Pose no: 14
Bow yoga pose (Dhanurasana)
- BENEFITS
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTION
- MODIFICATION AND VARIATION
- COMMON MISTAKE
- PRECAUTIONS
- TRY IT OUT
Benefits of Bow yoga pose (Dhanurasana)
- In this asana, back bending will strengthen your back and abdominal muscles and enhance your spine, helping relieve pain. Moreover, it will help increase the flexibility of the back.
- The bow pose stimulates the reproductive organs and helps in improving menstrual disorders
- It opens up the chest, neck, and shoulder muscles and tones them.
- Dhanurasana stretches the foot and hand muscles, and tones the leg and arm muscles and strengthens them.
- This yoga posture can alleviate stress, anxiety, and fatigue. It can also help in reducing the symptoms of depression by controlling the level of the cortisol hormone.
- It relieves menstrual discomfort and constipation.
- Practicing Dhanurasana daily can help people with kidney disorders.
Step by Step Instruction of Bow yoga pose (Dhanurasana)
- Lie down on your stomach on the yoga mat. Take a deep breath as you lift your head and chest up slightly from the floor. Then when you exhale, bend your knees, reach your arms behind you and grab your ankles. The right hand grabs hold of the right ankle, and the left hand holds the left ankle. Keep your knees in line with your hips. Do not spread your knees further apart than that.Take two full breaths in this position.
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Take one deep inhalation. Now when you exhale, tighten your thighs and raise your knees higher above the floor, pulling your chest up off the floor at the same time.
Rotate your shoulders back, tucking in your shoulder blades as you lift your head up to look at the ceiling. Keep pushing your knees back and up as you raise both your ribs and your pelvis up from the floor. Shift your body weight onto your abdomen. You may rock your body slight back and forth as needed until you can feel that only your abdomen is pressing into the floor.
Keep tucking your tailbone in while lifting your heels and your chest
- As you hold the pose, your speed of your breathing will naturally increase somewhat. However, let it be that way and do not worry about it. Do not hold your breath, and visualize breathing into your back muscles also
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Try to hold this posture for 20 seconds, and you can gradually increase the time up to one minute over time as you practice it regularly. Exhale as you come out of the pose. Lie flat on your belly to catch your breath. Then you can try it again as you like.
*Do not do any forward bends after this posture unless this is the last backbend of your practice today.
Modification and Variation of bow yoga pose (Dhanurasana)
- Lie on your stomach with your chin on the mat. Reach both arms forward.
- Then, bend your right knee and extend your right arm behind you, taking hold of your right ankle.
- Hold for a few breaths, then release and relax.
Common mistake of bow yoga pose (Dhanurasana)
- Incorrect Grip. Many people getting into Bow just want to make contact with their feet or ankles without being mindful of their grip.
- Knees Splayed Out Wide.
- Holding Tension in the Lower Back.
Precaution of bow yoga pose (Dhanurasana)
- If you have lower back pain, like slip disc perhaps avoid it or modify it to avoid pain.
- Some people may feel knee hurting on outer part of it, in this case knees and feet can be separated and pulled out.
- Be careful when taking weight on shoulder better grab ankles from outside so shoulders could feel much safer and stable.
- This should be avoided during pregnancy.
- Do not try to bend backward rather focus on chest expansion and ankles pressing on hands.
- People with hyper or hypotension should avoid or do this posture very gently.
- Neck shouldn’t be forced to push back rather held in neutral position if it is hurt.
