Warrior II Pose or Virabhadrasana II, is an often used yoga pose in flow classes. This pose is great for strengthening the body, but also the mind. Give it a try and see if you can sense the power of the courageous warrior within!
Benefits:
Strengthens the legs and stretches the groin, chest, and shoulders. Increases stamina and helps with focus, coordination and balance.
How to:
There are a lot of ways to get into Warrior II pose, but we’re going to come into it from Tadasana, Mountain Pose.
- Start in Tadasana, Mountain Pose feet beneath the hips heels in line with sitting bones.
- Step your left foot back into a lunge feet hip distance apart.
- Rotate your back foot heel to the mat, toes turned in slightly making sure to press through the heel and outer edge of the back foot
- Make sure your front foot is pointing forward and that the front heel is lined up with the heel or arch of your back foot.
- Bend your front knee directly over your ankle while keeping that back leg straight.
- Keep your torso upright, shoulders stacked over hips.
- Torso is working towards squared to the long edge of the mat. Hips are open but NOT square to the long edge of the mat.
- Release the public bone and tailbone down to the mat evenly.
- Reach your hands in opposite directions, arms straight, in line with shoulders with palms facing down.
- Extend your fingers long and take your gaze, drishti over your front fingers.
- Hold and breathe for 3-5 breaths.
- To release, come back to Tadasana and repeat on the other side.
Modify it:
If your front knee is falling in or you have sensation in the joints (ankle, knee, si joint) then try turning the back toes more in. If shoulders feel strained then bring your hands to heart center. If balance is a challenge, bring your feet a little closer together to shorten your stance or hold on to a wall or a chair.