Lower back and hips

Navasana: Chair Boat Pose

Strengthens your belly and core without getting on the floor and without loading your back.

How to do it

1. 1

   Sit forward on a stable chair with feet flat

   Move towards the front of the seat with your feet hip width on the floor. Nothing here needs you to get down onto the floor.

2. 2

   Take hold of the sides of the seat

   Grip the edges with both hands. The grip lets you stay long through the spine while your legs work.

3. 3

   Sit tall and lean back a little

   Tip your trunk back only slightly, keeping your spine long from tailbone to crown. No rounding.

4. 4

   Lift your feet with your knees bent

   Float both feet off the floor a small way. If that is too much, lift one leg only, or keep the lift low with the knees well bent.

5. 5

   Hold 15 to 30 seconds, two or three rounds

   Set the feet down fully between rounds and sit tall again before the next one.

What to watch for

Rounding the lower back and sliding down the seat as the feet come up. Sit tall first, and if your back rounds the moment your feet leave the floor, lift one foot at a time instead.

Ways to adjust it

• Hands gripping the chair sides
• Lift one leg only
• Low lift
• Knees bent

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Boat Pose versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

• Navasana: Classic
• Navasana: Supported

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.