Malasana (Garland Pose)

Malasana is the deep yogic squat: feet a little wider than the hips with the toes turned out slightly, the hips lowered all the way down, the trunk coming forward between the thighs and the palms joined at the chest with the elbows inside the knees. Mala means a garland, and the name is usually explained by the way the arms encircle the legs in the classical version, where the hands are taken round the ankles.

It is not Utkatasana. Chair Pose keeps the shins near vertical, stops the seat well above the knees and keeps the heels down while the thighs hold the weight, and it is a strength pose. Malasana takes the hips all the way to the bottom, folds the knees completely, and asks the ankles for the full range they have. It is a mobility position rather than a strength hold, and holding it for two minutes should feel like sitting rather than like working.

It is also not a pose you should try to reach by force. Two things stop most adults from squatting: the ankles, which need a good deal of bend to let the shin come forward over the foot, and the fear of falling backwards, which is entirely rational when the ankles will not allow the position. Both are answered with props rather than with effort: a rolled blanket under the heels, and a block under the seat.

Where it belongs is in the standing part of a practice, after the legs are warm, or on its own at any point in a day. It goes well after Uttanasana and before the floor poses. It is also one of the few asanas that appears in daily life all over India, where it is simply how a person sits when there is no chair, which is a good reason to keep the ability rather than lose it quietly at forty.

If your heels lift, the problem is nearly always the ankle rather than the hip, and it is measurable.

A squat requires the shin to travel forward over the foot, which is ankle dorsiflexion. In a study of ninety two participants, squatting ability was graded in three levels and each level corresponded to a measurably different ankle range: those who could hold the squat comfortably with the heels down averaged 23 degrees of dorsiflexion with the knee flexed, those who could hold it only briefly or with effort averaged 16 degrees, and those who fell backwards immediately averaged 9 degrees. The grading picked up limited dorsiflexion with 91 percent sensitivity. In other words, the squat is not a mystery about willpower. It is a fairly reliable ankle test.

That is useful because it tells you what to do about it. A rolled blanket under the heels effectively lends you the degrees you do not have, so you can practise the hip and groin part of the pose today. Meanwhile, work the ankles separately: Adho Mukha Svanasana with the knees bent and the heels pressing down, and simple calf lengthening at a step, do more for the ankle than repeatedly failing to squat does.

• Blanket under the heels if they lift at all.
• Block under the seat if you fall backwards or the back rounds hard.
• Toes turned out to whatever angle lets the knees track over the feet.
• Elbows pressing lightly out against the inner knees.

Years of shoes with a raised heel shorten the calf, which is why this is so common in office workers and so much less common in people who have squatted all their lives. It is not a personal failing and it does change, slowly, with about five minutes a day of ankle work.

Two joints decide whether this pose is a good idea for you.

The knee. A full squat folds the knee completely and loads it at the end of its range, which is a genuine demand. It is worth being clear that this is a different situation from Chair Pose: the biomechanical study of standing yoga poses found the lowest sideways load on the inner knee in Utkatasana and recommended it for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, and none of that reassurance transfers to a full squat. If you have a meniscus problem, an arthritic knee or a replacement, use a high stool so the knee bends much less, or leave the pose alone.

The lower back. In a deep squat the pelvis tips backwards and the lumbar spine rounds a little. That is normal in the position and it is not normally a problem, but a rounded loaded lumbar spine is what an irritated disc likes least. The Cochrane review of twenty one trials in chronic low back pain found small improvements in back related function from yoga alongside increased back pain as the most commonly reported harm, with no serious side effects reported. So if your back is painful today, sit on a block so the spine can stay long, or leave the pose out and read yoga for back pain first.

The block is the answer to both problems and it is worth saying clearly: sitting on a block in this pose is the normal adult version. It keeps the hips and the groin working, it lets the spine lengthen, it reduces the knee bend, and it can be held for two minutes rather than thirty grim seconds. I have students who have used a block for ten years and their hips are perfectly happy.

Long holds, and the last column is the one to read. This pose gets useful in the second minute.

Daily is fine, and better than a practice day. This is the sort of thing to do while waiting for the kettle: one or two minutes, a few times a day, changes the position within a couple of months in a way that a weekly attempt in a class never will. Always come up slowly.

Warm the legs first. A few rounds of Surya Namaskar and some standing work, then the squat, then the floor. Coming into a deep squat with cold ankles and cold hips is not dangerous but it is unrewarding, and the pose will feel a good deal deeper five minutes later.

Afterwards, stand. Tadasana is the counter pose here: after two minutes with the hips folded to their limit, what the body wants is even weight on both feet and a long spine. Get there by way of a standing forward fold, hanging for a few breaths, rather than by standing up quickly.

It pairs well with the seated hip poses. Two minutes of the squat, then Baddha Konasana on the floor, covers the groin and the inner thigh from two directions and takes about five minutes. It also goes naturally before sitting for breathing, though give the ankles a moment to recover before folding them under you.

The other place it belongs is in an ordinary day, which is where it started. Squatting to pick something up, to look in a low cupboard, or simply to sit while talking to a child is the pose in its natural habitat, and keeping the position available is worth more than performing it. That is the general argument in yoga for beginners over 40: the abilities worth keeping are the ones you use.

This is one of the poses where the props are not optional for most adults.

• Knees. High stool, so the knee bends far less, or leave it out. A full squat is a real demand on a knee and the reassurance that applies to Chair Pose does not apply here.
• Hips. After a hip replacement, ask your surgeon: a deep squat is often out of range for a long time and sometimes permanently.
• Ankles. Blanket under the heels, always, if they lift. And work the ankles separately.
• Lower back. Block under the seat so the spine stays long. If pain is present today, leave it out.
• Blood pressure and dizziness. Short holds, come up slowly with a hand on something. The reasoning is on yoga for high blood pressure.
• Pregnancy. The supported squat on a stool, holding a chair, is standard prenatal practice, and it is worth discussing with your doctor or midwife first, particularly with any history of pelvic instability.

If you want somebody to work out whether your ankles or your hips are the obstacle, that is a two minute job from the outside. Come to a class and be looked at, or start with a first class, and you will leave knowing which prop is yours.