How to do Bow Pose

Welcome our monthly Kids Love Yoga (#kidsloveyoga) series!

Each month, we feature a new yoga pose, along with pictures of children from around the world practicing the pose.

Our most popular page is the list of kids yoga poses, so we wanted to share your pictures of children practicing the various poses every month. This month’s focus pose is Bow Pose.

This is a new pose for my daughter. We didn’t practice this posture when she was an infant because of its intensity and difficulty. To be honest, I find back-bends extremely challenging because of the inflexibility of my spine and shoulders. But as we practiced some ocean animals yoga poses today, we gave the Bow Pose a go!

Join us for this month’s pose: Bow Pose

Sanskrit name:  Dhanurasana

Benefits:      

• Stretches the chest, shoulders, arms, abdomen, and thighs.
• Strengthens the back and leg muscles.
• Improves posture.
• Aids digestion.
• Helps to invigorate the body.

You could pretend to be: a fish, whale, or anemone.

Description:       

Lie flat on your tummy with your arms alongside your body, your palms up. Bend your knees, flex your feet, take a deep inhale, lift your chest, and look forward. Then reach your arms back towards your toes and grab your ankles.   Ensure that your knees remain hip width apart while you are in the pose. You might need to squeeze with your thighs a little. Come out of the Bow Pose on an exhale and take a rest for 20 seconds to stabilize your spine. Then rest in Child’s Pose to release your lower back.

If you have lower-back problems, please be careful when practicing this pose. The focus is on lengthening your spine, not on making a perfect U shape. Listen to your body. Look straight ahead during the pose, because looking up might put strain on your neck and cause an injury. Bow Pose is not recommended if you are pregnant.

 

Pictures of children in Bow Pose from our fellow yogi and blogger friends:

Ahhsana Yoga	Kids Yogaverse
Rene H.	Crystal’s Tiny Treasures
Study at Home Mama	Kids Yoga Stories
Crafty Moms Share	Kids Yoga Stories
Flying Bow Pose All Kids Yoga

 
Bow Pose video:

 

Find Bow Pose in our ABC yoga book:

 

Or check out our other yoga stories for kids:

 

Other Kids Yoga Poses Links:

Boat Pose
Downward-Facing Dog Pose
List of Kids Yoga Poses

 

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