Warrior 2

Virahadrasana II.

by Steve Johansen, Hummingbird Pilates and Yoga

 

This month I’m going to be writing about a pose that is called, Virabhadrasana II in Sanskrit, and pronounced as (veer-ah-bah-DRAHS-anna II). This is the second pose in a series of three poses, the pose name is derived from a fierce warrior in Hindu mythology, the first pose represents an archer drawing his bow, then the second pose is him aiming and finally the third pose is the flight of the arrow through the air.

The English translation for this pose is Warrior 2, all three poses in the sequence can be held for a few breaths, as an individual standalone pose, or alternatively, dynamically transitioning in time with the breath, from one pose to another within the sequence.

This is one of the main reasons, I practice this fantastic pose almost every time I step onto my mat.

The other is the placement of the feet on the mat, allowing for several Warrior variations, like Reverse Warrior and Humble Warrior, and other poses like Intense Side Angle Pose and Triangle Pose.

The very name of Warrior 2 pose suggests it is a strong and challenging pose, not just from a physical standpoint. Strengthening and stretching just about every part of the body, from the feet to the tips of your fingers, it's especially noticeable in the calf muscles, quadriceps, hips and shoulders.

The name of the pose also draws your attention, to the opposing forces within the alignment. Grounding your feet firmly into the mat, while lengthening through the spine, as you stretch in opposite directions with your hands.

In physically demanding poses like warrior 2, it’s often easy to focus on just the strength and stability, forgetting to even breathe, but with a little determination, establishing a slow, steady breath, and a focused mental attitude, helps to develop true mindfulness.

 

Where to start

Position yourself in the centre of the mat, facing to the right, in Mountain Pose.

Your weight evenly distributed over the four corners of your feet, hip width apart, soften the knees, tucking the tail bone downwards to the heels, you should feel the fronts of the thighs tighten, along with your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. Inhaling to stand a little taller. On your exhalation roll your shoulder blades backwards and towards each other, stretching the fingertips down and rotating the palms to face forwards. This will help to relax your shoulders and deepen your breath. Find your Dristi, an unfocused gaze, on a point at eye height. Take a moment to feel how strong and stable you feel in this pose, as you will try to emulate this in your hips and torso whilst doing Warrior 2.

Step your feet, leg length apart, approximately 3 feet. keep your hips and your shoulders facing to the right side of the room. Turn your head to look over your left shoulder. Rotate your left foot towards the front of the room, bending your left knee forwards until it’s above the ankle. It’s important to maintain the alignment of the left knee, directly above the ankle, and to ground the four corners of the front foot evenly into the mat. Rotating both the thighs outwards, will help establish a stable foundation for Warrior 2 Pose and will help keep the four corners of the back foot planted firmly down.

Often as we bend into the front knee, our hips tilt forwards slightly, to realign the hips, draw the right hip downwards, tucking the tail bone towards the floor, just as you did in Mountain Pose, you should feel your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles re-engage. On your inhalation, lengthen through the torso, raising your arms to shoulder height, stretching through your fingers, especially the right fingers. Relax your shoulders; by rotating your palms facing upwards, you’ll feel your shoulder blades roll downwards and towards your spine. Keep your shoulders still and rotate your palms facing downwards.

Your Dristi, should be just beyond your left middle finger, establish a slow steady breath, finding strength with each inhalation and ease with each exhalation, to gain the most from this rewarding and challenging pose, hold the pose for three to five long slow steady breaths.

Alternatively, for all those of you who would like to know more, of the benefits of Virabhadrasana II and how to incorporate this pose within your practice, join me at my studio, using this free pass code HPYFREECLASS. My gift to you.