VIRABHADRASANA 2 (Warrior 2)
I often hear comments from students that yoga is not challenging enough or that they need to run or lift weights to build their leg muscles. Check out this yoga standing pose!
Virabhadrasana 2 (veer-ah-bah-DRAHS-anna) was named after a fierce warrior, Virabhadra , who was an incarnation of Shiva. This pose tones the legs, inner thigh muscles and the abdominal muscles. It also opens the chest, tones the arches of the feet and increases stamina. It is therapeutic for flat feet, osteoporosis and sciatica. You can hold this pose for a couple of breaths on each side, longer for those students who are more advanced.
Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Walk or jump your feet wide apart, approximately a leg length apart. To check the distance of your stance, take the arms out parallel to the floor and have your ankles in line under your wrists.
With the arms out parallel to the floor, turn the palms facing up. Feel the broadness along your collarbones and openness in the chest. Keeping this openess, turn the palms to face down. Draw the shoulder blades toward each other and down the back. Then reach out through the fingertips.
As you turn your feet, lift the balls of the feet and pivot on the heels. This is safer for the knees. Right foot turns to the right 90 degrees and the left foot turns in slightly. Here, ground the feet. Let the heels and the balls of the feet (big toe mound and little toe mound) root down into the floor and allow the inner arches to lift away from the floor. If you find lifting the arches of your feet here challenging, make a note to yourself to practice this in Tadasana and all standing poses.
On your next exhale, bend the right knee 90 degrees so it comes over the right ankle. If the knee extends ahead of the ankle, try taking a wider stance with your feet. The tendency here might be to let the right knee drop on the inside of the ankle. The toes and kneecap should be facing the same direction on each leg. Engage the thigh muscles, so you feel strong like a warrior.
Lift your ribcage away from your waist and turn your gaze over the right finger- tips. Let the shoulders stack directly over the pelvis. If the tendency here is to reach forward so the chest is heading over the bent leg, use the back arm to draw the torso over the pelvis while keeping the legs and hips steady.
Take a few breaths here.
Engage the back inner thigh. And root the feet and lift the arches.
To come out of the pose, on an inhale straighten the right leg by pressing the right foot into the floor. Turn the feet parallel to each other (turning on the heels!) and then turn the feet to the left and repeat.
If you find your arms get too tired in this pose, feel free to take your hands to your waist and just continue the action of the legs.
Justina Brewer