How to practice the humble warrior pose in yoga?
Baddha Virabhadrasana (Humble Warrior Pose) is an advanced version of Virabhadrasana Ii (Warrior Pose II), except that this pose is a forward bend with the hands in a baddha (closed) position.
It is derived from the Sanskrit words 'Baddha', 'Veera' and 'Bhadra', which mean bound, warrior and friend. Also called Bound Warrior Stance or Submissive Warrior Stance, as it is a ground stance where the hands are bound.
Learn more about this pose from Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh.
The Humble Warrior Stance (Baddha Virabhadrasana), also known as Bound Warrior, Devout Warrior or Silver Surfer, adds a sense of surrender to the powerful warrior series.
Instead of holding your chest up, ready for battle, you clasp your hands together and let your head fall forward. It's both a nod and a nod, and as relaxing as it is strenuous, depending on which part of your body you're focusing on.
The submissive warrior pose stimulates the body's energy, so it can be incorporated into flow yoga sequences.
Benefits of the humble warrior pose
- Opens up your hips
- Strengthens the legs, glutes and core.
- Improves balance and stability
- Stretches thigh muscles, chest, wrists and spine .
- Stretches your shoulders
Practice the humble warrior stance
1. Start in Tadasana (mountain pose) with feet together and arms along your body. Distribute the weight evenly in your legs. If you find it difficult to balance here, stand with your feet parallel, hip distance apart.
Exhale and step with your left foot about 4 to 5 metres behind you and turn your back foot at about a 45 degree angle so that your toes are pointing towards the top left corner of the mat. The front toes face forward and are parallel to the front edge of the mat.
3. You want to achieve heel to toe alignment. For greater stability, you can run the right foot a few centimetres to the right.
4. Keep your hips facing the front of the mat.
5. On an exhalation, bend your right knee 90 degrees so that the knee is straight over the ankle and the shin is perpendicular to the floor. Distribute the weight evenly across the forefoot as you lift the inner arch and release the root through the heels of the feet.
6. Activate the quadriceps of the rear leg. The leg should be straight without the knee blocking the leg. Root the outside of the hind foot into the ground while applying pressure to the big toe.
7. On inhalation, raise the arms above the head. Widen the collarbones. Pull shoulders away from ears.
8. Extend the tailbone toward the ground while gently pulling the navel in and up toward the spine. Pull the lower ribs inward.
9. On the next inhale, clasp your arms behind your back, interlace your fingers and bring your palms together. Gently lean back and radiate the heart towards the sky.
10. On exhalation, keeping the legs exactly as they are and the spine extended, bend the torso forward from the hips and lift the knuckles to the sky. The torso is on the inside of the right knee.
11. To exit the pose, use the strength of your abdomen to bring your torso back up, extend your front leg, release your hands, and step back into mountain pose. Repeat on the left side.
Humble warrior stance variations
- Shorten or widen the pose .
- Bend the front knee less than 90 degrees .
- If you are a hyperextensionist, place a microflexion in the elbows .
- Release palms away from each other while keeping fingers together.
- Hold the belt with both hands behind your back.
Submissive warrior stance Contraindications:
- High blood pressure.
- High blood pressure.
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