Boat Pose is the ultimate core strengthening exercise

Yoga magazineQ archives The series is a curated collection of articles originally published in previous issues beginning in 1975. This article on Boat Position first appeared in the July-August 1996 issue of Yoga magazine.

Boat Pose (Paripurna Navasana) is one of those poses that we all know we should practice more often…but we never do. I think it has an image problem: Often presented as a core-strengthening exercise, we assume that in order to stay afloat, we have to “work” our way through gripping the muscles that extend the abdomen between the lower anterior ribs and the anterior middle base of the pelvis, or the pubis.

But relying on these surface muscles to maintain this position will certainly sink the boat and frustrate future voyages; Instead, we must call on reinforcements from much “deeper” muscles—deeper, that is, relative to the front of the torso—that connect the lower part of the spine (lumbar) to the inner thighs, right where they meet the pelvis. These muscles, which cross the true “heart” of the body into the pelvic bowl, are the “keel” of your boat, a “truss” that secures the lift of both legs and torso by pulling their bony attachments together. If you build it, the core boost will come.

To help us approach this procedure, the line of motion we will work on is to shorten the space between the pubis and the 12th thoracic vertebra (abbreviated T12); In other words, the pubis moves up and into the torso, while T12 moves in the opposite direction, down and in toward the pubis.

Build your own boat

You will need two bath towels and perhaps a belt (you can use blankets if towels are not available). Roll each towel into a small holder, one to place under your neck and the other for your lower back.

Each should comfortably support its own spinal area and not distort the natural curves – make sure they are not too thick or too thin. For example, my rolls are about four inches in diameter.

Lie on your back with the wraps in place, knees bent, feet about hip-width apart and flat on the floor, heels a comfortable distance from the buttocks. I like to have my knees together and secure with a belt, with the thighs slightly angled inward, but you can hold the thighs parallel if you prefer.

Bring your fingertips to the navel and gently press along the midline of the abdomen until they hit a solid bone, the pubis. Explore this area with your fingers, and once you focus on the pubis, release the arms on the floor, palms up, just as in Corpse position (Savasana).

Next, move your awareness to the back torso and spine. In your imagination, trace the curves of the spine from the tail bone (coccyx) at the tip of the sacrum to the base of the skull and back again several times. Next, starting again at the tail, allow your mind to climb above the lumbar roll, and just above where your spine touches the floor, set a point for T12.

Remember, visualization is only effective if the physical body is calm, so don’t do anything: just lie on the floor (my students love this part) and let the image saturate your awareness.

Now imagine that there is a string extending between the pubis and T12: it runs from the anterior base of the pelvis diagonally up and back across the torso to the vertebra. Then string a small bead—you can choose the color and shape—on each end of the string, near each bony attachment. Watch these two beads crawl like snails along the string towards each other, although surprisingly they never meet but continue on their way slowly, forever.

You don’t, of course, need to stay in that position forever. After 10 to 20 minutes, turn to one side as you exhale and push off the floor. You may not be able to connect with this image right away, so give it a chance with daily practice. If you tend to fall asleep, lie with your legs supported on the seat of your yoga chair, so the front edge of the seat is snug against the back of your knees. You’ll know your circles are improving if your torso spreads wider across the floor, muscle fatigue is reduced, and your breathing becomes deeper and smoother.

Preparing for boat position

Now let’s group the boat’s position around our motion line image. Of course, there are other muscles that contribute to the smooth sailing of the boat, including the various small and large muscles of the back, which pull down toward the coccyx and keep the front torso long and high, and the heavy muscles in the inner and front thighs, which straighten the knees and help the abdominal muscles suspend the legs. If these muscles fail, the entire posture will produce several leaks: the torso turns back and the chest collapses, the knees buckle and the legs tremble, and the balance on the buttocks is shaken (Figure 1).

For this exercise, you’ll need your yoga wall and a block (and a blanket if you have tight back thighs). We’ll start with a pose that’s actually the starting position for boat pose —Staff status (Dandasana), which refers to the central axis of the trunk, which is the “front” spine.

The staff is not only our starting point, it is also a good preparation for the position of the boat. If you look at the two poses, you’ll quickly notice that they have similar configurations, except that the angle between the legs and torso in the staff is 90 degrees, while it is slightly less in the boat pose.

But a lot of what happens in the crew — the work in the spine, sacrum, and legs — we can transfer directly to the boat.

Sit with your back to the wall, extend your legs forward, and pin the block between the wall and your sacrum (Figure 2). The edge of the block (rather than its broad face) was placed on the sacrum, its long axis being perpendicular to the floor. Cover the lump with a towel or sticky mat if it digs uncomfortably into your sacrum.

If you have tightness in the back of your legs and can’t sit comfortably near the front of your shinbone, sit on a thick, folded blanket near its edge. If you have any problems with the sacrum or sacroiliac joints, do not use the block until you have removed it with an experienced teacher.

Firm your front and inner thighs, then pin them to the floor. If you can’t find your inner thighs, insert a book (a yoga book is the best!) between your thighs and press. Extend the back of the heel and extend the balls of the feet toward the ceiling, toes pointed (if you tend to hyperextend your knees, don’t let the heels come off the floor).

Open your palms on the floor next to your hips, arms straight, and push down forcefully through the index side of the hand (if this is difficult, try your fingertips with your elbows bent). Use this connection to help strengthen the upper part of the sternum and pull the shoulder blades (scapulae) into the lower back.

Now exhale and tilt your torso back, stopping with the shoulders and the back of the head perhaps two or three inches from the wall – you can dip your chin slightly toward the chest to keep the eyes looking straight ahead. Keep your thighs pressed to the floor, the length between your pubis and your navel, your navel and the top of your sternum.

Push the sacrum into the pelvis, away from the mass, and the shoulder into the ribs. Make sure your abdomen remains relaxed.

Now inhale and raise your arms parallel to the floor, with the palms facing up. As the collarbones widen, you can reach from the shoulder blade via the fingertips. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute, then exhale and swing the torso back to the vertical position.

Boat starting position

Move away from the wall and place the block to the side. From staff position, bend your knees, place your feet on the floor, and cover the back of your thighs with your hands, elbows slightly bent. Exhale and prepare to once again tilt your torso back (about 30 to 35 degrees from vertical, for those of you who took geometry in high school, but this time—since the block is no longer supporting your pelvis—rock on your buttocks between the back of your sit bones and the front of your tailbone. The feet will be a few inches off the floor (Figure 3). For an added challenge, keep your palms on the floor throughout the exercise.

Hold with knees bent for a minute or so, recreating all of the warm-up work except for the arms. If, after this time, your boat becomes ship-shaped, exhale and slowly extend the knees to straighten the legs. Actively pull each knee head toward the hip joint on the same side.

Press the back of the thighs firmly into the hands and, initially, raise the feet approximately to the level of the face (Figure 4). Gradually raise the feet, or at least the toes, a few inches above the head so that the legs, again for those using a protractor, are at about a 60 to 65 degree angle relative to the floor behind them. Wait another minute, or maybe 30 seconds if you’re at risk of falling off.

If you cannot row further at the moment, when you exhale, lower your legs to the floor and return your torso to the vertical position. But if your boat is still seaworthy, inhale and extend your oars—I mean your arms—beside your knees. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, exhale and return to the staff.

Continued practice

If you can get through that last part of the starting exercise, you are very close to completing boat pose. You may want to practice getting into the pose from a bent-knee position for a while, increasing your stay to about a minute. When you feel confident in this approach, you can try sailing directly from the crew.

Move in and out of the boat with an exhale, at the same time swinging the torso back and raising the legs. Keep your hands on the floor the first few times to stabilize the position, until your torso and legs are well settled, then lift your arms up. Finally, move your torso, legs, and arms together, and slide gracefully into the boat (Figure 5).