Viprit Naukasan
(Reverse boat pose)
After a tiring working day, it is very important to distress yourself for a good sleep and the best way is to practice yoga. Yoga not only releases tension but also enhances the overall health of an individual. Now the question that arises is what kind of yoga should we practice? There are numerous no of exercises and yoga poses that can be practiced. The best out of all is Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga is one of the oldest forms of yoga. Hatha yoga texts talked about asana during the 17^th century. One such pose that can be practiced is viprit naukasan.
Viprit Naukasan is lying on the belly pose and the name is derived from Sanskrit. The word viprit means reverse, Nauka means boat, and asana means pose.
Viprit Naukasan is a great way to address your shoulder and back. It will help you to keep your body in a resting position after yoga. This posture is practiced to ease strain after yoga. It can be practiced after yoga to cool down your body. it can also be practiced earlier to tone up your core and enhance strength in your core. This will enhance flexibility in your shoulder and arms. It will strengthen your shoulders. You can practice this pose in the morning and evening with an empty stomach. Viprit Naukasan is a great pose to calm down an individual.
This pose reduces back pain, stress, and depression. It will also improve your digestion. Practicing Viprit Naukasan will help you to attain balance. It is derived from the final form of the posture that imitates a lazy crocodile.
This pose can be practiced in two ways: one is for beginners and the second one is for someone who wants a challenging yoga posture. As a preparatory pose, you can practice Bhujangasan, Gomukhasana, and setu bandhasana to avoid any injury during this pose. The preparatory poses and the follow-up poses will enhance the benefits of the pose. you can practice corpse pose or savasana and bow pose.
Benefits:
Viprit Naukasana strengthens the abdomen, back, chest, pelvis, legs, arms, hips, neck, and shoulders. The posture reduces bulges around the abdomen, hips, and waist. It develops physical and mental strength, coordination, and focus.

• Back pain: Practicing this yoga posture enhance the health of your back and reduce back pain.
• Deep relaxation: This posture provides deep relaxation for the shoulder and spine. This pose can be practiced between two asanas to calm down your body and relax.
• Keeps you rejuvenated: This pose rejuvenated your body and makes you look younger and healthier.
• Stretch: you will feel a gentle stretch on your torso, shoulders, back, and spine. Practicing this pose will help you in stretching your whole body. This is a good stretching exercise. This asana is very helpful in relaxing your whole body.
• Flexibility: It enhances flexibility in an individual. This pose will lengthen your body and increase flexibility in your body. It increases flexibility in your spine.
• Blood circulation: This pose enhances blood flow in your body. It allows the heart to pump in a controlled manner thus reducing the chances of heart attack and various heart-related diseases.
• Lungs: Viprit Naukasan will be beneficial in lungs infection. Studies show that practicing Viprit Naukasan helped people to reduce chest/lungs infection and open up their chests. It can be very beneficial in treating asthma or other lungs related diseases.
• Tone: Viprit Naukasan could be beneficial in body toning. If practiced regularly, you will notice a visible difference in your body.
• Weight loss: The pose can be practiced by an individual if they want to reduce weight. It will shed excessive fat on your shoulder, waist, belly, arms, abdomen, and thighs.
• Digestion: Practicing the pose will show positive results in our digestion. Viprit Naukasan put pressure on the abdomen and lower back and simultaneously concentrates on our breathing. This is a proven fact that people doing Viprit Naukasan have strengthened their digestion.
• Diabetes: This yoga posture stimulates your pancreas which produces insulin and hence balances diabetes.
• Calm: Viprit Naukasan calms down your mind and prevents anxiety. This posture increases the oxygen-carrying blood circulation in your body and mind and helps balance anxiety.
• Spondylitis, sciatica, slip disc: Viprit Naukasan will help you in treating spondylitis, sciatica, and slip disc. Viprit Naukasan strengthens your spine, lower back, and hips which helps in reducing pain and curing the problem.
• Blood pressure: Viprit Naukasan will help you in balancing your blood pressure. It will regulate the blood flow in your body which will balance the blood pressure.
• Improve balance: Viprit Naukasan helps you in improving the balance of your body. For improving balance, it is very important to have a strong spine. This pose will strengthen your spine and increase flexibility. Hence, results in improving balance.
• Abdomen: This pose can be beneficial in balancing the functioning of your abdominal muscles. Viprit Naukasan will strengthen your abdomen and cure many problems. 

Technique:
To avoid injuries, it is very important to follow a proper technique for practicing yoga postures. A proper technique is very important to enhance most of the benefits. 
Step 1: lie down on the floor on your stomach with your hand in the front.
Step 2: lift your chin and straighten your legs.
Step 3: Close your eyes and relax in the position.
Step 4: Raise your hands and chin along with your legs as we do in the superman pose.
Step 5: Hold on to this pose for as long as you can.
Step 6: Relax and get back to the initial position.
Step 7: Repeat the pose at least 5 times. Do not force your breathing during the whole process.
Precautions:
Practicing the pose with proper precaution is very important. One can easily get injured while practicing the pose if not performed with proper precautions.

• Do not practice this pose in pregnancy. This pose pressurizes your abdomen and can lead to abortion or other serious consequences.
• Avoid practicing the pose in case of high blood pressure. This will increase the blood flow and thus worsen your condition.
• Consult your doctor before practicing the posture in case of slip disc.
• This pose is prohibited to an individual who just recovered from surgery. You can practice the pose 4 months after the surgery but it is very important to consult your doctor to avoid any issues.
• In the case of neck, back, or shoulder injury, do not practice the pose.
• Avoid practicing the pose in case of an abdomen infection. This pose focuses on your abdomen. Your body pressurizes the abdomen during this pose which may worsen your abdomen infection. So it is advisable to avoid the pose.
• Practice the pose under observation to avoid any injury.
• Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from Spondylolisthesis. Spondylolisthesis is a problem of slipped vertebrae at the base of the spine.
• Consult your doctor first if you are suffering from cauda equina syndrome. Cauda equina syndrome is a nerve compression due to injury in the lower back.
• Ask your yoga instructor before practicing the pose if you are suffering from a hernia.

Props and modification:
Every body can react differently to a particular pose. Hence, it is very important to listen to your body and modify the pose accordingly. You can also use props to avoid injury.

• If you feel uncomfortable lying on the floor use a blanket to ensure your comfort.
• You can use yoga bricks to support your head or shoulders.
• If you can’t practice this pose, you can try the modified version of this pose. if you feel uncomfortable practicing the whole legs and hands posture, you can modify it by placing your feet on the floor and raising for head and hands. You have to stay in the pose for as long as you can.
• Another modification that can be practiced in the pose is to place yoga bricks or a blanket under your hands and stay in the pose for as long as you can.
• To give yourself a challenge, interlock your fingers and place them at the back of your head. Now lift your body to the maximum and hold on to the pose.
• You can just simply lay on the floor with your folded hands and keep your body relaxed.