Feeling scattered and need to ground?
Need to release low back tension or strain?
Want to feel safe, steady and powerful?

Strengthen and Stabilize with Tabletop Pose!

Tabletop pose is a foundational yoga pose perfect for both children and adults. It strengthens the muscles of the arms and shoulders while also firing up the abdominals. It may look simple but there is actually a lot going on in a tabletop yoga pose.

The weight-bearing on our hands also gives our fingers and wrists a work-out which can help counteract the effects of nearly constant texting and scrolling on small devices. Let’s try tabletop pose together!

The Benefits of Tabletop Pose for Kids

Tabletop is one of the first movements young children naturally make when they are learning to crawl, stand and eventually walk. As one of the foundational poses for child development, it feels tremendously grounding and stabilizing for all ages.

Tabletop pose frees our torso to move easily in many directions and is often paired with a Cat and Cow Pose sequence to lengthen and strengthen the spine.

Extend a leg, an arm or both while in tabletop pose to test your balance and increase core strengthening. Remember to keep those hips level to really fire up the core. Try tabletop yoga pose with Lauren and growl like a Jungle Cat!

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How To: Tabletop Pose

Come to hands and knees
Hands shoulder-width apart with wrists, elbows and shoulders in one line
Keep the creases of your wrists parallel to the front of the mat
Bring hips over knees, with knees hip-width apart
Point toes straight back
Keep hips and shoulders level and both sides of the waist long.
Press through pads of the fingers and distribute weight evenly between both hands.
Press the floor away to firm the abdominals, extend chest forward and broaden across the shoulders.
Lengthen crown of the head forward keeping neck long and gaze toward the floor.
Stay for 5-10 breaths

Tips for Mastering Tabletop Yoga Pose

Press the floor away to engage the core. To take it up a notch, imagine your knees are glued to the floor and then pretend to lift one at a time without shifting your weight or actually lifting the knee. You might feel a tightening in the belly like an interior corset…this is your transverse abdominals working!
Keep hips and shoulders level to the floor to target the correct muscles. Practice with a mirror or a friend to check your alignment.
Keep space in the joints by pressing and lifting away from the floor. Notice if you are sinking into your shoulders or locking out the elbows. If you are, micro-bend the elbows and then press the floor away with your hands to lengthen using strength. Draw your shoulders back and away from the ears.
Relax your jaw, face, and neck as much as possible…this trains your body to focus and concentrate without adding extra tension.
Practice breathing exercises in this pose – Ocean breathing (also called Ujjayi) is especially helpful for maintaining the core engagement.

Invite us to teach Tabletop Pose in your classroom

Kid-friendly Tabletop Pose Variations

Tabletop can be used to make so many different animals in a children’s yoga class…tigers, sheep, bears and really anything that walks on four legs is a wonderful excuse to practice this pose! It also combines well into a sequence with other foundational yoga poses like Downward Dog, Cobra and Child’s Pose.

Invite children to turn themselves into a hunting lion on the prowl, crawling slowly through the grasslands extending one arm and opposite leg combo and then the other. This cross-body movement stimulates right-left brain connection and promotes literacy and learning!

Once you have crawled several “miles” take a rest in child’s pose. Sing along with our Sleepy Lion to move from Child’s Pose into Cobra a few times and then practice your lion prowling crawl once again.

More Animal Yoga Poses

Once children feel confident and steady with the arm and leg extension, you can encourage them to build even more core strength by rounding the spine, curling inward and tapping the elbow with the opposite knee.

Extend and curl 5 times on each side while keeping shoulders and hips level…phew, that’s a tricky one! After a few rounds on each side, take a nice stretch in a modified tabletop side plank.

More Kids Yoga Videos: Reverse Tabletop Pose & Fierce Pose

Want more core strengthening? Switch things up with Reverse Tabletop Pose. Grab a partner and try this fun variation combining Reverse Tabletop and Fierce Pose to make a picnic table and chairs!

Finding ways to practice yoga together is always great to promote social emotional learning and teamwork.

Before and after a long Tabletop pose practice, it will feel really good to stretch your wrists and hands. Extend your arms forward and circle the hands in both directions, then shake the hands out, and open and close the fingers several times.

Press palms together, crossing fingers into a fist and then with forearms touching, circle through the wrists again.