I believe that the chair is the demise of the human body, and I’m not alone in this school of thought. It is a known fact that in most parts of the world where most people spend many hours of every day in this position, they have a lot less hip problems, knee problems, and back problems, as well as digestive problems.

So first thing in the morning, maybe not possible, maybe not possible for a few years without some help, but getting yourself more and more comfortable in a deep squat is a really worthy cause. So this is where yoga props can really come in handy.

This yoga posture is actually called Malasana, and I call this the Malasana Lazy Boy because it makes Malasana super easy and accessible for most people. If you’re tall, you could even get three yoga blocks.

Now, the great thing about sitting on the blocks is that you can move your legs around, and you have freedom, as opposed to without them where you’re just stuck in whatever position you went down in.

So over time with practice, you may work your feet towards parallel, but in the beginning without the blocks, most people have to turn out quite a bit. If you struggle with keeping your heels on the ground, you can roll up a mat and put them underneath, but it is wonderful for you on a regular basis to come into a deep squat position.

You can come down and bring your elbows on the insides of your knees and put your hands in prayer posts. You could also lean in on one side and press a knee away. You can get all kinds of creative motions going where you turn and reach and stretch and take your time and going from side to side.

The benefit is coming from the deep crease in your hips, the deep bend in the knees, and the opening that comes into the lower back and the pelvic floor in this position. With practice over time, you might find yourself going down to one block, and then even from this position, you could practice lifting off the block for a moment and coming back And if you feel that your feet have to turn out, let them turn out.

If you feel like your heels have to lift to get you in the air, that’s no big deal either. Remember, you can always roll up a mat under your heels to give you a lift if you want to practice the pose without the blocks.

If all of this seems way too challenging for you, just sit on a chair and bring your arms on. So if you were sitting like this, bring your arms down to the floor to give your body the feeling of your thigh bone getting close to the side of your ribs.

There are all sorts of benefits to this. It really helps to open up your digestive system, the pelvic floor, stretch everything from here down, and has a very healing effect on you. So take the time to figure out where you are in your deep squat and work on it regularly.