Lower back, hips and knees

Navasana: Supported

A supported version of boat pose that reduces the load on your lower back and hips, offering a gentle way to build core strength with extra stability.

How to do it

1. 1

   Sit with knees bent and hands planted behind you

   Place your palms on the floor behind your hips with your fingers pointing towards your feet. Let your arms take some of your weight.

2. 2

   Lift your chest and make your spine long

   Press into your hands, draw your shoulders back and lengthen from tailbone to crown. This is a neutral, long spine hold rather than a curl.

3. 3

   Lean back and keep your toes on the floor

   Tip back onto the support of your arms while your toes stay in contact. Your hips fold, your back does not.

4. 4

   Hold the length rather than chasing height

   Nothing needs to lift high. Keeping the spine long while the hips are folded is the entire exercise.

5. 5

   Hold for 20 to 45 seconds, then sit up

   Come out as soon as the length goes. Rest your arms, sit tall again, and repeat if it still feels good.

What to watch for

The lower back quietly rounding once the arms get tired. This only works while the spine stays long, so come out at the first sign of collapse rather than holding on for the clock.

Ways to adjust it

• Toes on floor
• Lean back

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Navasana: Chair Boat Pose

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: Chair Boat Pose
• Navasana: Classic

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.