Reverse Warrior

Viparita Virabhadrasana

Reverse Warrior is a powerful standing pose that stretches your hips and groins, while lengthening your spinal and intercostal muscles.

Benefits

• Strengthens upper back, legs, and upper arms

• Stretches groins, hips, inner thighs and chest while lengthening spinal, waist, and intercostal muscles

• Increases energy and stamina

• Encourages confidence, focus, and willpower

Contraindications

• Hip injury

• Knee injury

• Shoulder injury

• High or low blood pressure

• Balance issues

• Neck injury or pain - Instead of turning your head to look up, look straight down

Modifications

• Practice this posture against a wall to help align your hips and shoulders, or if you have issues with balance

Chakras

Reverse Warrior balances the Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana), which governs our intimacy and connectivity, and the Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura), which governs our confidence and will power. This pose helps the practitioner feel more confident and empowered, while learning to set boundaries. It can also help tame the ego if it is out of balance.