Virabhadrasana 1, the first of three warrior poses and in my mind the most difficult.
So it will come as no surprise to the regular reader to find that I never teach Warrior 1 in the “traditional” manner.
In both the Iyengar and Astanga styles of yoga, Warrior 1 is taught with a wide stance and the back heel firmly pressed down into the mat, like you will see if you click here.
I teach two variations of this pose: one can be seen in the picture above and is the variation I use if coming into Warrior 1 from Downward Dog, the other with the back heel down, we’ll discuss in a week or so.
If you look at the photo above, you’ll see that the back heel is lifted and the weight in the back foot is on the ball of the foot – like a high lunge.
To me, Warrior 1 is all about opening and lengthening. Opening the chest, hips and shoulders, lengthening the sides of the body. For many people performing this asana in the traditional manner means that the pelvis is twisted, which can make the lower back feel crushed and the ribcage feel twisted. In my mind this isn’t particularly conducive to opening, lengthening or, for that matter, breathing. If, however, we lift that back heel off the mat and have both sets of toes pointing forwards the front of the hips can square up to the front of the mat, taking away pressure in the lumbar spine which means we can bring length to the lower back and really concentrate on that opening and lifting feeling.
The most important part of Warrior poses is feeling strong and capable, able to go into battle for what we believe in – and we can’t really do that if our lower backs are giving us hell eh?
Two other tiny points:-
1. Try looking straight forward rather than up – if the back of the neck is long, the lower back will lengthen too.
2. Rather than bringing the palms of the hands together try having the hands shoulder width apart or wider to allow the shoulders to release from the ears and the shoulderblades to slide down the back.
I’m not of fan of Vira I either, to be honest. Vira II anytime, Vira I not so much.
I’ve been having fun with Iyengar’s “Light on yoga” lately, my own personal experiment for my TTC. So VIra I in and out, every single day. I found out I got more length and opening by really pressing the edge of the back foot in the ground and lifting my round buttocks. I gain more flexibility in the pelvis and can level the hips.
I’ll take a wider stance in Vira II then.
But then I choose to reduce the stance a bit, I don’t have long and lean limbs
I also prefer hands shoulder-width apart, otherwise my shoulders think my ears are their siamese twins.
Another approach to this pose, as my teachers teach it, is to modify the stance. The ‘traditional’ stance for the posture includes a heel-to-heel alignment. Instead, step the back foot toward the side edge of the mat, increasingly the width between the feet (so the heels are almost hip-width apart horizontally).
This allows many students to keep the back food flat to the floor and root down through the back heel (which is important for balance and grounding). With this alignment, many students are able to square the hips toward the top edge of the mat. It maintains a sense of space and openness in the lower back and sacrum.
One way to introduce an ‘upward gaze’ without compromising the alignment of the neck to the spine is to encourage students to lift their chins only an inch, but direct the gaze of the eyes slightly upward.
I’m enjoying reading about how you teach different postures! It’s a fun feature of your blog. Thanks for sharing with us! I hope it inspires discussion amongst the teachers who read.
@Kai – thank you – I’ve got some more stuff on modifying the stance over the next week or so
There are days I LOVE this pose, and days I find it extremely challenging (won’t use the ‘opposite of love’ word but I’m tempted!).. I agree that its all about opening and lengthening and on those days when I ‘love it’ it really is such an energising pose. For me, it’s all about working the legs (esp the back one), so that the lower back and torso has the necessary support to lift and lengthen out of the hips. Having the back heel against a wall helps to keep the awareness in the back leg.
It’s usually when my legs are tired that I struggle. Looking foward to more on Vira I -thanks for sharing… x
both sivananda and kripalu styles follow this vira I form. i know i teach it both ways and then invite students to go with what, overall, feels better for them. waaay more pick the ashtanga version… i think because it is less “work” on the legs.
thanks!
@ Emma – I’m surprised at that. I think all of mine would pick the kirpalu style – but then I think we all have sacro-iliac/lumbar issues (we are all rather old, it is clearly my niche).
as a girl with some si problems the above version of warrior is really a good one for me.
hugs!!
I always invite students to let their gaze/neck rest wherever is best for them. Neck problems mean looking up just isn’t a good idea for some people, and certainly for me on a bad neck day, it’s a no-no.
I’ve not seen this heels off the ground version before but it would definitely come in handy for some of my male students I’m thinking!
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