- Category
- Seated
- Level
- intermediate
- Hold
- 5–10 breaths, repeated 2–3 times
- Type
- Asana
- Breath
- Steady breathing — resist the urge to hold your breath
Boat Pose
Paripurna Navasana — "complete boat posture"
Balance on your sitting bones with legs and chest lifted into a V. Boat is honest, hard core work — a bent-knee version with a lifted chest beats straight legs with a collapsed back every time.
Step by step
- 1Sit with your knees bent and feet flat, hands behind your thighs.
- 2Lean back slightly until you balance just behind your sitting bones, chest lifted.
- 3Lift your feet until your shins are parallel to the floor.
- 4If your back stays long, straighten your legs so your body forms a V.
- 5Reach your arms forward alongside your legs, palms facing in.
- 6Keep your chest broad and your gaze at your toes, breathing steadily.
- 7Lower your feet with control to finish.
Benefits
- ✓ Strengthens the abdominals, hip flexors, and muscles along the spine
- ✓ Trains balance on the sitting bones
- ✓ Builds the core support used in arm balances and transitions
- ✓ Teaches you to keep the chest lifted under effort
Make it yours
- · Hold the backs of your thighs throughout.
- · Keep shins parallel to the floor (half boat) instead of straightening the legs.
- · Loop a strap around the soles of your feet and hold an end in each hand with legs straight.
Take care
- Keep the knees bent or the feet on the floor if your lower back rounds or aches.
- Take rests as needed rather than shaking through a long hold.
This is general practice guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts, ease out of it.
Practiced in
Props that help here
- Cork blocks (set of 2) — Bring the floor closer in lunges, folds, and triangle — and a block between the shoulder blades turns a backbend into something you can hold. find one
- 8-foot cotton strap — Extends your reach in hamstring and shoulder work — the honest substitute for grabbing a foot you can't yet reach. Get 8ft, not 6ft. find one
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