Virbhadrasana I

Method

Step 1: Stand in Tadasana with your hands on your waist. Move your left leg at the back. The gap between your feet should be 4.5 to 5 feet apart.

Step 2: Inhale and while inhaling, slowly raise your arms above your head. Your arms are perpendicular to the floor.

Step 3: Exhale and bend your right knee so that your right knee is standing on your right ankle and your right thigh is parallel to the floor.

Step 4: Inhale, start stretching from your tailbone to your spine to your upper back to your neck and slowly drop your head at the back. You are looking at the ceiling now. Hold the posture with normal breathing for 10-20 seconds. Gradually, increase the duration. Slowly, release the posture in reverse order and repeat with the other leg.

Benefits

  • Helps in weight loss, tones up your thighs, relieves stiffness of back, neck and shoulder, develops strength and removes any kind of deformities in legs, helps improve arch of the foot in case of flat foot.
  • These postures can be practiced by anyone at any level of fitness. However, depending on the level of fitness, one would need to modify it and gradually move towards the perfection. Do not be in a hurry to perfect the posture but improve in steps so as to avoid injury/s.

Contraindications