Karen Watson Reeves demonstrates Apanasana Pose at Tiny Town on Whittington Avenue. Photo by Fred Padilla.
By Karen Watson Reeves
[Contributor’s note: 2025 begins our celebration of twelve years of The Yoga Place and nearly seven years of writing for The Springs Magazine—both reasons to revel. A goal of this article each month is to feature a different yoga pose in a different location in the Spa City area.
While twelve is a relatively short time for many businesses in Hot Springs, and while I haven’t run out of locations in our beautiful area, the focus each month in 2025 will be featuring a longer than 12-year-old business (with the business owner’s permission, naturally) as the setting. I hope you enjoy our journey. Feel free to send me suggestions.]
I chose to use the Sanskrit name of this month’s featured pose – Apanasana. A couple of the English variations are: Knees to Chest Pose (for obvious reasons) and Wind-Relieving Pose (maybe for less obvious reasons, but take my word for it. . . it does help “relieve wind”, so that is a definite benefit of this pose and creates a chuckle when I use that name for the pose while instructing classes.)
Often a cue I use when teaching this pose is “make yourself tiny”, thus the choice for this month’s backdrop. And often, students share that this is a favorite pose. That’s simply because it just feels good!
But some other benefits of this posture in addition to “passing gas” include a release of tension and pain in the back and spine. As the thighs are pressed onto the abdomen, pressure falls on the lower back, thus strengthening it. As the knees are pulled towards the chest, the arms and shoulders are strengthened.
If the practitioner chooses to lift the head as illustrated in the photo, the core is engaged and strengthened. Apanasana helps improve stability, posture, and body awareness.
If you over-reveled during the holiday season, you may want to literally make yourself tinier. This pose will not accomplish that unfortunately, but a yoga practice can indeed help you shed a few pounds or inches as you become more aware of your physical body; how/when/what you eat; more movement of the body in general, whether it is a gentle stretching class or a more aerobic workout. Making ourselves smaller also has a humbling effect, so if you find yourself feeling like just too much in any sense, unroll your mat and get tiny!
{Tiny Town is located at 374 Whittington Avenue and has been in business for 62 years. It is currently closed for the season but will reopen in the spring}
Karen Watson Reeves has called Hot Springs home since 2006. Owner of The Yoga Place, at 301 Whittington Avenue, she became a registered yoga/children’s yoga teacher in 2011. When not on the mat, Karen enjoys the beautiful outdoors of the National Park, especially from her bicycle. Please find more information about her studio and her schedule of classes at www.theyogaplacehs.com.
