Follow this beginners’ guide to bow pose to lose weight and tone your belly

Chances are that the asana you hate doing the most is what your body needs the most. If you have a poor posture and often experience muscle stiffness, then you might have a hate-hate relationship with bow pose or dhanurasana. 

At first glance, the bow pose seems like a difficult feat to nail. But guess what? You don’t have to be as flexible as a rubber band to pull it off. With the right guidance, you can get this pose right and nail its many benefits.

But what can dhanurasana do for you exactly? Let’s take a look at all its benefits:

• If muscle stiffness is restricting you from living life, then you must incorporate this pose in your warm-up routine. It stretches your entire body, right from your back, chest, core, arms, and shoulders to your hips and legs.
• Experts believe that bow pose can also improve your posture.
• If you can also tone your core and help you get rid of that flat belly.
• This pose helps with weight loss and massages organs like the liver, and pancreas.
• It relieves backaches and helps in dealing with stress too.

Now that you know, let’s learn to do the bow pose the right way

Also, listen to the audio instructions for the asana here:

1. Lie down on your stomach with your hands alongside your torso. Now slowly with an exhale, bend your knees and try to bring your heels as close as you can to your buttocks.

2. Extend your hands back and hold on to your ankles. The trick here is that you should keep your knees hip-width for the duration of the pose.
3. Inhale as you use the grip you have on your ankles to lift your upper body and lower body off the floor. Lift as much as your body allows and ensure that you stop if you feel any pain or stiffness.

4. Now lift your heels away from your buttocks and, at the same time, lift your thighs away from the floor. Your head and chest will also be lifted up. And now gently turn your chin upwards.
5. Hold this pose as you breathe softly. You can stay in this pose for 20 to 30 seconds or as long as you can hold it.
6. Now with an exhale, release from the pose and relax for a few breaths. And repeat the pose once or twice more.

Woah! What a stretch! There is no denying that this one is a little hard to pull but trust us–the benefits are worth it. Listen to your body and practice this asana for weight loss and better posture.

(With inputs from Grand Master Akshar)