Virabhandrasana - Warrior

Virabhadrasana is a wonderful practice for strength throughout the body, beginning with the bottoms of the feet and moving upward to the fingertips. In addition, Virabhadrasana maintains inner strength, helping us to stay firm in our convictions, yet gentle in our manner and approach to life.

It is important to practice this as a part of your regular Yoga routine, and great to practice when you need to prepare for something important. Perhaps you must give a presentation; perhaps you are taking a test. Use Virabhadrasana to prepare your body and mind, and let the body and mind integrate and work together.

There are two varieties of Virabhadrasana:

Virabhadrasana I and Virabhadrasana II.
They are both highly beneficial, and both will be discussed here.

Thoughts on both variations:

As always, begin in Tadasana with your attention deep in the balls of your feet, those points at which you are truly connected with the Earth. Take a few moments to breathe, center yourself, and feel your calm strength. Begin to press the crown of your head upward, developing your connection to the Universe. Remember – Earth is Yin, loving, nurturing energy. Universe is Yan – strong, bright, powerful energy. As you breathe, let you mind relax from thought and incorporate more awareness for your physical presence, your Earth and Universe connections. If you are standing with your feet together, separate them a bit (hip-width apart) in order to maintain a more grounded stance in the posture. Bring your arms to your sides, inner arms facing inward.

1. Exhale, letting your torso and ribcage relax.

2. Inhale, lifting your arms upward, shoulder-width apart, inner arms facing.

3. Exhale, lunging forward with your right foot, placing it firmly and fully on the floor in front of you. The left heel should rise, not terribly high, but definitely off the floor. Allow the right knee to bend. You will wobble a bit here; turn your left foot slightly outward to form a better base.

4. Take the time that you need to get yourself well balanced. Remember that Yoga is the science of relaxation, certainly not the science of tension and strain! This is more difficult than it sounds, so be aware of what is going on in your body, making slight adjustments to maintain your strength and balance.

5. There is more body checking to do here. When you lunged forward, bending the right knee, it is possible that your knee extended beyond your ankle. This puts undue stress on the knee and should be adjusted for. Slide you right foot forward along the floor, until your knee is directly above, or even slightly behind, the ankle. Now you have developed the front leg properly.

6. Okay, right leg forward, knee bent; left leg back, as straight as you can comfortably get it, heel off the floor. Breathe!

7. As you inhale, focus on your center, the navel, and stretch it upward toward the ceiling, stretching your sides all the way up through your arms.

8. As you exhale, allow the front knee to bend a bit more, and stretch out through the back heel.

9. The back leg is very important. Feel the heel pulling the entire leg – the calf up through the thigh. The strength of the back leg significantly supports Virabhadrasana.

10. Practice this posture by continue to sink into your hips, allowing the front knee to bend. Eventually, the front thigh will become parallel to the floor. Don’t bend further than this! Once again, consider those very tender knees and never put too much strain on them.

11. Try to breathe three complete breaths, with your awareness on the flow of the breath, rather than on the strain in the body. The inhales draw energy and strength (Yang) into the body; the exhales relax and soften the tension (Yin).

12. To release the posture: Exhale and release your arms down to your sides, and allow the back leg to relax a bit. Do this by not pulling back on your heel quite as much. Feel the back leg soften; you can gently bring that leg forward until the left foot is next to the right foot. If this is too difficult at first, bring the back foot in ½ the distance, relax and breathe, and then bring the foot in the rest of the way.

    
    
    

Great! One side is done!
For the opposite side, repeat the above instructions, but stepping forward with the left leg and stretching back through the right heel.

Some thoughts on Virabhadrasana I:

One of the most profound aspects of this posture is the act of stepping forward. You may notice at first that you do not step too far. As you become stronger, more sure of yourself, you will discover that your lunge covers a greater distance. Think about what that means to you, and how it relates to your life beyond the physical practice of Yoga.

1. Exhale, letting your torso and ribcage relax. Let your knees bend slightly so that you do not lock your legs. Visualize the kind of bending you would do if you were standing on the edge of a pool or diving board. Get the sensation of being soft and springy.

2. Inhale, stepping wide to the side with your right leg. Let your arms extend to the sides, inner arms facing down.

3. Exhale and realize your center and grounding.

4. Take the time to notice your arms. Holding them parallel to the floor is quickly tiring, and people will drop them. Take a moment to feel where the tension is. Let your breathing guide you. When you inhale, you will feel tightness along your arms, shoulders, upper back and chest. Don’t give up! Exhale, focusing on relaxing the parts of your body that feel tense.

5. Your arms are parallel to the floor, so your thumbs are forward and pinkies backward. Visualize your breastbone (sternum), exhaling and stretching from the sternum, through the chest, across the arms and out the thumbs. Inhale and feel what is going on. Now visualize your spine. Exhale and stretch from the spine, through the upper back, across the arms and out the pinkies. Keep breathing!

6. Now time to actually position yourself into the posture.

7. Turn your left leg outward to the left. Be sure not to turn just the ankle – turn the entire leg from the thigh down. Now your left toes are facing left.

8. Pivot the right leg for strength and stability – turn the leg so that your toes face inward at an angle, and your heel turns outward. This relaxes the groin and maintains alignment down the front of your leg through your knee. Breathe.

9. Turn your torso toward your left leg. Note that we are saying torso here; turn from the center of your body, your navel, your sternum, your face, all together. Be sure not to turn just the head!

10. Inhale and lift your navel upward, taking some of the strain out of your legs.

11. Exhale and bend the right leg, which is now your front leg. Note the same awareness as above; do not allow your knee to extend past your ankle. If it does, slide the left leg forward until you align the knee and ankle.

12. The right leg, which is now your back leg, remains with the foot flat on the floor. Although much of your attention will be on your front (left) leg, the real power here comes from the back leg.

13. Keep breathing. As you inhale, lift your torso upward, releasing the strain in your legs. As you exhale, keep stretching the back leg pressing downward through your heel and backward through your calf. Feel your back leg supporting you.

14. What about your arms? As you turned left, your left arm came with you. So now, your left knee, left arm, belly button, sternum, and nose are all facing the same direction.

15. But the right arm is another matter. It should still be in its original position, but it probably is not. It probably has “drifted” toward your body’s facing direction.

16. Here is more power in your posture. Inhale, opening the chest and filling the lungs. Exhale, stretching from your sternum, through the chest, out your right arm. Stretch your right arm until it is directly above your right leg (remember that this is where the arm started).

17. Some suggestions here:
    For the first time, it’s good to practice with your back foot (the right one in this case) right against the wall. This will give you a sense of where you are in space. Visualize that there is a handle sticking out of the wall, and you are holding that handle with your right hand.

18. Once again, it is the limbs in the back that are really supporting the posture: the right arm is keeping the body upright, as we tend to lean forward in Virabhadrasana. The back leg is your anchor into the Earth – feel that connection!