Been slumped over a desk or device all day?
Want to energize and expand your body and breath?
Feeling the need to strengthen and stretch the whole body?

Break Free with Bow Pose!

Bow pose is a beginner backbend perfect for children and adults. It stretches the front of the body while strengthening the hamstrings, glutes and muscles along the spine. Practicing bow pose expands the chest, shoulders and throat and encourages better posture.

Many of us spend hours a day slouched over a desk or device and bow pose is perfect medicine to counteract the physical slump. When we expand our chest, we also expand our breathing capacity, which increases energy and vitality throughout the body. Let’s try bow pose together!

The Benefits of Bow Pose for Kids

Bow pose not only strengthens and stretches big muscles of the body, it also provides an opportunity to build proprioception which is a key component of sensory integration. Sometimes referred to as the sixth sense, proprioception informs us of our body's position in space.

Most children (and some adults) have very little awareness of the back of their body. Practicing bow pose requires children reach behind their back to grab their feet, thus increasing proprioceptive awareness and back-to-front body integration.

At the same time, pressure on the abdomen in bow stabilizes and grounds while promoting feelings of security. So children can explore these new sensations from a place of safety and calm. Let’s go for a gondola ride with Rachel and practice bow pose!

How To: Bow Pose

Lie on your belly
Bend your knees and reach your hands back palms facing each other and thumbs down
Grasp ankles or tops of the feet below the toes
Press shins back while drawing feet upward
Firm the belly in and up, navel toward spine
Rise thighs, knees, chest and shoulders away from the floor
Keep thighs, knees and ankles equal distance apart
Press feet back and up to open chest and shoulders and increase the backbend
Keep neck relaxed and head in line with the spine
Stay for 5-10 breaths

Tips for Mastering Bow Yoga Pose

If you are new to bow pose it might feel impossible to grab the feet or ankles. Start by reaching back to strengthen the spine and abdominals. You may also use a strap or towel around the ankles to provide a longer reach. If you are using a strap, flex both ankles with the soles pointing upward and lift through the heels.
Roll shoulders back and down to relieve tension along the neck, shoulders and upper back. If you are especially tight in these areas, take it slow with deep breaths and focus on relaxing and allowing the deepening of the backbend over time.
Keep knees and ankles no wider than hip-width apart to ensure you are targeting the proper muscle groups and protecting the low back. Practice with a mirror or a friend to check your alignment or try gently holding a yoga block between your thighs.
Press the shins away and think about reaching the chest forward and tailbone back to lengthen the spine as you gradually increase the backbend.
Relax your jaw, face, and neck and keep head in line with the spine. It’s tempting to look up in this pose but make sure you are keeping space along the cervical vertebrae.

Bow yoga pose - kids yoga in the classroom

Invite us to teach Bow Pose in your classroom

Kid-friendly Bow Pose Variations

While Bow makes an excellent gondola, it can also be used in kids yoga class to make a submarine or any other seafaring vessel. Try singing along to Boats with Dan which combines boat pose, a seated wide-legged forward fold, easy seat, side-bending and bow pose into a fun and engaging musical movement sequence.

Once you are under the water, try some other back bends like Whale Pose (aka Locust) for even more spine strengthening fun. Stretch your arms wide to make a big blue whale or clasp your hands behind your back to turn into a shark.

More Transportation Yoga Poses

Once children feel confident and steady in bow, you can challenge the pose by rolling onto one side and then the other. Yoga poses that expand the chest and heart allow us to be courageous and take playful risks…wave rolls are a fun way to invite this quality into your practice.

Pretend the ocean waves are rolling you from side to side. Make the sound of the waves to add a breathing exercise to the pose as you build momentum. Eventually, you may be able to roll from bow all the way over into bridge pose!

There are so many fun ways to practice this back bend. After bow pose, stack your hands with palms down to create a pillow and rest your forehead on top.

Gently roll your head side to side to release any residual neck tension. Find stillness and take 3-5 deep, long breaths.

Notice the sensation of the breath as it expands the belly and torso into the floor, grounding and stabilizing. Also notice as the breath expands the back and sides of the ribcage, massaging all the muscles you just strengthened along the spine.

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