Modifications for Navasana
In the book How Yoga Works, Miss Friday notices that the Captain skips doing Boat Pose in his practice. When she asks him about it he says the pose is not for him because it hurts his back. She lets him know that he needs to do all of the poses that she taught him and that each pose has its benefits. Leaving out the poses we don’t like simply reinforces our imbalances and the duality that our preferences create. Often the poses we most want to avoid because we can’t do them or they are uncomfortable are the very ones we need to do.
She quotes from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras to him: And then there will come a time when differences (attachment and aversion) no longer disturb you. Y.S. II.48
However, we shouldn’t just push through pain to do a pose. It is possible to find a manageable variation for everybody in any pose.
If you find Navasana to be a challenging pose to do, here are a couple of good variations that you can practice.
Full Boat using the arms for support
Full Boat with bent knees and hands on (or off of) the floor
Half Boat, one foot on the floor and using one arm for support
Full Boat using a belt for support
Try any one of these variations, or even combinations of the variations that I haven't pictured, and see if you can make any improvements in your Boat Pose. Feel free to play and find something you can do!
“So no more faces when you come into a pose that’s hard for you. The hard ones are usually doing you and your back the most good. Don’t give in to preferences; don’t create more differences in your life. It’s the differences that harass us all day long that make our days unhappy. I like this, I don’t like that. I like her, I don’t like him. I don’t want to do this thing I have to do, I’d rather do that thing I want to do.” (I’m tired of this cold weather and snow already, I’d like it to be 30 degrees warmer!) Miss Friday to the Captain in How Yoga Works. (Except the part about the weather, that’s me!)