time until the respiration returns to normal.

T h e n you can repeat the practice.

Breathing
First exhale and then inhale deeply in the
starting position. Hold your breath as you
raise the body, stay in the final pose and return
to the ground. Exhale when you have returned
to the starting position.
Mistakes to avoid
This is an asana that is often done incorrectly.
Take care to avoid the following mistakes:
Tensing the back in order to raise the body
into the final pose. Only use the leg muscles
and let the back be passively bent backwards. This is a little difficult for many
people, but with practice it will become
easier.
Holding the feet instead of the ankles. Make
sure that your hands wrap a r o u n d the
region of the ankles, not the feet.
Separating the feet. Keep the feet together
so that the big toes remain in contact
throughout the entire practice. Beginners
will find it easier to keep the knees apart. If
you wish you can try to bring them closer
together while in the final pose. This will
intensify the effect of the asana.
Resting the weight of the body on the ribs
instead of the soft part of the abdomen in
the final pose. Adjust the balance of your
body so that the belly lies in contact with
the floor. This is easily done by adjusting
the height of the head, by either tensing or
relaxing the leg muscles, accordingly.
Bending the arms. Keep the arms straight
throughout the entire practice.
Variation 1
This method is essentially the same as the
basic technique already described, but with
one notable difference: the breathing is deep
and slow in the final pose.
T h e technique is as follows:
Do all the actions described for the basic
technique as far as raising the body into the
final position. Instead of holding the breath,
breathe slowly and deeply. Try to accentuate
the rhythmical expansion and contraction of
the abdomen with the breathing.
Stay in the final pose for as long as possible
without strain.
460

T h e n return to the ground.

This method is a little more difficult, but it
gives an accentuated massage to the abdominal
organs.
Variation 2 - for beginners
The following is a simplified version of dhanurasana. It is called saral dhanurasana (easy bow
pose). It gives basically the same benefits as
other forms but at a slightly reduced level. It is
a good asana and is ideally suitable for
beginners and for people who cannot do the
other forms of dhanurasana.

T h e technique is as follows:
Take the starting position described for the
basic technique.
Place both the knees and feet together.
Relax the whole body.
Breathe out deeply.
Breathe in deeply.
Tense the leg muscles and bend the feet
backwards towards the head as far as possible.
Keep the knees and the thighs on the ground
throughout the entire practice; don't raise
them.
Try to raise the head and chest as high as
possible off the ground, using only the leverage
of the legs.
Let the back muscles remain passive.
This is the final position.
In the final pose, the breath can either be held
or can be deep and slow.
That is, the breathing can be as given for the
basic technique or for variation 1. Choose
that which you like best.
Stay in the final pose for a comfortable length
of time.
T h e n slowly lower the head and the chest to
the ground by relaxing the leg muscles.
Repeat the practice when the breathing has
returned to normal.
Variation 3 - rocking
While in the final pose one can rock to and fro
on the abdomen. This increases the massage