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  • Home
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    • My Yoga Journey
    • About Me
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How to do Boat Pose – Navasana

June 3, 2020 //  by Di Hickman//  20 Comments

In my email newsletter yesterday I mentioned that this week I’ve been suffering with insomnia. Honestly, I don’t know why, except each time my brain has brimming with creative ideas. My brain is on overdrive, and sometimes you just have to ride the waves of creativity. In this post I want to share how to do Boat Pose, Navasana.

How to do boat pose. Step-by-step tutorial for navasana

While my brain is on high gear my hours in the day remain the same. So I’ve been trying to film a video every time I’m in my yoga room for a virtual class, or my own practice. Enjoy this video demonstration on how to do boat pose.

As always you can view here on my website, or on YouTube. If you head to YouTube don’t forget to subscribe to my channel, and leave me a like/comment! As I mentioned, I’m creating lots more content.

How to do Boat Pose – Navasana

While classified as a seated pose, it also has a balance challenge. And, lots of core strength if done in a way to target the abdominals. So, begin in a seated position with the knees bent, feet hip distance apart. I prefer to teach this with the hands under the thighs to begin.

yoga teacher seated on mat

Draw the navel to the spine, allowing a slight tuck of the tailbone. From the hip, lean the torso back lengthening the arms a little. Feel the feet get light. Tip back enough that the feet want to counterbalance the torso and lift away from the floor. Keep the knees bent.

yoga teacher in boat pose with knees bent and hands behind thighs

The torso and thighs should form a “V”. This is supposed to represent the bottom of a boat. You have options here to keep the knees bent, or extend the legs for a more challenging variation.

yoga teacher in boat pose with legs extended supported with the hands under the thighs

If you extend the legs, the toes should approximately be at eye level. Harder still you can reach the arms forward. Of course there are MANY variations on boat pose but these are the main progressions.

yoga teacher performing boat pose with both arms and legs extended

Key Points for navasana

  • Sit slightly back on your pelvis, tailbone ever so slightly tucked
  • Draw the navel into the spine
  • Use padding under your tush if you need to!
  • Hold onto thighs, knees bent
  • Intermediate – lengthen legs
  • Advanced – long legs, and reach arms

Ow, my bum!

The most common thing I hear in this pose is “my bum hurts!”. Well, some of us got more junk in our trunk than others. If you feel you need some cush for the tush, then get a folded blanket!

yoga teacher sitting on yoga mat

Honestly, I use a blanket in every yoga practice. While a hard floor is beneficial in balance poses like Warrior 3, it can be a little too firm for the sit bones in Boat Pose.

Should I arch my back?

The second most common question I get is “where should my back be?”. Well, that depends on what you want to work. Want more hip flexor and quad? Arch your back a little. If you want more core/abs then you need that slight tuck of the tailbone and the back to have a bias to flatten/rounding. Think about curling the pubic bone to the chin. This can be shown and experienced more easily in dandasana.

yoga teacher sitting in dandasana with back arched vs 'flat'

In the images above and below, on the left my back is arched. This causes one half of my boat to bow. Belly comes forward. And it’s harder to balance in boat this way! On the right my spine is still long, but my abdominal muscles are working to stabilize!

yoga teacher in boat pose with back arched vs rounded

One is not right or wrong, they just serve different purposes. There is never a right or wrong, it all depends on what you want to work. And what YOU are working with in your body. However, the bottom line is for the abs to engage fully tuck the public bone up to the navel a little.

Questions

  • Do you practice boat pose? Do you like it?
  • What variation of boat pose is your favorite?
  • Would you like more explanations “behind the pose”
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristine Nicole Alessandra

    June 4, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    Oh my, you are so good with those poses. I could never make my body cooperate and get into that pose. If and when I decide to try yoga again, I will refer to your blog for tips. I have it bookmarked in my “health and wellness” folder already.

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:26 am

      That’s awesome! Remember I have videos on YouTube also!

      Reply
  2. Claudia Blanton

    June 4, 2020 at 3:15 pm

    that is an interesting pose! I would need that blanket under me though, lol. Blessings!

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:26 am

      Same! I hate it without the blanket!

      Reply
  3. Lori Bosworth

    June 4, 2020 at 10:02 am

    I can usually do the boat pose at my yoga class. Thanks for the detailed steps on how to do this pose.

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:26 am

      Awesome! You’re welcome!

      Reply
  4. nina

    June 4, 2020 at 8:46 am

    wow, that looks like a challenging pose, a lot of practice and dedication to achieve it

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:25 am

      It is a challenging pose for sure!

      Reply
  5. MELANIE EDJOURIAN

    June 4, 2020 at 8:13 am

    This is one of the few poses I ca do. It’s good to see that I am doing it correctly. Good to know back arching is optional.

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:25 am

      It’s optional, but not really optimal 😉

      Reply
  6. Kiara

    June 4, 2020 at 7:40 am

    It’s always interesting when I have to find my center of balance while holding my legs up. But I will have to definitely try this out.

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:25 am

      New post with ways to work towards this!

      Reply
  7. Charlotte Petit Noble

    June 4, 2020 at 7:31 am

    Such a challenging pose. All about strength and balance. I was so happy when I finally place my body the right way. It felt really rewarding. I still have days though when it seems like my body can’t process the pose. Your post is really helpful.

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:24 am

      Every time we get on the mat it’s a whole new practice!

      Reply
  8. CA

    June 4, 2020 at 5:14 am

    You can definitely make a difficult pose look so easy! I love the way that you give instructions. I think I’d love to be in your classes.

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:24 am

      I have videos! And I teach 3 online classes a week!

      Reply
  9. bethan taylor-swaine

    June 4, 2020 at 2:45 am

    This is so useful, thank you for sharing! I have to admit I find boat really hard, I crunched my back a little while ago and have found anything that requires core engagement much more difficult. I’ve been working on building strength back up, but it’s taking awhile!

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:23 am

      Work slowly. I did a post today about progressions, but I’d start with making sure you have good core stability first

      Reply
  10. Laurence

    June 3, 2020 at 6:26 pm

    this is kinda hard, I’m doing this sometimes for my abs, but I don’t hast that long. I need to have a good balance and endurance I guess to be able to lift my legs that long.

    Reply
    • Di Hickman

      June 9, 2020 at 10:21 am

      I just put up a new post on exercises working towards lifting and straightening the legs.

      Reply

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Hi, I’m Di. A yoga teacher with over 20 years experience in the health and wellness industry. My mission is to give you information so you can be fitter, healthier, stress-free and happier (no, seriously).

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