Please meet Megan Cavanagh. She is Mind Body Flow Yoga’s featured student for this month’s newsletter. Megan has a beautiful yoga practice and was generous in sharing it with us, as she demonstrates Peaceful Warrior Pose (Bakasana).
What’s This Pose About?
This is a pose that stretches the side body. The resulting shape is a deep opening through the legs, hips, back, and abdomen muscles. Watch Megan enter into this asana from Mountain Pose (Tadasana). She will exit the pose and land back in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) as well.
https://mindbodyflowyoga.wistia.com/medias/ghr8f0t0qe?embedType=api&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=960
Here are a few things to keep in mind, if you decide to try this pose, or if you have already started to experiment and play around with it.
Tips
- Peaceful warrior is transitioned into from from Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II).
- Come into Warrior II to begin.
- While in Warrior II, you want to make a few adjustments to transition into Peaceful Warrior. Make sure your arms are in a straight line, then turn your front hand so that your palm is facing up. Keep your shoulders back and down. Keep your back knee loose but straight – in other words, you don’t want your knee joint to be locked or hyper extended. Keep your front knee bent as it is in Warrior II.
- Inhale as you bring your front arm up and back. You are extending your torso and arm as you lean back. Don’t bend too far, this pose is more about extending up and over than about bending. At the same time you are extending up, you are sliding the back hand down your back leg. Don’t push down on the leg, but let your fingertips gently rest on the leg. Use your abdomen muscles to hold your body in this pose. Engage your core. Keep your weight spread evenly across both of your feet. Hold this pose for 3-5 deep breaths.
- Slowly bring yourself back up to a neutral spine while exhaling. From here, you can go back into Warrior While in Warrior II, or cartwheel the arms to the ground and go into a vinyasa flow from there (high plank, to low plank, upward facing dog, to downward facing dog).
- Don’t forget about the other side. Step into Warrior II on the other side with the opposite leg in front and transition into Peaceful Warrior following the same instructions above.
Benefits
- Improves back flexibility and back pain
- Strengthens your legs, feet and abdomen muscles
- Opens the hips
- Stretches the arms
- Lengthens and stretches the torso and spine
Caution
- Avoid this posture if you have neck or spinal injuries, shoulder injuries, or high or low blood pressure.
- Enlist the help of an experienced instructor with Peaceful Warrior Pose if this is your first time trying it.
Have you tried this pose before? What has been your experience?
