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A big part of the framework of life in a 21st century metropolitan area is spending a significant number of hours in a day working in order to earn a living. During this part, one will presumably spend most of these hours sitting in a chair, on a desk and searching for or feeding information into a computer, which is far from good news for your all round physical and psychological health. However, there is a way in which one can indeed regulate and even promote their overall wellbeing through Yoga. This discipline requires an individual to do a series of posture in order to bring stability, balance and strength to themselves.
This article is going to be about one such yoga pose Dhanurasana, a yoga position which is considered to be the complete Yoga pose as it provides most of the benefits that Yoga is known for delivering in concentrated quantities. Let's embark on a journey into the depths of this elegant posture, exploring the benefits of Dhanurasana, unraveling a step-by-step guide on how to perform the Bow Pose, delving into the anatomy of Dhanurasana, addressing important considerations regarding when not to perform the Bow Pose, and finally, addressing common questions and doubts that may arise along the yogic journey.
Read on to know more about this pose and how it can potentially change your life!
Dhanurasana also known as the Bow Pose, is a fairly demanding Yoga position whose origins could be traced all the way to the legend of Ramayana. The name specifically comes from that part of the legend in which Lord Ramayana managed to lift the celestial bow of lord Shiva, a piece of weaponry which, as per the legend, cannot be lifted by simply any mortal. This bow lifting happened during goddess Sita’s swayamvar, which is a type of Indian marriage described in Hindu mythology in which a woman of a marriageable age picks her groom from a list of suitors after they have successfully performed a handful of tasks.
Speaking of the name itself, Dhanurasana is a two-part Sanskrit word. The first part, Dhanura means bow while the word Asana translates to the word “Pose” or “Position”. Another reason why the position is named as such is because the body shape of the practitioner begins to resemble that of Shiva’s mythological celestial bow from the legends. This position, due to this reason, is also known more popularly as the Bow Pose in the west.
As far as the benefits are concerned, they do not stop at simply fixing the body posture by straightening the spine. This position also helps with the flexibility and strengthening of the muscles as well as stress relief, among other things. We shall take a look at those in a little bit more detail later on in the article.
Some of the benefits of the Dhanurasana also known as the Bow Pose are as follows:
Dhanurasana Keeps Your Mind Sharp: This pose increases blood circulation in the body, and some of the things that a good and healthy blood circulation helps with are the healing time of one’s wounds, heart health, body complexion and as well as intellect and wit, as a good blood flow makes a human brain sharper.
Dhanurasana Strengthens Your Arms: At times in life, you will be required to do some heavy lifting, both in a figurative as well as literal sense of the term. The good news is that the Dhanurasana helps with both the kinds, and especially the literal kind, as this pose engages the arms to a fairly extreme degree, making them push their limits and grow stronger in the process over time.
Dhanurasana Improves Your Body Balance: At one point while practising Dhanurasana, you will find yourself balancing the entire weight of your body on your stomach. This act greatly activates the core muscles, hip flexors, adductors, hamstrings and the glutes, the muscles that are essential for body balance. Hence, practising this pose on a regular basis can help you achieve that body balance that you have desired.
Dhanurasana Helps With Digestion: This particular pose also helps with indigestion, constipation as well as a handful of gastrointestinal ailments as it massages the stomach and all the organs around it.
Dhanurasana Increases Your Core Strength: As mentioned before, Dhanurasana greatly engages your abdominal muscles, which become stronger over time. Stronger abdominal muscles translate to a greater core strength and overall physical resilience level of the body.
The step-by-step guide of how to do the Dhanurasana also known as the Bow Pose is a very simple one to follow, but that does not take away from the fact that it is a very physically, mentally and emotionally demanding pose that puts a decent amount of pressure on your arms, neck and core.
However, if you think you are up for the job or are just curious about how it is done, the steps of doing the Dhanurasana are as follows:
Dhanurasana Step 1: Lie down along the length of the mat face down. While doing so, make sure that your hands are along your sides and palms are facing upwards. On the lower body front, ensure that your feet are in alignment but have a little bit of distance between them.
Dhanurasana Step 2: Take a deep breath in and then lift both the legs at once. After doing so, bend them to ensure that the ankles are as close to the buttocks as they can be.
Dhanurasana Step 3: Grab both of your ankles with your hands.
Dhanurasana Step 4: Raise the body and your face in order to look right ahead.
Dhanurasana Step 5: Take deep and quiet breaths but powerful enough to expand your lungs while being in that position for anywhere between 20-30 seconds. If you are new or are having trouble holding for that long, you can hold on to it for as long as you are comfortable.
Dhanurasana Step 6: Begin the process of returning to your starting position by slowly and steadily by exhaling first and then bringing both the parts of your body lower. Make sure you take a handful of comfortable breaths while doing so.
Once you have completed step 6, you will complete one repetition of Dhanurasana. For best results, we recommend that you do it 2-3 times during a yoga routine.
You can practice the Dhanurasana also known as the Bow Pose either in the morning or evening as a part of a yoga routine. Irrespective of the time, ensure that your stomach as well as your bowels have been empty for at least 4 hours in order to avoid time-consuming intermissions. Given that the Dhanurasana is a complex pose, it is recommended that you do a handful of preparatory poses first before going into the Bow pose. Some preparatory poses that you can do beforehand are the Bhujangasana, Balasana and the Salabhasana.
There are certain circumstances under which one should refrain from doing the Dhanurasana. They are as follows:
As is well known already by this point, Dhanurasana engages numerous body parts and muscle groups, all of which either stretch, contract or get into a relaxed position in the process. The anatomical exploration of the Dhanurasana is as follows:
The first thing you will need to do in order to get into the position is raise your upper as well as the lower body. In the upper half, while performing the prescribed action, you will begin to feel a stretching sensation in your upper, middle and lower chest in addition to the cervix, the obliques, shoulders, abdominals as well as other ligaments and tendons surrounding it.
As far as the lower half is concerned, the first pair of muscles that will come into use are the gluteus maximus and minimus muscles, because you will essentially be using their strength to lift your legs up. Slowly and steadily, one by one, the lower half of your body will feel the pressure too right up until the point of you bringing your feet close enough towards your hands for them to hold onto the ankles. Once you manage to grab the ankles, you will begin to feel the pressure compounding during the course of the time you are supposed to stay in the position.
Why Is It Called Dhanurasana
Dhanurasana is also known as the Bow Pose. Is it a phrase of Sanskrit origin which has two parts. They are as follows:
Dhanura: Bow Asana: Pose
The reason why this pose is named as such is because after achieving full motion, the student’s body looks like a bow, and more specifically, the mythological bow that belonged to lord Shiva.
What are the techniques of Dhanurasana?
Some of the alternative techniques of doing the Dhanurasana are as follows:
How Can One Get Better At Dhanurasana
The key to getting better at Dhanurasana, or any yoga pose for that matter, is discipline, practice and the willingness to try out new variations of the same if one feels that he/she has hit a plateau. To do a revision on how the Dhanurasana is done, you can always visit BalanceGurus and go through the step-by-step guide for the same.
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