Garbha Pindasana

The Garbha Pindasana is a position in yoga, known as the 'fetus' or 'embryo in the womb' pose. To translate the phrase from Sanskrit, Garbha means womb, whereas Pinda means embryo.

From the pictures I have seen, and from attempting to get into this position myself, I can say that this isn't for you if your flexibility is questionable. These instructions thus come with a couple of prerequisites and warnings.

1. Your ability to assume the Lotus Position is absolutely required.
2. Stretch before you try anything new. I mean it. Nothing about a pulled muscle is fun, especially down there.
3. This is probably best done not too soon after a meal, as you will be pulling every part of your being pretty darn close together.
4. Don't hurt yourself. If you feel yourself straining, stop immediately and reevaluate why in the world you want to look like a human-sized pretzel.

With that all taken care of, the first thing you need to do is get into the Lotus Position. Now, take a look at your legs: For each leg, you have a small space which is created between the calf and thigh of one leg, and the foot of the other. You will need to put each of your arms through one of these spaces. That done, bring your arms through to the elbow, and bend your arms such that your hands are reaching your ears. This will bring your lower body to the point where it is, for all intents and purposes, vertical, as the rest of your body originally was. You may or may not find it hard to balance at this point. You will probably also find it rather difficult to take more than shallow breaths. In any case, as soon as the novelty of this has all worn out, CAREFULLY undo yourself, and give yourself a pat on the back.

The book Yoga Mala apparently states that 'This asana dissolves the fat of the lower abdomen, purifies the manipura, or third, chakra, and wards off diseases of the liver and spleen.' Another source says that rocking back and forth, with your body revolving in a clockwise manner, 'massages the spine, helps build abdominal strength and works the small muscles in your lower back.' I didn't get remotely close to performing this position, nor am I even a practitioner of Yoga, so these claims are placed here as information only, with that disclaimer.