Row Row Row Your Boat - Navasana

Hi and Welcome to your Journey into Yoga! I’m Avery Rich and am so happy to have you along for the ride :)  

As we journey into our 10th episode, you may have started to notice some interesting things about yoga postures - many of them have fascinating or unusual names!  Many “animals” have made appearances;  we have stumbled upon some interesting sanskrit names that are hard to pronounce (but even harder to say 3 times fast in a row) - well, todays pose is no exception to this trend…

introducing NAVASANA or boat pose!

Now before I dive into Boat pose (pun intended), I think I need to be up front - this pose is different…unlike the postures we have worked with up until now - is the suspense killing you?

Ok, the great reveal! Boat pose is a core strengthener.  And let me be clear because we are talking about the core in the context of the yoga world:  I don’t mean the core of our souls…I mean the physical core - the abdominal muscles.  If you already knew what I meant and didn’t need that extra explanation, thank you for indulging me :)

We look at the core a little bit differently in yoga, at least from my perspective.  Strengthening our cores is not a foreign concept in many different exercise programs.  - However, I want you to try and think of boat pose as not just a core strengthener, but rather, as a conduit to help you on your yoga journey.  Think of it as a piece of your yoga puzzle that will help and assist you in moving into many other yoga poses.  

In yoga, we shy away from focussing on core strengtheners as a quick attempt to get those ‘abs of steel’core, rather, we try and play the long game - think of strengthening the deep layers of muscles that make up our cores, and think of how this gradual strengthening can help with balance, posture, muscle strength and general physical health.  

{other voice - so wait, are you telling me that yoga is an ab workout??? Im confused}

Let me try and put this as simply as I can - Do many yoga postures help to strengthen the abdominal muscles? Yes…but is this yoga’s main objective? hardly…In yoga, a strong core is a vehicle to help with other postures and also a way to create health and wellness in the entire body.  Is there often a side benefit of a more toned abdominal area? Yes! But we consider this an added bonus rather then the end goal.

for one, the core muscles assist ups with other yoga postures, such as standing or balancing poses;

also, a strong core helps to create a healthy back body, something that becomes very important especially as we age.  

So, even though our posture today may challenge our abdominal muscles, think of it as a body strengthener to encourage total body health and well    ness.

So, enough said - Lets begin!

So today we will begin seated - you will want to have your legs bent and feet out in front of you with a slight lean back - bring your hands by your hips - your fingers can point in a direction that is comfortable for your wrists  Now, supporting yourself by pressing into your hands, lean back slightly and start to bring your feet up off of the mat, keeping your legs bent with your calves somewhat parallel to the floor (although this doesn’t have to be exact).  If you feel like you are a teeter totter then you are doing it right - we have our hands for balance so  first concentrate on keeping your feet up and supporting yourself with your hands.  Now, you will be balancing onto your sit bones - if you feel secure, you can lift your hands up away from the ground and extend your arms up beside your legs - steady as she goes! it requires concentration and focus to stay balanced!  You are welcome to pause anywhere along the way - maybe your pause was with your hands into the ground - maybe your pause is with your arms extended up by your legs - now if you feel steady and want to move on - try extending your legs straight

{other voice saying HUH???}

Just try it! Indeed this will increase the level of difficulty - so if it doesn’t work, return to having bent legs.  

Let’s try and hold for 4 breaths –

if you have to release early, come down and rest either lying on your back or sitting.  Now, I know it’s challenging, but if you feel like trying again after you have come out go for it! Core strengtheners can bring a lot of energy to the body - but if you are one and done so be it! rest and relax in shavasana if that is a better choice for you!

Notice if the pose has created some heat! 

I thanks you for joining me on your journey into yoga and I look forward to continuing the journey next time! Until next time I hope your seas our calm