Virabhadrasana I

Pronunciation: veer-ah-bah-DRAWS-ahna

Translation: Virabhadra is the name of a mythical warrior created by Siva from a hair that he tore from his own matted locks. Virabhadra led Siva’s army and avenged an affront to Siva’s wife, Sati. Asana, in Sanskrit, means pose.

Called the “Proud Warrior Pose,” this challenging pose strengthens the entire body while improving the mind and self control.

Your body moves in three directions in this pose. First is to move forward on your front leg, then backward in your rear leg, and then upward in your torso.  

 
Technique: Begin in Tadasana, Mountain Pose. Jump or step your legs a wide distance apart.  The leg distance should be about a foot wider than your own leg length. 

Extend the arms to either side so that they are parallel to the floor.  Keep maximum extension from the shoulders through the fingertips.  Bring the arms up so that the fingertips transcribe a circle with the maximum possible circumference until they point towards the sky.  The arms turn inwards so the palms face each other as the fingertips extend towards the sky.   The elbows should be straight but not hyper extended.

Turn the left foot in about 60 degrees and the right foot out to 90 degrees. Note that the rear foot assumes is a deeper angle than in the Utthita Trikonasana pose.  This is to facilitate the subsequent squaring of the pelvis to fact the forward (right) foot.

Create a firm foundation in your legs.  Lift your kneecaps and thighs up, tuck your tailbone under and press your feet firmly into the floor. Roll the metatarsal bones on the top of the rear (left) foot to the outside.  This will increase the grip of the outer rear foot on the floor and raise its inner arch. Pull your rear legs kneecap up with the quadriceps muscle in your upper leg.  Keep this work in the rear kneecap and foot active throughout the pose.

Test that you have positioned your legs the correct distance apart by bending the forward (right) leg so as to form a right angle.  If your leg distance is proper, the outer right knee will be positioned directly over the outer right ankle bone.  If it is forward from the ankle, the legs are too close together.  If the knee is behind the ankle, the leg distance is too wide. 

Keep the arms fully extended towards the sky as you adjust the positions of your legs and pelvis.

Next, rotate the hips to face your front (right) foot.   Your hips should be squared.   The rotation is helped by bringing the inner upper thighs towards each other and rolling the inside rear (left) leg down and the outside of the leg up as you revolve the pelvis.  The deep angle of the rear (left) foot is critical to achieving the proper rotation of the pelvis. 

Now, keeping the pelvis facing the forward leg, bend the forward knee so the forward leg forms a right angle with its thigh parallel to the floor.  Keep the top of the bending leg aligned with the line that runs from the middle of the front foot through the center of the arch of the rear leg.  As you descend keep a firm contact between the outside of the rear foot and the floor.  Avoid the tendency to transfer weight to the inside of the rear foot.

Extend your arms towards the sky maintaining the elevation of your ribs from your pelvis as the pelvis descends towards the ground.  Keep the pelvis perpendicular to the floor throughout.  Avoid tilting the pelvis by continuing to tuck the tail bone forwards as you lower yourself towards a right angle. 

Raising the ribs and upper torso up with the arms while keeping the pelvis aligned avoids undo collapse of the lower vertebrae and helps protect your lower back in the pose.  You may also notice that this extension and alignment will relax your heart muscle.  The heart tends to work harder when the pelvis tilts and the lower back is not extended.  As yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar says for Virabhadrasana 1, "Arms ascending, groins descending."

Lift your sternum and arch your neck backwards to gaze up between tour arms towards the sky.  This is done with full back extension and not by just bending your neck and looking up.  Hold the pose for at least half a minute.

Come out of the pose by straightening the legs, rotate the pelvis back to face forwards, bring your arms down and position the feet to face forward.  Then, bend the knees and lightly jump or step back to Tadasana.

Do the pose on the other side.

This pose requires stamina and is strenuous. Remember to have relaxed breathing and to let go in the pose.

Beginner’s Tips: If you are unable to lower your pelvis enough so that your front leg forms a right angle, be sure that your leg distance is wide enough so that your outer knee would be over the outer ankle if you could reach a right angle. 

It is important to keep the outer rear leg’s foot in contact with the floor.  If this proves difficult, do the pose with your rear foot wedged into the corner where the floor and wall join for support.

If you cannot yet rotate your hips to face your forward foot, move the rear foot a little to the outside to allow the pelvis to rotate more easily.

Benefits: This pose shapes and tones the entire lower body especially the abdominal muscles. Build stronger upper body strength and back strenghth.
Doing this pose may help reduce back pain. With the lifting of the upper body and stretching of the chest, there is a postive effect on breathing. Experience stretch in the chest, the shoulders, neck,
abdominals, and groin muscles.

The thighs, ankles and legs get a workout and are strengthened.
The pose may help those with sciatica.

Contraindications: Don't do this pose if you have high blood pressure or heart problems.

If you have a neck problem, look forward instead of up to the hands.

Many thanks to Victor Oppenheimer, our Yoga.com yoga teacher with decades of experience in teaching Iyengar Yoga. He edited and improved this article. Let us know that you read this and what pose you would like to see as the by writing shannon@yoga.com .

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