Pose of The Week: Warrior III, Virabhadrasana III

Warrior III is a challenging and beautiful pose.  Aligning us with our inner and outer strength, this is a pose that requires concentration, strength, and balance.

Warrior III, Balanced, Stable, Strong

The physical benefits of the pose:

Strengthens the legs, feet, and ankles

Builds focus, balance, and improves posture

Strengthens the core

Strengthens the arms and shoulders

Stretches the entire body, particularly hamstrings, inner thighs, shoulders and arms

Warrior III is also known as ‘Virabhadrasana III’, and is named after a Fierce Warrior, one of the incarnations of Shiva.

There are many different ways to come into Warrior III.  Typically in my own practice and when I teach, we start in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) or in Warrior I.

Warrior I

Starting from Warrior I, transfer the weight into the front leg

Slowly the upper body charges forward

Torso parallel to the ground

The back leg lifts, hips square to the floor