Bow Pose Defined

What Is Bow Pose?

Dhanurasana comes from dhanu, meaning bow (as in bow and arrow). In the pose, your body creates the arc of a bow—arms serve as the bowstring, pulling the ends (feet) back and creating tension that arcs the body. The metaphor extends: like an archer, you're gathering energy to release.

Bow Pose combines the actions of Cobra and Locust, lifting both chest and legs simultaneously while adding the lever of the arms gripping the ankles. This makes it significantly more intense than either pose alone.

The pose opens the hip flexors, quadriceps, chest, shoulders, and throat all at once. It's both strengthening and stretching—the back muscles work hard while the front body releases. Many practitioners find it energizing and uplifting.

How to Practice

1. Start prone — Lie on your belly with arms alongside your body. Rest your forehead or chin on the mat.
2. Bend your knees — Bring your heels toward your buttocks, keeping knees hip-width apart or slightly wider.
3. Reach back and grasp — Reach your hands back and take hold of your outer ankles (not the tops of the feet).
4. Prepare — Press your pubic bone into the floor and lengthen your tailbone toward your knees.
5. Lift and kick — On an inhale, kick your feet back into your hands. This action lifts both your thighs and your chest off the floor.
6. Create the arc — Let the backward kick of the legs lift you higher. Press shins back and up.
7. Open the chest — Draw shoulders away from ears, broadening across the collarbones.
8. Hold and rock — Stay for 3-5 breaths. You may naturally rock forward and back with your breath.
9. Release — Exhale, release your ankles, and lower down. Rest with one cheek on the mat.

Variations

One-Legged Bow (Eka Pada Dhanurasana)

Practice with one leg at a time—one leg extended behind, one bent with ankle grasped. This is more accessible and allows you to focus on alignment before attempting full Bow.

Half Bow (Ardha Dhanurasana)

Keep one arm extended forward on the floor while grasping one ankle. This variation provides more stability and allows deeper focus on one side at a time.

Bow with Strap

If you can't reach your ankles, loop a strap around your ankles and hold the strap ends. This maintains the shape while accommodating tight shoulders or quadriceps.

Rocking Bow

Once in the pose, use your breath to rock forward on the inhale and back on the exhale. This massages the abdominal organs and adds a dynamic quality.

Benefits

• Full front-body stretch — Opens hip flexors, quads, abdomen, chest, and throat simultaneously
• Back strengthening — Builds the posterior chain muscles
• Shoulder opening — Stretches the front of the shoulders
• Energizing — Often creates a sense of vitality and alertness
• Improves posture — Counteracts forward-hunching tendencies
• Abdominal massage — The rocking motion stimulates digestive organs

Common Misalignments

Knees Splaying Wide

Keep knees hip-width apart or only slightly wider. When knees splay out, the pose loses power and can strain the lower back. Squeeze a block between the knees in practice to build this awareness.

Shoulders Hunched

Draw shoulders away from ears even as you lift. The chest should feel open, not crunched. Think of reaching your sternum forward.

Holding Breath

The compressed abdomen makes breathing challenging. Keep the breath moving—even if it's shallow. If you can't breathe, you've pushed too far.