What is Akarna Dhanurasana and its 10 Brilliant Benefits?

Imagine being in a posture as if you are ready to pierce the target with an imaginary bow, and that is known as the Akarna Dhanurasana. The modern lifestyle has come along with a sedentary way of living. People are running at nine, rushing to work, skipping a healthy diet, sitting for hours, maximising screen time to earn more money, without any time for good stretching and holistic exercises like yoga, all this rushing ays from living is taking humans away from health and the natural healing roots. There, when the yog comes into play. 

Yoga, the ancient healing practice that has been helping generations for decades to live a healthy and disease-free life. Adding yoga to your busy schedule can shield you from the cons of such a lifestyle, and it helps you to live consciously. Several poses can help you in energising for the whole day and lead your routine, but in a holistic way! One of such poses is Akarna Dhanurasana.

This Akarna Dhanurasana pose has a lot of benefits. It heals you mentally, physically, a nd emotionally. This pose is not an easy pose, but an intermediate-level pose that ensures the practitioner some wonderful and long-lasting advantages. In this blog, we will know everything about Akarna Dhanurasana! So let’s start with what this Brilliant pose actually is! 

What is Akarna Dhanurasana?

Let’s break down the name of this post to understand it better:

A – Near, Karna- Ear, Dhanu- Bow, Asana- Pose. This pose resembles holding the bow from near your ear! 

Although this yoga asana was not mentioned in the Hath Yoga texts of the medieval period, it gained a place in the yogic tradition formed later and is not mentioned in the modern manuals of this and other yoga practices. This pose is inspired by the various archery postures idey mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharata as ‘Dhanur Vidya’! 

This posture demands some valuable principles to make this pose complete, like Ekagrta, which means focusing on one point, without being bothered by anything around or within you. Next is Samyama, which means self-control and discipline of the practice. The next and most important is the art of balancing and steadiness. 

This pose has roots in the warrior discipline that is adorned by the yogic awareness. It is much more above tha ritual. This pose is an action of yoga. It is known as a yoga that awakens and strengthens the body, mind, and soul. This pose uses all three to complete this pose. This is the beauty of the Akarna Dhanurasana (Archer Pose) in yoga. Now, let us understand the health benefits of this wonderful yoga asana!

Read More: Bhujangasana contraindications (Cobra Pose) 

10 Health Benefits of Akarna Dhanurasana

Now, here are the advantages of adding this yoga pose to your daily yoga routine:

1. This Akarna Dhanurasana pose helps in strengthening the upper limb area. One addition g this in your yoga flow, you feel great power in your shoulders, hands, and wrists. This pose also strengthens the lower body. It also strengthens the thighs and calves of the legs. 

2. It helps in toning the body and building healthy muscles like biceps, triceps, etc.

3. This is a great flexibility booster! Being an intermediate-level stretch, it helps in stretching the whole body, the spinal cord, the limbs, and the muscles, making the body very relaxed and much more flexible than before. 

4. This Akarna Dhanurasana pose helps patients with joint pain, arthritis, sciatica, and back pain in relieving the pain and maintaining good health of joints, bones, and surrounding muscles. 

5. It is very beneficial in increasing fertility. It helps women in a better reproductive system and function, strengthens the female body and helps in regulating the hormones and overall health. One can practice this during the menstrual cycle to relieve pelvic cramps.

6. Akarna Dhanurasana is very beneficial in improving gut health. It relieves problems like gastritis, constipation, bloating, and acidity. It tones the gut nd ensures the flow of good bacteria in the gut. 

7. Akarna Dhanurasana helps in relieving stress and mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, etc. It makes one confident nd mentally strong, helping you to fight all the brain-related issues. This pose transforms you and makes you wiser and conscious by giving you good mental work, focus, and memory!

8. This Akarna Dhanurasana’s benefits include the balancing of all seven Chakras in the body. The chakras are the energy centres that regulate a good flow of life energy inside.

9. This is natural detox. The deep stretch helps in relieving toxins from the body. The breathwork involves exhaling the toxins and negativity and filling your mind, soul and body with positive and healthy vibes.

10. This is a multi-tasker! This pose strengthens the overall personality of a person practising it. It improves the brain, it makes one emotionally strong, and it makes one physically healthy, too! 

In short, it makes you robust and healthy like a Warrior! It ensures wholesomeness just like a Warrior! 

Contradictions of the Akarna Dhanurasana Procedure

Now, here are the steps to perform this pose correctly:

1. Start by sitting in the staff pose  (Dandasana), you might be aware!

2. Keep your spinal cord very straight. Make sure both your thigh muscles are extended and stretched, and your shoulder area is very much relaxed, ready for the next step!

3. Now bend your right leg and bring it near your right hip, foot placed straight on the floor, while your left leg is still stretched out! 

4. Now hold the right toe with your right hand’ thumb and stretch it up towards the right ear, while holding the left toe with the left hand as if you are stretching a bow and arrow.

5. Inhale while you stretch your right leg upward, then exhale. 

6. You can repeat this pose for a time as you are comfortable.

Read More: The main benefits of Virasana (Hero Pose) are unveiled

The Contradictions here are:

1. Ok, so are you suffering from a hip or back injury? If yes, then avoid this pose!

2. Are you pregnant? Then please do not perform this pose!

3. Are you feeling severe pain in your back? Then please do not practice it until allowed by the guru!

4. Always practice this pose under the guidance of a yoga teacher.

5. Take a popper training of this pose, because this is not a beginner-level but an intermediate yoga posture!

6. Always go slow, do not rush to perform this, as this can harm you physically. Learn slowly and master it slowly with patience! 

Conclusion

So, this was all about Akarna Dhanurasana. In this pose, your body acts like a bow, your brain acts like an arrow. Now, where are the strings? Your arms are the strings of this bow-shaped posture! This pose is a tough pose, so please perform this under the right guidance. Always be patient in learning such a complex pose. Go slow to master this. And then, no one can stop you from enjoying the benefits of this archer pose. It makes you develop the qualities of a real warrior!