Hello Friends! I am all about making exercise accessible. Because at the end of the day, the best exercise is anything you will do consistently. Yoga has so many benefits, but there is also a pretty decent learning curve. Boat pose is one of those asanas that looks intimidating but doesn’t have to be.

I teach a yoga course for a local university as part of the general education offerings. I love teaching this course because I get to really break asanas down for the students in ways that they typically won’t see in a studio. One of the first things that I tell them is to forget the pictures and videos they often see, especially on social media. Group pictures are cast to have models with similar body dimensions, which means poses look similar. Creators are going to show you the most difficult version of the pose that they can complete because it looks cool.

All this to say, boat pose is one of those yoga asanas that really falls victim to this kind of idealization. In fact, I purposely am choosing not to show the most difficult variation of Boat in this post because a simple Google search shows mostly that. (In case you don’t want to Google, both arms and legs are extended up and out.) And it is far from the most accessible version.

Boat pose, at its core, is a challenging abdominal exercise. The goal is to stabilize both the torso and legs off the ground while balancing on your tailbone. When practiced correctly, this pose builds core strength like almost nothing else. It also supports posture and balance.

The catch is practicing correctly, though. Stabilizing both the torso and the legs with such a small part of the body in contact with the ground is very difficult. You are asking your core to basically take your entire body weight and hold it against gravity. And unlike a plank, you’re in a unnatural orientation.

I’ve taught this pose to tons of beginners and I work from table top shins with the arms extended in line with the legs. This is still a pretty challenging position, but the arms and legs stay closer to the torso and the floor which helps stability. This orientation also works as a great base to take things down if needed without large motion in the limbs to throw off balance. You can also kick things up a notch from here.

To enter the base pose, start by sitting squarely on the floor with your legs extended straight in front of you. Lengthen the spine by stretching the crown of your head up towards the ceiling. On an exhale place your hands palms down next to your hips. Inhale and lift the legs so your shins are parallel with the floor while also hinging back slightly so your hips stay at 90 degrees. You’ll need to pull your belly button towards your spine to stabilize your torso. Keeping the length in your spine, lift the arms to parallel with the floor and along your shins.

If you’ve done this correctly, you should be balanced on your tailbone. And it’s a tricky balance. This is called boat pose because you look like a boat on the water. You’ll rock back and forth a bit, too. From someone who gets motion sick on a boat every time, it’s not too bad, though.

The biggest mistake that most people make is curling their spine in like during a crunch or sit up. That’s the tendency as soon as your body wants to rock. Additionally, Boat takes a ton of core strength, which most of us lack. Curling in towards the knees brings the torso closer to the base of support, taking stress of the abdominals and making the balance part of this easier. But you need to fight this impulse.

If you don’t have the core strength (which is okay, that’s why we are practicing this pose in the first place) you have a couple of options. You can curl your palms around your legs so they rest on your hamstrings. As long as you keep the length in your spine, sometimes, just resting your hands on your body is enough. If it’s not, you can leave your palms on the floor next to your hips. That will create a larger base aiding in stability while allowing you to keep the spine extended. You can also drop your heels to the floor. This will work as a kick stand to keep you from rocking back and forth.

This pose can be intense on the tailbone. Feel free to start by placing a folded towel or blanket under your hips before you start. Practicing this pose on a softer surface like carpet, grass, or sand can also help alleviate that pressure. And you can also create the the heels down option from the end of a chair, which will have shift the pressure to the butt and hamstrings.

If you want to take this pose to a more challenging version, you can extend your arms and legs further. I usually advocate for starting with the upper body. You’ll extend your arms in line with your torso. I won’t bore you with the physics of this, but suffice it to say that as the majority of your upper body weight is already on this angle, adding the small amount from your arms will be less overwhelming.

If you want to go the full beat, you’ll also extend your legs by straightening your knees. Your body will end up in a V shape balanced on your tailbone. Keep in mind your legs are a large portion of your body weight and you’ll be lifting against gravity. And then trying to hold. Attempt this version only if you are confident in your core strength.

I love Boat pose for its versatility and ability to build wicked core strength. Drop any questions in the comments and until next time, move well friends!

0