Half Boat Pose

How to do Half Boat Pose

1. 1Begin seated in Dandasana with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2. 2Reach your arms straight forward at shoulder height, or lightly interlace your fingers behind your skull.
3. 3Exhale and slowly recline your torso backward, tucking your pelvis slightly until your lower back and sacrum press firmly into the mat.
4. 4Simultaneously lift your feet off the floor and extend your legs straight forward at a low thirty-degree angle.
5. 5Keep your shoulder blades, neck, and head lifted off the floor, gazing softly toward your big toes.
6. 6Squeeze your inner thighs together and draw your navel toward your spine to keep your lumbar curve anchored to the ground.
7. 7Hold the posture for three to five steady breaths while keeping the chest broad.
8. 8Inhale to bend your knees, drawing them into your chest or rising back up to a seat to release.

Benefits

• Fires and strengthens the transverse abdominis and deep abdominal wall.
• Tones and activates the hip flexors and quadriceps.
• Develops pelvic stability and neutral lumbar spine awareness.
• Builds functional stamina necessary for handstands and arm balances.
• Stimulates internal abdominal organs and supports digestion.

Common mistakes and cues

• Arching the lower back

  Keep your lumbar spine glued to the mat; raise your legs higher if your lower back starts to peel away from the floor.

• Cranking the neck

  Keep your chin slightly lifted off your chest and use your core rather than your cervical spine to hold the lift.

• Splaying the legs

  Zip your inner thighs and ankles together firmly to keep the adductors engaged and hips aligned.

• Holding the breath

  Resist clamping down in your throat and instead breathe smoothly into your upper chest and ribs.

Modifications and props

• Bent knees

  Keep your knees bent at a ninety-degree tabletop angle to decrease the leverage and strain on your lower back.

• Hands on thighs

  Lightly rest your hands on the backs of your thighs for gentle assistance in maintaining the torso lift.

• Block between thighs

  Squeeze a foam yoga block between your inner thighs to recruit the pelvic floor and keep the legs active.

• Higher leg angle

  Lift your straight legs to a forty-five-degree angle to make it easier to keep your lower back grounded.

Cautions

• Acute lumbar spine injuries

  Avoid this low-hover posture if you have active disc herniations or sharp low-back pain.

• Pregnancy

  Skip this posture after the first trimester due to intense intra-abdominal pressure and flat back loading.

• Neck pain

  Place your hands behind your head to fully support the skull if you experience strain in the cervical spine.

If you are working with an injury, pregnancy or a medical condition, check with a qualified professional before practising this pose.

Practise this for

Classes that teach this pose

Upcoming Ashtanga classes where this shape shows up.

Teachers and studios for this practice

Related poses