Navasana: Modify Your Boat Pose

A powerful core is important to so many facets of our each day lives. Tending to our core muscle tissues—the abdominals and again muscle tissues—is core (so to talk) to our yoga asana observe. Yoga’s most iconic belly strengthener, Boat Pose (Navasana), might be extraordinarily difficult, and infrequently contraindicated for folks simply beginning out in asana observe. For that motive, a modified model of Navasana might be an effective way to wade into core strengthening.

Advantages of Core Strengthening

Listed here are a few of the advantages of strengthening your core:

• Promotes wholesome posture
• Improves steadiness and coordination
• Stabilizes the physique, in order that accidents reminiscent of sprains and strains are much less seemingly
• Reduces again ache
• Promotes deeper respiratory
• Makes on a regular basis actions reminiscent of lifting, rising up from the ground extra easy

Once we consider the core, our minds usually go proper to the abdominals. Nonetheless, our again muscle tissues are additionally important gamers in core power. Whereas Navasana is especially an abdominal-strengthening pose, it additionally has a secondary good thing about strengthening the again muscle tissues as effectively. As well as, as a balancing pose, it helps us construct our balancing expertise.

Why Modify Navasana?

Not like the photograph on the prime of this publish, the standard type of Navasana is practiced with straight legs. This model of the pose poses a number of challenges. First, straightening the legs in Navasana requires stretchy hamstrings. A practitioner with tight hamstrings will invariably should flex their lumbar backbone to an excessive. Second, the additional leverage straight legs exert on the physique could cause pressure.

The third problem applies largely to males. The middle of gravity for a feminine physique is decrease than it’s for a male physique. For most ladies, the middle of gravity is within the pelvis; for males it’s within the low again. Which means the leverage straight legs exert on the physique will make it actually tough for males to seek out stability in Navasana, particularly if it’s coupled with tight hamstrings.

A pair paragraphs in the past, I discussed lumbar spinal flexion (convex curve) in Navasana. Whereas it’s not wholesome to flex the backbone to an excessive in Navasana, somewhat little bit of flexion, in order that the lumbar backbone is straight, is okay. In actual fact, that small little bit of flexion will allow the abdominals to interact a bit greater than if we’re making an attempt to keep up our lumbar (concave) curve. In an effort to keep a concave curve, we have now to steadiness on the entrance edges of our ischial tuberosities (aka “sitting bones”). Have you ever ever tried that? In my expertise, it’s by no means conducive to balancing.

The way to Observe Navasana

1. Collect your props: a Yoga Mat is all that’s obligatory.
2. Begin in a seated place within the heart of your mat.
3. Bend your knees and place the soles of your toes in your mat.
4. Place your palms behind you on the ground in order that your torso leans again at a diagonal.
5. Together with your palms nonetheless on the ground, raise your legs. Bend your knees in order that your shins are parallel to the ground. Your weight needs to be in your glutes. Keep away from making an attempt to balancing on the ahead fringe of your ischial tuberosities.
6. Take a breath or two on this place. This pose could be a useful prelude to training Navasana. It engages the abdominals with out producing any again pressure.
7. For those who really feel prepared, raise your arms up and prolong them straight ahead at shoulder stage. Your palms can face your legs, or face up or down, relying on what feels finest for you.
8. Take 3 to five, or extra, deep breaths right here.
9. Then launch the pose and relaxation along with your toes on the ground, palms behind you on the ground. Repeat should you like.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and commenced instructing in 1986. Charlotte is the writer of Aware Yoga, Aware Life: A Information for On a regular basis Observe and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third e book is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Pink Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards.