Pose Breakdown: Half Boat
Get ready to row a small but powerful boat. While this core-burning floor yoga pose is a little milder than standard Boat Pose, Half Boat Pose (Ardha Navasana) is more fiery than it looks. In this asana, you hover your upper body and legs from a supine position, much like a reverse Locust.
Since you’re using your core to hold yourself aloft, this pose seriously works your ab muscles, with your hips and lower back getting a workout, too. This teamwork helps improve your all around core stability while also testing your balance.
This core yoga pose works great in any close-to-the-mat flow or paired with additional Boat Pose variations for a stability-building crunch.
Benefits of Half Boat Pose
- Strengthens your abs, hip flexors, and lower back
- Builds core strength and stability
- Improves balance and posture
- Stimulates digestion
Contraindications
Ask your doctor or avoid this pose if you have injuries or issues with your spine, lower back, hips, or anywhere in your core region.
How to Do Half Boat Pose
Start in Navasana (Boat Pose) position with your legs straight or bent.
Draw your tailbone forward and round your upper back as you slowly lower your body down so that your heels and the tips of your shoulder blades hover just above the mat.
Squeeze your inner thighs together, bring your big toes toward each other, and engage your glutes and your core by drawing your lower belly down and your ribs in.
Gaze forward toward your toes or up toward the sky.
Follow Up Poses for Half Boat
Boat
Happy Baby
Bridge
Fish
What Does Ardha Navasana Mean?
This one is incredibly straightforward: “Ardha” means “half,” and “nava” means “boat.” With “asana” meaning “pose,” “posture,” or “seat,” that’s Half Boat Pose. Navasana gets its name because it looks like a boat.
A pose very similar to Half Boat Pose appears in the 19th century text Sritattvanidhi, listed as “Naukasana,” which can also translate to Boat Pose. It’s the same name used in the text First Steps to Higher Yoga, written by Swami Yogesvarananda in 1970, for another Half Boat-like pose.
“Navasana” and “Ardha Navasana” are what appear in BKS Iyengar’s 1966 text Light on Yoga, which came from a lineage that heavily influenced what we know as Vinyasa Yoga today.
Ready to sail toward a stronger core? Practice Half Boat and more with Caley Alyssa’s Fusion20 series, available for free with a 14-day trial to Alo Moves.