexors right off the bat since most of the folding is done with its assistance. The next set of muscles and ligaments that get impacted are the ones that can be found in your right leg. It starts with all the ligaments around your knee, then it is followed by your left hamstring, then your buttocks, your calves and then finally, your feet. Expect the same from the other leg as well.
Now, you are seconds away from getting into the final pose, which you will accomplish by resting your arms as directed in the guide above. Once you do that, you will open up your chest, straighten your back and engage your core muscles while putting some pressure on your obliques as well. As far as the posterior portion of your upper body is concerned, you will cause your spine to stretch, your back to become mildly alert, and put your shoulder blades in the sweet spot between being at ease and alert.
Once you are in the final position, you will feel all the sensations within yourself intensifying up to a point. As far as the world outside your corporal self is concerned, it will slowly begin to fade away for as long as you are in position.
Note: Make sure that you align your shoulders with your hips for the best results over time.
Why Is It Called Sukhasana?
Sukhasana is a word of Sanskrit origin as the first-ever recorded descriptions of the asana were found in 15th-century texts about Yoga, which are written in Sanskrit. The word itself can be broken down into two parts, namely Sukha and Asana. While the former means easy, pleasurable, and joyful, the latter part means position or posture. The pose is named as such because it is a very simple pose to execute. Due to the exact translation of the name, this asana is more popularly known as the Easy Pose in the West.
What are the techniques of Sukhasana?
You can always make minor modifications to the Sukhasana to either make it easier or more challenging to execute. Those modifications create different variations of the pose, some of which are as follows:
Sukhasana With Bolster Under The Buttocks: You can make the Easy pose easier on your hips by providing it with some support, which you can do by placing two folded towels under your rear end. As you can probably picture already, the bolster will let your hips relax instead of testing them, which will help you achieve the final pose with proper technique.
Sukhasana With Block Underneath The Buttocks And Towels Under the Feet: In addition to your hips, this version of the easy pose also makes executing this asana an easier job on your feet. You should consider doing this pose if you are unable to stay in the final position for even a small amount of time, as it could be an indication of the fact that both your hips and feet need some stretching. If the pain is too great for you to bear, consider scheduling an appointment with your physician and getting a checkup done.
Sukhasana On A Chair: This is one of the easiest versions of the Easy pose. Here, all you have to do is follow the steps for doing the Sukhasana while sitting properly on a chair and now allowing your knees to bend. This variation is more of a meditative pose than a Yoga asana.
Easy Pose With Side Stretching Of The Neck: This Sukhasana variant also engages your neck. All you will need to do is take one of your arms and gently place its palm on the opposite side of your head. Following that, apply a little bit of pressure on your head in such a manner that your neck bends a little bit towards the side of your raised arm.
Easy Pose With Hands Folded In A Namaste: Ad the name suggests, the student is required to fold their hands in a Namaste formation in this version, which also makes it more of a meditative pose, just like in the case of Sukhasana On A Chair.
How Can One Get Better At Sukhasana
The key to getting better at Sukhasana also known as Easy pose, or any yoga pose for that matter, is practice, patience, perseverance and perfect form. If you check all of those boxes and are regularly doing the Sukhasana, you will get better at it, and that progress will be reflected in the amount of time you can maintain the position.
After a point, you may feel like you are reaching a plateau, and if that is the case, you can always try out more challenging versions of Sukhasana. However, if you are unable to do the exact pose, you can pick and do one of the less physically demanding versions of it. If you feel like you need a refresher, feel free to visit or revisit the step-by-step guide for Sukhasana that you have read above.
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