Hero Pose - Virasana - Foundations of Yoga

Transcript

- Hey everyone, welcome
to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene, and today on
the Foundations of Yoga, we're learning Hero Pose or Virasana. This posture's awesome,
right before bedtime, this is a great set up for meditation. This is something that you
probably will come across in a public class and it's a tender one so I think this is a great one to learn, especially if you have sensitive knees, but for everyone who wants to be super mindful in their practice. We'll learn how to set it
up with props that you have on hand at home, as well as without. So, you're gonna need a block
or a book, something firm, and then two towels. So, if you have two Yoga blankets, great, otherwise, just two towels. So, take a second to go grab those things and let's hop on the mat and get started. (upbeat music) Alright, let's break this thing down. So, I have my two towels here. Notice we have towels
instead of Yoga blankets. You know, I have a big
sack of Yoga blankets but chances are that you may not at home. So, if you do not have Yoga blankets, fear not, you just need two towels. They don't even have to
match, these don't match. We're gonna use them. If you don't have a block or book, you can also use an
extra towel, so fear not. I'm gonna teach us how to
do a supported Hero first and then we'll do it without the props. So, I think it's important
for everyone to learn it with the supports because it's
common for us to think that tending to this pose is just
for people with knee problems or with tight knees, tight knee joints, and I think everyone can benefit
from learning the support because the knees are so precious, right? We really need to be mindful of the knees so I think that's understood by everyone, but just in case you don't
want to learn the supports, give it a try, alright. We're gonna do a really basic support too so it should feel good. Starting with the bottom towel. So, the Yoga blanket will fold perfectly and give you this nice, even ground. The towel will be different so as part of your Yoga practice already is kind of like just going with the flow and working with what you've got, right. Making the best with what you have. Being present so, I love
that about the home practice and about Yoga With Adriene channel, is like you just work with what you got and it's totally different
than what you do at the studio. Studio's awesome, all
the props there, amazing, but it's really nice to
be able to do these things at home for ourselves so. I'm gonna fold the blanket, excuse me, the towel, the blanket, just
so that it's nice and even and then, if you're a
bit of a control freak, perfectionista like me, you're
gonna have to let that go 'cause it may not fold perfectly even. But you're just gonna wanna
get a nice, smooth top and then maybe a clean
edge here for your ankles, but if not, it's okay. Alright, so try to let go of
just getting everything perfect and focus on, you know, is it comfortable? Does it feel supportive? Okay, and then we're gonna
come onto our little cushion. Gonna bring it to the center of your mat. And this will be a little
different for everyone based on, you know, your
towel and your anatomy. And I'm gonna come onto my
cushion and I'm gonna try to get it to where, so I'm gonna
adjust mine so it's longer this way, I'm gonna try to get it to where my ankles fall off the cushion. Alright. So, right at the ankles
and the tops of the feet just fall off there and check it out. Okay cool. So come back to all fours
when you feel like you have found that and just take a second here to notice your breath. Walk the knees hipwidth apart. Shins are parallel and
perpendicular to the floor. Parallel to each other (laughs) and perpendicular to the floor. Alright. I'm gonna go ahead and take my block here and bring it between the ankles and you can kind of snuggle the block with the ankles
here, kind of squeeze. And then nice and slow, pressing
into the tops of the feet, I'm gonna walk the palms back. Bring the thumbs to the backs of the knees and use the thumbs to
gently push the fleshy part behind the knees back and
then continue that down, as you slowly, slowly sit back. So, essentially, I'm taking
the flesh of the calves to the side, should feel good. And I come to sit up nice and tall. Knees are still in line
with the hip points, I'm pressing into the tops of the feet and my feet are able to just kind of fall off the blanket
here so, or the towel so, you can snuggle it back up as you need and then just check it out here. So this is a little bit
of a workshop right. That's what I love about the
Foundations of Yoga playlist is we get to kind of break things down and play so that when you
do go to public class, and you do have all your props available, and you know, the
teacher says, "Virasana", you can go, "Oh, okay, I know
what I need to do for myself "to be present and alive in this posture." So, check out this setup. If you're feeling pretty good here, pretty solid in the knees,
then see what happens if you begin to walk the knees and the inner thighs together. If the body says, "No",
then listen to your body, bring it back, hipwidth apart. If you're on all fours right now going, "Girl, I can't get there,
knee joints are too tight." We're gonna come off and
we're gonna take the towel, probably to a longer length and fold it up to like a mini bolster here so a thin snake, or hotdog like. That comes from working with kids, right. You fold your paper hamburger style, and then you fold it hotdog, okay. So, roll it up hotdog-style and you're gonna bring it
right above the ankles here. So, if you don't have a block, you can just do the same thing right between the arches of the feet, roll it up. I was about to make an inappropriate joke. Roll it up, sit up nice and tall. So, this feels awesome for me. I don't know if you can
see the set up here but feel, looks like it feels
good and it does feel good so I'm giving myself a little cushion on the shins and the ankles. Giving myself a little
cushion between the ankles, the heels and my sitting bones. And then my coccyx, my tail
is really able to kind of ground into the block
so that I can find lift up through the center
line, that plumb line. And then I draw my
shoulder blades together so really, really draw the
shoulder blades together. Anchor a little weight
down through the elbows and then find this big lift in the heart, lift in the sternum. So in Kids' Yoga, but I
say this now actually, in my public class. Someone is like, "How?" you know. It's Hero Pose. Virasana, also known as Thunder Bolt. What kind of energy can
you bring to Hero Pose? Is it like, you know,
you're not just like here. You know. There's a reason we come into these shapes and you need to find that reason, in my opinion. So, we're here. Another option is if the knees are really
tight, you can also take the towel or blanket and
bring it behind the knees and this just gives us
a little bit of space at the crease of the knee
so that you can kind of release some of the
pressure in the knee joint. Oh yeah, this is nice. Really nice. And you can even go
more, like rolling it up and bringing it behind
the knees even more. If you have more blocks,
you can even lift up higher. Great, and then we'll
just, wherever you are in your workshop of this posture, draw the shoulder blades together, press the palms down or flip the palms up, whatever feels good to
you and then find that lift in the heart. It's a great stretch in the quads. Great stretch in the legs. Beautiful opening for the lower body, the ankles, the knee joints. Press into all 10 toes,
so energy through the feet and of course, big lift, Hero Pose. Up through the crown and in the heart. This is a great setup for a meditation. And an awesome pose to just kind of calm, so if you're PO'd or
you've had a rough day, this is an excellent pose
to just kind of setup, and it might seem kind
of abnormal to do that, but what if we started doing this so much that we lived in a world where
you know, we could be like, "Peace out, gonna go setup for
some Hero Pose for a second." And you just go and you
just get your towels and you're ready to do your
thing and you're here for even one minute, and
then you come off your mat and continue with the rest of your day. That's the goal, for me. Okay, I'm gonna come out of this. In case you wanna learn
it without the props. Maybe that's available to you in your body and if it's not, good thing we know now, how to set this up with the props. So, it's all different levels. Oftentimes, in public Yoga
class, I'll grab a block, you know, no matter what. I actually always grab
a block and a blanket. It's just nice to kind
of cushion the knees and sit on a block but, with just the block, we come to all fours,
knees hipwidth apart. I squeeze the block here. Also a good setup for Camel Pose. Check in with your breath and walk the palms back. Take the thumbs behind the knees, walk the fleshy part
or pull the fleshy part of the calves back. And this might be your Hero, or you might walk the knees together. Just kind of going
through this a little bit swifter. Great, and then without the block, I'm gonna play, coming to all fours, connecting to my breath,
walking the palms back, fleshy part of the calves move away and I sit back between the heels. It's a lot different. Find that length up through the crown. If it feels good, I might
walk the knees together. I'm pressing into the tops of the feet, nice stretch here. Sitting between my heels. Lift in the crown, lift in the heart, shoulder blades drawing in
together and down, activate. Okay. Find a little variation
here to work towards. Knees hipwidth apart, big toes to touch. Sitting down here and then eventually snuggling the sitting
bones between the heels. Knees together, can I get there? Yeah. So, this is a little
tighter, more traditional Hero Virasana. I prefer to keep the space, honestly, because this is just too much
pressure on my ankles here. I can feel it now. But it's just trying to prep
you for all the variations of public class. Okay, awesome work, so wherever you are, let's do this together, just a little, quick, you know, two-minute
meditation of sorts. We're gonna come into your
favorite version of Hero Pose and if you're about to stop
the video 'cause you're like, "I don't have time for
this", you do have time. Let's put it to practice. I think you do, right? A minute and a half, how about it? I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this actually, I'm gonna get this one. Great. Hmm, so nice. So come into your favorite version after your little workshop here. See what feels good for you. And then connect to the
energy here, nice and strong. So find that lift up
through the center channel. Then, like I'm doing here,
feel free to experiment with what feels good today, right. Every day's different, maybe you know, you just did a practice, maybe you're about to do a practice. Hands come to the tops of the thighs. You decide what feels best. Palms face down or palms face up. Everyone, draw the
shoulder blades together. Find that lift up through the crown and then consider the
name of this posture. Hero Pose. You know, I started off
teaching Kids' Yoga, many years ago, and I'd
ask the kids, you know, "How does a hero feel?" You know, "Proud or sad?" Be like, "Proud." "So what does proud look like? "What does victorious
look like in the body?" So look, you know, everyone
puff up and lift up. So it's that here. It's hard to kind of come to that when the knees are screaming or you're not tending to the joints properly so. Hopefully you can get set up
in a way that feels supportive. Just gonna take one quiet moment here to find the breath. You can close your eyes. Settle into this seat, Virasana. (deep breaths) Great, drop the chin to the chest, stretch through the back of the neck. Bat the eyelashes open, hmm. Awesome work my friends. Go ahead and carve a line
with the nose, look up. And then we'll come out of the posture by coming onto all fours, and take the block to the side. Maybe you take a second here to just rock front, rock back. Maybe you take it into a
Cat/Cow or rotate the ankles. Awesome work. Okay, everyone, thank you
so much for taking the time to break down Hero Pose with me. I think it's important that
we remember to take the time to learn these postures, but
not just learn the postures and how to set them up, but
learn them in our bodies, right. And perhaps you already
know that but I feel like it's just a great reminder as
we continue to learn and grow and evolve in our Yoga
practice and in life. Keep checking in with how things feel with you and your body. Set yourself up for greatness and we'll keep inspiring
each other to do that year round, alright. Free Yoga videos every Wednesday. Questions, comments below. Thank you for supporting the channel and contributing to this
community with your conversation and your presence and your energy. It rocks! Let's keep going. Take good care. Namaste. (upbeat music)