Virabhadra = the name of a fierce warrior, an incarnation of Shiva, described as having a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand feet; wielding a thousand clubs; and wearing a tiger’s skin.
Warrior III Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions

Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose), exhale and fold foward to Uttanasana. From Uttanasana, exhale and step your left foot back into a high lunge position. Your right knee should be more or less at a right angle. Lay the midline of your torso (from the pubis to the sternum) down on the midline of the right thigh (from the knee to the hip crease) and bring your hands to your right knee, right hand to the outer knee, left hand to the inner. Squeeze the knee with your hands, lift your torso slightly, and with an exhalation, turn it slightly to the right.

See also More Standing Poses

Now from the lunge position, stretch your arms forward, parallel to the floor and parallel to each other, palms facing each other. Exhale and press the head of the right thighbone back and press the heel actively into the floor. Synchronize the straightening of the front leg and the lifting of the back leg. As you lift the back leg, resist by pressing the tailbone into the pelvis.

See also Poses for Better Balance

Normally students come up into Virabhadrasana III by lunging the torso forward. This tends to shift the body weight onto the ball of the front foot and unbalance the position. Don’t allow the torso to swing forward as you move into position; instead, as you straighten the front knee, think of pressing the head of the thighbone back. This centers the femur in the hip joint, grounds the heel into the floor, and stabilizes the position.

The arms, torso, and raised leg should be positioned relatively parallel to the floor. For many students the pelvis tends to tilt. Release the hip [of the raised leg] toward the floor until the two hip points are even and parallel to the floor. Energize the back leg and extend it strongly toward the wall behind you; reach just as actively in the opposite direction with the arms. Bring the head up slightly and look forward, but be sure not to compress the back of your neck.

See also Master Class: A New Sequence to Warrior III

Stay in this position for 30 seconds to a minute. Release back to the lunge on an exhalation. Bring your hands to the floor on either side of the right foot, and on an exhalation, step your left foot forward to meet your right. Stay in this forward bend for a few breaths, then repeat for the same length of time on the other side.

GO BACK TO A-Z POSE FINDER

Sanskrit Name
Virabhadrasana III

Modifications and Props
Balancing in this pose can be very challenging for beginners. Prepare for the pose with a chair positioned in front of you, just a bit in front of your sticky mat (face the back of the chair toward you). When you stretch your arms forward (as described in step 3 above), take hold of the top of the chair. As you rise up into the full pose, push on and slide the chair away from you and use it to support your arms. Try to hold the chair as lightly as possible.
Deepen the Pose
Advanced students can enter Virabhadrasana III from Virabhadrasana I. Perform the Warrior I with the arms stretched upward. Exhale the front torso down onto the top of the forward leg. From here move into Virabhadrasana III as described in Step 3 above.

The Amazing Benefits Of Yoga

Have you ever watched dogs and cats wake up? What’s the first thing they do? They stretch!
Have you ever watched a brand new baby resting? They are totally quiet and still, there breath is deep and peaceful.
Have you ever taken the time to notice how you feel when you laugh, see a beautiful sunset, hug a loved one, sing a song?
What do all these things have in common?
The answer is yoga.

Yoga is the oldest form of stretching to human kind. It is over five thousand years old; yet, it is only now seeing increased popularity across our world. Why?
Because of its many and everlasting health benefits.

Yoga means union of your body, mind and spirit, (spiritus is Latin for breath).
Our breath is everything in life. We simply cannot live without it.
Have you ever noticed when life is perfect for you? Maybe you have found a new love, your kids are behaving perfectly, you are in the zone while playing golf or tennis or exercising or you are just simply peaceful in this moment. That is yoga.

Ancient yogis tell us the body is the past, (it is history), the mind is the future, (it is a mystery), but the greatest gift given to us, the connection between body past and mind future, is our breath!
That is why it is called the present. Indeed our breath and our bodies are an incredible gift!
Walt Whitman reminds us,” Happiness, not in another place, but in this place; not for another hour, but for this hour.”
Isn’t time to enjoy your present?

The main purpose of yoga is to focus on our breath and bodies, to open us up to the awareness of who we already are. Many of all ages, from little leaguers to professional athletes, from the physically and mentally challenged, from our young to our experienced elders, all are finding the amazing and wonderful affects of yoga. Those who are new to yoga and think that they will be bored and will get very little in the way of a workout, (who think that all they will do is to chant Om for an hour), soon find themselves huffing and puffing, sweating profusely and saying,”Wow” this is not what I thought it was.

Incorporating yoga along with meditation, cardio, weight bearing density exercises, gratitude and leaving our world a better place, is a recipe for a wonderful, healthy and peaceful life. Who doesn’t want that?

Namaste’
Michael Zerner