Boat Pose (Navasana)

Type: Seated pose
Level: Intermediate

Steps:
Sit straight with legs bent and hands behind your head. Raise the half bent legs with the shins parallel to the floor and then straighten them out, keeping the angle between the legs and floor at 45 degrees. Keep the back straight.

Props & Assistance:
If difficult to straighten the raised legs, bend your knees and loop a strap around the soles of your feet, gripping it firmly in your hands. Inhale, lean the torso back, then exhale and lift and straighten your legs, adjusting the strap to keep it taut. Push the feet against the strap.

Preparatory poses:
•Downward dog
•Standing forward bend

Follow up poses:
•Downward dog
•Bound angle
•Plow
•Headstand
•Chair

Benefits:
•Strengthens the abdomen, hip flexors, and spine
•Stimulates the kidneys, thyroid and prostate glands, and intestines
•Helps relieve stress
•Improves digestion

Caution/Avoid:
•Asthma
•Diarrhea
•Headache
•Heart Problems
•Insomnia
•Low blood pressure
•Menstruation
•Pregnancy
•Neck injury: Rest your back and head against a wall
•If you are thinking of starting yoga and have a medical condition, it is advisable to check with your doctor.

Sarah Williams is a Qualified Yoga Teacher based in London with an online presence @sarahlucyyoga on Instagram and Facebook. She also blogs about yoga and health & wellbeing topics on her website. Sarah’s focus is Vinyasa Flow, Hatha and Ashtanga styles of yoga and she completed part of her yoga teacher training in India.
As well as being a yoga teacher Sarah is also a Chartered Accountant. She fell in love with yoga as it was a release from the office, it taught her to value her health and improved the attitude she had towards life and herself. As a teacher she is able to pass on the benefits of yoga to her students and finds the job incredibly rewarding.

She has completed her 300 hr advanced teacher training from Sampoorna Yoga Goa in January-February 2019. If interested in Yoga Teacher Training please browse our Teacher Training page

YOGA ALLIANCE REGISTERED YOGA TEACHER TRAINING COURSES

Sampoorna Yoga Teacher Training School has been a registered international yoga school with Yoga Alliance, holding RYS-200, RYS-300, RYS-500, and YACEP designations since 2009. Its online and in-person Yoga Teacher Training Courses and Certifications are recognized and accepted worldwide, enabling all graduates to teach globally. Upon course completion, participants receive a 200-Hour, 300-Hour, or 50-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification, allowing registration as RYTs (Registered Yoga Teachers) with Yoga Alliance. Our Yoga Teacher Training Certificate Courses empower you to teach legally in any country, whether you choose to register with Yoga Alliance registration or not.