Boat pose (Navasana) has been around for a long time, well before the yoga community started talking about upper body strength. Navasana comes from the words “Nava” (meaning “boat”) and “asana” (meaning “posture”).
In addition, Navasana is one of the greatest methods to work on your core strength and your low back and tone your abdominal muscles, which is essential for a variety of other yoga postures. So, how do you breathe in Navasana?
In this quick guide to breathing In Navasana, we will discuss the proper way to breathe in Navasana, how to practice Navasana, and get the full benefits of your practice.
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Table of Contents
What separates yoga from all other forms of exercise is its emphasis on the breath. And to get the most out of your yoga practice, you need to learn the proper way of breathing, especially during your Navasana practice.
Proper breathing techniques improve comfort, relaxation, pleasantness, vigor, and alertness, found a 2018 study.
When practicing Navasana, breathe in through the nose and out through the nose and take full slow complete breaths with the inhale and the exhale being equal length.
- The idea is to match the length of your inhale with the length of your exhale. For example, if you breathe in for a count of 3 through the nose, you will also breathe out through the nose for a count of 3.
- As you do more Navasana and practice more regularly, you will notice that you can increase your breath length to 4 or maybe 5.
- As you breathe, you want to think of really sending the breath until the whole ribcage meaning contracting your diaphragm and then releasing each breath and pushing your navel out.
- Learning to breathe in Navasana properly will help you get the most out of your practice. When we breathe in yoga, we want to send the breath all the way down so that our navel moves out, and then when we exhale, the navel moves.
- So you have a deep belly breath, a full complete breath, and this is hard because so many of us are used to breathing in our chest.
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- Start by sitting with bent knees and your feet level on the ground, and both hands lying alongside your waist.
- Inhale deeply while raising your legs, head, and body off the ground.
- Bring your attention within and concentrate on your breathing. Allow for steady, tranquil, and equal breathing patterns.
- Lean back slightly and elevate your feet, bringing your shins level to the floor while keeping your spine straight.
- Draw your low back in, elevate your chest, and extend your body in front. Then, with your palms facing each other, stretch your arms forward in line with your shoulders.
- Keep your spine straight by balancing on your sit bones. Make sure your lower back isn’t sagging or your chest isn’t collapsing.
- From your pelvic bone to the top of your sternum, lengthen the front of your body. The lower abdomen (below the navel) should be solid and flat but not rigid or bulky.
- Exhale and straighten your legs to a 45-degree angle from the ground, forming a “V” shape with your body.
- Maintain a relaxed, consistent, and smooth breathing pattern. Concentrate your concentration on yourself. Relax your gaze.
- Spread your shoulder blades wide and gently engage your hands by reaching out through your fingers.
- Hold the posture for five breaths at a time, gradually up to one minute. Breathe and relax as you drop your legs and hands to the floor to release the position.
- Exhale slowly and come back to the reclining position.
- Don’t hold your breath during your Navasana practice.
- Practice 5 to 10 repetitions and relax in savasana.
See also: What Is Bhujangasana and its 7 Main Benefits.
Essential Tips For Boat Pose
Straightening your legs or balancing without hand assistance is less crucial than keeping your spine straight and the front of your body long. Maintain good alignment by keeping your hands on the floor and your legs bent until you have gained enough strength to deepen the posture.
It’s important to keep the bottom front of the tummy soft at all times. It should not inflate forward or grow thick, even though it will stiffen up. If it happens, make a change until you’ve gained enough strength that it doesn’t become difficult.
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Navasana is a very beneficial yoga posture, and you should try it to gain a lot of health advantages. Like everything, there are benefits and drawbacks of Navasana, so ensure you learn the proper way to perform Navasana while breathing appropriately.
- Abdominal muscles: Navasana stretches the upper body, toning the core region of the body.
- Lower back: If you want to strengthen your lower back, this is one of the greatest exercises to do.
- Strengthen the nerves: By stretching the entire body, it strengthens the nerves and the neurological system as a whole.
- Anxiety reliever: Practicing the asana might help you relax. It aids in the secretion of gastric juices and ensures appropriate peristaltic action, which is beneficial to digestion and the digestive system.
- Lower abdominal organs: It is one of the few yoga positions that are beneficial to the health of the kidney, intestines, and prostate gland in the lower abdomen.
- Belly fat: It is a wonderful way to burn belly fat and is one of the easiest asanas to do if you want to get abs.
- Waist: It aids in the slimming and beautification of the waist, as well as the reduction of fat around the waist.
- Endocrine glands: It is beneficial to the functioning of endocrine glands such as the adrenals, pancreas, thyroid, testes, and ovaries due to appropriate flexibility.
- Navel displacement: This is a very useful yoga posture for navel-related issues, especially for navel displacement management. The variant, particularly advanced Navasana, is useful in diabetes management.
- Enhances blood flow: This asana helps to burn the fatty layer from the inner layer of arteries and veins, allowing for smooth blood flow.
- Drowsiness: It helps the body rid itself of toxins and makes it more active and energetic.
See also: 18 Best Veggies That Help You Destroy Stomach Fat – Backed By Science.
- Discuss with your physician before starting new exercises or yoga poses.
- If you perform Navasana improperly, you run the danger of developing a hernia.
- Do not perform this asana if you have asthma.
- If you have spinal issues, avoid yoga since it raises your chance of spine damage.
- People with heart problems should avoid this asana.
- Navasana position should not be attempted by anyone who has a persistent hip injury.
- This asana should not be performed by anyone who suffers from high blood pressure or migraines.
- Pregnant ladies and individuals who have neck problems should avoid doing the Navasana position.
- When practicing boat yoga postures, it’s also vital to keep your breath under control.
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Why is Boat Pose So Difficult?
There are many reasons why people think of Navasana as being a difficult yoga posture. In some ways, Navasana may be thought of as a balancing pose. Because, like any balancing position, one of the things that make Navasana difficult is that it requires a lot of concentration and the ability to defy gravity.
In addition, the iliopsoas is an outside spinner of the hips, which may explain why you feel like you have to work so hard in this position. Therefore, you must engage the iliopsoas to flex the hips while also opposing outward rotation by inwardly rotating the hips with some intention. This creates a lot of difficulties for people performing boat poses.
Navasana is a forward bend that is similar to Dandasana in terms of structure. Navasana is a 45-degree tipped forward bend.
In Conclusion
Navasana offers tremendous benefits, and breathing in Navasana is imperative to reap the benefits of this asana. Proper breathing will help you connect with your body and mind.
When performing Navasana, you always remember to match your inhale and exhale lengths.
