Sunday, July 17, 2011

Yoga Posture: The Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)



This pose is named after Virabhadra, a legendary warrior.  His story is told by the famous Sanskrit playwright, Kalidasa, in the epic, Kumarasambhava.  Regular practice of this asana helps to develop your strength and endurance.  The steps exercise your limbs and torso vigorously, reducing stiffness in your neck and shoulders.  It also makes your knee and hip joints more flexible.

This pose improves breathing capacity by expanding the chest.  It helps in the treatment of a prolapsed or slipped disc.  It alleviates the condition of a broken, fused or deviated tailbone.  It reduces fat around the hips and relieves lower backache.

This pose helps you build strength, confidence and a feeling of power.  It also tones your legs, hips and thighs.  Through this pose the leg muscles become shapely and stronger.  It relieves cramp in the calf and thigh muscles, brings elasticity to the leg and back muscles and also tones the abdominal organs.

Do not allow the torso to either move right or left or tilt forward.  To guard against this, make sure that your right armpit and your right hip are in a straight line.


Note: Please perform the yoga under the guide of a certified yoga teacher especially for beginner. You are at your own risk and responsible if you perform on your own. Whatever provided here is just act as an information.


 
Source from Yoga The Path to Holistic Health by B.K.S. Iyengar
                      Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
                     The Woman's Book of Yoga & Health by Sparrowe Walden