Paripurna Navasana (Full Boat Pose)
Start seated on the floor with the legs straight out in front, press hands into the floor behind you, strengthening the arms. Lean back slightly as you lift, lengthening the space between the top sternum and pubis. Do not allow your back to round. Sit, feeling the sensation of the sit bones (ischial tuberosities) and tailbone (coccyx) on the floor.
Take a deep, full inhale then exhale, drawing up perineum and therefore the pelvic floor muscles, and lower abdominal muscles, this action should stabilise and protect your spine, as you lift feet off the ground, with bent knees, arms are extended out in front, parallel with the floor, at the height of the knees.
If you feel strong and stable in this position, straighten the legs, extending the feet up on a 45 degree angle from the floor. The spine should remain straight and lifted including the neck (tip the chin in towards the sternum to lengthen the neck), the lower belly is drawing in, the breath is free and continuous, as the belly is restricted, try to breath into the side ribs, back and shoulders. Hold for about five breaths, releasing if you feel the back rounding or pressure building up in the lower back.
Contraindications/Cautions
Navasana builds strength in the spinal muscles- however, those with back and neck problems should proceed with caution, so as not to aggravate their injury. This asana compresses the abdomen, so is not recommended during pregnancy, some women may also find this action uncomfortable during menstruation. As this asana compresses the abdomen it is also not recommended when suffering from an upset stomach or diarrhoea.
Benefits
Respiratory System: The deep, full inhalation and exhalation encouraged in this pose revitalises the body (by bringing in more oxygen per breath) and helps to eliminate toxins and waste products from the body.
According to Clayton Horton, director of the Greenpath Yoga Studio in San Francisco and a former triathlete "Strong and supple abs allow for a fuller exhalation, increasing the quality of each breath and directly effecting our vitality," (Strong Abs for Life, article from Yoga Journal Website). In this pose, drawing in the abdominal muscles, encourages a fuller exhale expelling more carbon dioxide per breath. The deep inhale before beginning and encouraging students to breath into the side ribs (activating intercostal muscles) and back brings in more oxygen required for cellular function. Breathing into the lower lobes of the lungs is beneficial is this is where the most oxygen exchange takes place.
Can help to relieve stress.
Learning to breathe deeply and fully is particularly useful if students are accustomed to taking shallow breaths into the upper chest. This action is a common stress response. When we get more oxygen per breath (by using more of the lungs) and exhale fully, we are breathing more efficiently, the heart rate slows, and the body begins to relax.
Navasana is a challenging pose that could be stressful can restrict the breath, as the abdomen is compressed, it can also be a habit to hold the breath. If we learn to lengthen the breath and to breathe deeply and fully when challenged in a pose like this, hopefully we can take this action and apply it in other stressful situations in our lives.
Muscular Skeletal System: Strengthens all four abdominal muscle groups, hip flexors, and spine.
The action of keeping balanced, while holding up the legs and torso against the pull of gravity requires all those muscle groups to work together. In the abdomen the superficial muscle of Rectus Abdominis contracts to drawing the sternum toward the pubic bone and is strengthened as it maintains that isometric contraction. The deeper abdominal muscles of piriformis and the external and internal obliques are activated through the powerful exhale then also remain engaged, stabilising the body.
The hip flexors pull the torso and the thigh toward each other and to maintain that position against gravity, these include the deep muscles of the illio soas group, rectus femoris also straightens the knee. The other quadriceps also work together to hold the knee straight.
Strengthening deep core muscle groups (such as the soas group and transverses) encourage a more aligned posture and provide the spine with more protection and support outside the yoga class.
Bibliography
Notes taken in class and from CD.
Blandine Calais-Germain, Anatomy of Movement
(Eastland Press, 1993).
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha,
Bihar School of Yoga, 1996, India.
Julie Gudmestad, Thighs Matter, January/February 2004
This article can be found online at http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1160_1.cfm
Julie Gudmestad,Spread your wings,
Article available at http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/792_1.cfm
Fernando Pagés Ruiz, Forget Six-Pack Abs
This article can be found online at http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/168_1.cfm?ctsrc=sectnav
Fernando Pagés Ruiz, What Science can teach us about flexibility?
Article at http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/209_1.cfm
Strong abs for life, Michelle Gagnon
This article can be found online at http://www.yogajournal.com/health/849_1.cfm
