The Boat
- Focus: Hip Flexors
- Level: Intermediate
- Total Time: 10 to 20 seconds plus
- Indications: energizes thyroid, prostate, kidneys
- Contraindications: asthma, low blood pressure, headache, diarrhea, insomnia, pregnancy, modification for neck injury
The Boat
Note:
The boat builds strength in your hip flexors as well as your spine and abdomen while energizing internal organs that include your intestines, thyroid gland, prostate gland, and kidneys. Those with asthma, heart problems or low blood pressure should avoid this pose, as should those with a headache, diarrhea, or sleeplessness. Women who are pregnant or who are experiencing menstruation should avoid it as well. If you have a neck injury, you should sit in front of a chair or wall so that you can support your head when you lean back.
Pose Instruction
- Begin by sitting on the ground with your legs stretched out in front of you.
- Place your hands on the ground slightly behind your hips, with your fingers pointing forward, and press them into the ground. Arch your chest and slightly lean your body backward. Keep your spine straight as you do this.
- Sit tall. Focus on elongating the front of your body between your pubis and the top of your chest. Sit on top of your sitting bones and over your tailbone.
- Breathe out and bend your knees, with your feet on the ground at first.
- Arch your chest and slightly lean your body backward. Keep your spine straight and tall.
- Keeping your chest tall and your spine straight, walk your feet on your tippy-toes, bringing them closer to your hips. This will naturally mean you lean slightly back to keep your balance.
- Raise first one foot off the ground and then the other. Don’t worry about straightening your legs at this point. Experiment with this until you are comfortable enough with this to have both feet off the ground at the same time.
- The boat allows you much freedom of positioning. While you are experimenting with your balance, don’t forget to activate your feet. You can point your toes or flex your feet. This is a particularly good position in which to practice spreading each toe out and stretching them all apart.
- Resist the natural tendency to hunch your back; keep your spine straight, your neck continuing the line of your backbone up through the top of your head.
- As you gain confidence in balancing, straight-backed, with both legs off the ground, begin to experiment with straightening your legs. Eventually you want to be able to balance on your hips with both legs straight in the air, at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Elongate your tailbone downward and raise your pubis toward your belly button. If you can, straighten your knees by raising the tips of your toes above eye level.
- When you are comfortably balanced, extend your arms to the side and separate your shoulder blades, reaching outward through the tips of your fingers. Keep your lower stomach firm and flat. Anchor yourself into the ground by pressing the tops of your thighs downward while lifting the top of your chest even further.
- Continue to breathe steadily. Keep your neck straight and long, an extension out of the top of your spine. Your chin should feel slightly tucked down but your jaw should feel loose.
- Start off easy with this pose. Gradually work your way up until you can sustain this pose for a minute at a time.
- To release yourself from this position, breathe out and bend your legs, lowering your feet to the ground. Breathe in and return to the starting position.
Disclaimer
In this article, I have shared The Boat : Yoga For The Hips. The information included in this Blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed.
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