You’re probably very familiar with standing bow pose. It seems to be the pose of choice for sunset yoga snaps and impressive Instagram posts. Besides looking speccy (because, let’s admit, it does!) standing bow pose is also awesome for your flexibility, leg strength and spine elasticity! This pose is great for beginners, as it offers lots of different variations, and students can choose to stay in earlier stages of the pose as they build up strength and balance with each practice. So lets get BALANCING in standing bow!
Mike:
“I do a lot of shoulder work in my other workouts. Standing bow pose helps me to release tension in this area while also building up my leg muscles. It’s a really awesome full-body workout!”
Benefits:
Increases leg and glute strength
Opens the diaphragm
Lifts the heart rate
Helps with shoulder and neck pain
Increases spine flexibility
Helps with digestion
Improves balance (both physical and mental)
Encourages motivation, determination and focus
Helps to reduce abdominal fat
Common mistakes:
Not keeping the hips level
Not keeping the standing leg strong and supportive
Not engaging through the core
Suz:
“When I am doing the Hot26 sequence, standing bow pose really gets my heart rate up. When I come into the pose, I feel determined and ready to take on the rest of the class.”
Instructions:
Begin standing with the feet together, arms to the side.
Bring the right elbow to tuck into the right hip, let the hand flop out with the palm facing upwards.
Ground through the left leg and bend through the right knee, gripping onto the inside of the foot with the right hand.
Take an inhale and lengthen through the spine, engage the core, reach the left hand upward, strong and straight. OPTION: Stay here if you are working on your balance.
On the exhale, begin to tip forwards from the hips, reaching the left hand forwards, always keeping the hand just above shoulder height.
Pull on the right foot with the right hand, bringing it up and aiming to pull it high enough to see the toes over the head in the mirror.
Keep the hips level, the standing leg engaged and the core switched on.
Concentrate on balance and focus on keeping the breath consistent.
Hold for 5 slow breaths.
To release, reverse out of the pose the way that you came into it, slowly and with control.
Repeat on the opposite side.
This pose will not only help you to improve your physical balance, but also your emotional balance. It will make you feel powerful, strong and capable of anything (including cool sunset Instagram pics!)
Enjoy your bow pose!
Namaste
<3 Mike and Suz