Virabhadrasana II
(Warrior II Pose)

Angle your back foot out slightly and straighten out the leg. Bend your front knee into a lunge, pointing it forward so that it's aligned with your hips, shin, and toes. Stretch your arms out in a parallel line. Lengthen through the crown of your head.

What is Virabhadrasana 2 (Warrior 2)

Warrior 2. This standing pose is named after the legendary warrior Virabhadra. It develops strength, endurance, and focus. It also keeps the hips and knees flexible. The muscles of the arms and upper body are also toned by the dynamic holding and lengthening of the arms out from the centre sternum, at shoulder height.

When to use Virabhadrasana 2

This key standing pose is related to the other Warrior poses, such as Virabhadrasana 1 and 3, and is useful in many sequences. Like all standing postures, Warrior 2 will create grounding and opening early on in a practice. This is a good preparatory pose to include in a general standing pose sequence. Looking far beyond the fingertips of the outstretched front arm, while remaining solidly grounded in the two feet, creates a sense of focus, strength and concentrated awareness.

One challenge in this pose is to maintain awareness of the “other side” of the body, in the direction away from which the head is turned. Students may find they need to give extra attention to this “unseen” side and keep the shoulder and the hip on that side one above the other. Do not allow the bodyweight to collapse or fall to the bent-leg side of the pose, keeping the shoulders directly over the hips.