Boat (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