Child's Pose · Crocodile or a gentle knees-to-chest to release the back
How to do it
Come as you are. Begin on your hands and knees in tabletop, knees under hips.
Keep your hips right over your knees, and walk your hands forward, letting your chest melt down toward the floor.
Rest your forehead or your chin on the mat — whichever lets your neck stay soft — and let your armpits and heart sink toward the earth.
Because your hips stay over your knees, the stretch stays in the upper back and shoulders and off the lower back.
For more support, rest your forehead on a block or lay your chest over a bolster. For less, keep your hands a little closer in.
Breathe into the space between your shoulder blades, and let each exhale soften you a little lower.
Why practise it
Opens the chest, shoulders and upper back — a lovely antidote to hours rounded forward over a desk or phone.
Gently lengthens the spine, decompressing between the shoulder blades while the lower back stays supported by the hips.
A soft, heart-opening shape that encourages fuller, easier breathing without the intensity of a deep backbend.
Keeping the hips stacked over the knees makes it gentler on the lower back than its deeper cousin, Melting Heart.
Take care
This is a gentler shape than Melting Heart — if you want more opening through the chest, walk the hips forward of the knees, but expect more sensation in the lower back.
Shoulder injuries: keep the arms a little wider and don't force the chest down; let it descend only as far as is comfortable.
How far the chest melts toward the floor depends on your own shoulders and upper back — it varies a lot from body to body. Let the shape find its own depth rather than measuring it against anyone else's; rest on a bolster or block wherever you land.
Support a stiff neck by resting the forehead on a block rather than reaching the chin to the floor.
Coming in & out
Into the pose
From tabletop (hands and knees) — walk the hands forward
From Child's Pose — lift the hips up over the knees and reach the arms long
Out of the pose
Press back into Child's Pose to rest the shoulders and rebalance.
Or lower all the way down onto the belly into Crocodile.
Common questions
What's the difference between Puppy Pose and Melting Heart?
They're close cousins. In Puppy Pose the hips stay stacked over the knees, so the stretch stays in the upper back and shoulders and stays gentle on the lower back. In Melting Heart the hips travel forward of the knees for a deeper chest and heart opening — and more work for the lower back. Puppy is the softer, more accessible option.
What does Puppy Pose stretch?
Mainly the shoulders, chest and upper back, with a gentle lengthening through the spine. It's a wonderful release for anyone who spends the day hunched over a screen.
Is Puppy Pose good for beginners?
Yes — it's very accessible. Rest your forehead on the mat or a block, lay your chest over a bolster if you'd like support, and only sink as far as feels good. Nothing here should be forced.
Puppy Pose is one shape among many. When you'd like to put a whole sequence together into one long, slow practice, pop your email in and I'll send you my free two-hour Yin, restorative and Yoga Nidra retreat. Yours to keep.
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