Category: Balancing
Level: intermediate
Hold: Up to 60 seconds per side (build up gradually)
Type: Asana
Breath: Keep the breath moving — the pose is strenuous and it is easy to hold your breath without noticing.

Standing Bow Pose

Dandayamana Dhanurasana — "standing bow posture"

Also known as: Standing Bow-Pulling Pose

Grip one foot from the inside, stretch the other arm high, then kick back hard while the body tips forward — a moving counterbalance between kick and reach. Falling out and stepping back in is a normal part of practicing it.

Step by step

1Stand tall and bring your right heel toward your seat.
2Grip the inside of your right foot with your right hand, palm facing outward, all five fingers together around the ankle.
3Stretch your left arm straight up beside your ear, and fix your gaze on one point ahead.
4Kick your right leg back and up into your hand — steadily, not in bursts.
5As the kick grows, let your body tip forward until your left arm and torso move toward parallel with the floor.
6Keep the kick and the forward reach growing together; the kick is what holds you up.
7Come out with the same control you went in with, and repeat on the other side.

Benefits

✓ Deeply stretches the shoulders, chest, and front of the lifted hip and thigh
✓ Strengthens the standing leg through a long, demanding hold
✓ Improves balance under changing load — the kick keeps shifting the equation
✓ Develops the spine's backbend evenly, driven by the leg rather than the arms

Make it yours

· Keep the torso upright and work only on the grip and a gentle kick.
· Loop a strap around the lifted ankle if the hand does not reach comfortably.
· Rest the free hand on a wall or chair back and practice the kick without the balance demand.

Take care

If you have balance issues, practice the grip and a small kick near a wall.
Take care with shoulder, knee, or lower-back injuries — keep the kick small and the torso upright.
If the inside grip bothers your shoulder, hold the ankle whichever way is comfortable and work the same action.

This is general practice guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts, ease out of it.

Practiced in

Hot 26 — as “Standing Bow Pose (Dandayamana Dhanurasana)” (#7)

Props that help here

Manduka PRO — The buy-it-once option — dense, stable, famously durable. Heavy, so it lives at home, which is where practice happens anyway. find one
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

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