Step by Step: |
| Sit with
your knees bent, feet on floor, hands behind you, fingers pointing towards the feet. |
| Lengthen
the spine, draw the belly in and widen the collar bones to open the chest. |
| Lean
back on the tripod between sitbones and sacrum and lift your feet off the floor, bringing the shins level with the floor. |
| Maintaining
the lift through the spine and keep the chest open, arms extend to the front parallel to the floor. |
| When possible straighten the legs out, still keeping the lift through the spine. |
| Stay for 2-5 breaths, work up to 10 breaths. |
| Beginners Tips: |
| You can
prepare for this pose on a chair. Sit on the edge of a chair, knees at right angles. Hold onto the sides of the seat and lean forward a little. Firm your arms, lifting your buttocks of the seat slightly. Raise your heels off the floor. Let your body feel the pull of gravity but dont forget to keep your chest open and relaxed! |
| For the
full boat pose you can start with a strap around the soles of your feet to help straighten your legs. You can also hold the pose for longer with this support. |
| Benefits : |
| Improves core strength |
| Strengthens the hip flexors and spine |
| Helps to relieve stress |
| Stimulates digestion |
| Watch out for.... |
| If you
have neck issues/injury, perform this pose with your back near a wall . When you tilt your torso rest the back of your head against the wall. |
| If you
suffer from lower back problems/weak core you should follow the beginners tip until you feel strong enough to do the boat pose. Start with variation 1 - where your legs are bent at right angles. |
| It's best to avoid strong core work when you are pregnant. |
| Advance pose alterations |
| Full
Boat is often presented as an abdominal strengthener, which it is to a certain extent. But more importantly this pose strengthens the deep hip flexors that attach the inner thigh bones to the front of the spine. Learn to anchor the heads of the thighs bones deep in the pelvis and lift from that anchor through the front spine. Remember that the lower front belly should never get hard. |
