Hero Pose
Author: Stuart K. Jackson | 
You may remember sitting in this pose when you were a child, of course never knowing you were doing yoga, it was simply comfortable. Trying this pose for the first time as an adult may make you wonder how you could ever have thought this was comfortable in your past. The reason this posture seems so uncomfortable as we get older is that our hamstrings get tight as we sit in chairs for long period of time.
When you break down the Sanskrit name of this pose, Virasana, into two words you get Vira and Asana; which mean hero and pose respectively.
Hero pose is one of the best all around sitting postures. Once you are comfortable doing it you can use it as your first meditation posture and you might find you like sitting this way anytime you have the opportunity to sit on the floor. Be sure to ease yourself into it; your knees and thighs may be very tight after years of not stretching them.
The Pose
- Kneel on the floor with you knees together. Your feet should be far enough apart for you to sit between them with your toes pointing behind you and the soles of your feet facing upwards.
- Place your buttocks on the floor making sure that you are sitting on the floor and have no weight placed on your feet. If your knees hurt or your thighs are very tight use a yoga brick or blanket to support you until you become more flexible.
- Put your hands on your knees, then straighten and elongate your back.
- Stay in this position as long as you like. At first you may not be able to stay in this position long because of knee pain or stiffness in your thighs, try to work yourself up to saying in this position for at least twelve breaths. To use this position in meditation you will want to be able to stay in it comfortable for at least several minutes.
Variations
The posture presented above is the short form of the Hero’s Pose. The longer form includes interlocking your fingers and raising your hands above your head and then leaning forward to place your chin on your knees. Feel free to add these into your practice if you feel so inclined.
Benefits
The initial, and rather obvious, benefits of this posture are for the knees and the thighs. Anyone who has moderate knee pain and tight quadriceps will experience less pain and more flexibly within a few days or weeks of doing this posture daily. Because of the way this posture stretches the ankles and the feet it will help rebuild proper arches. This takes quite a bit of dedication from anyone who has flat feet, but if you were to practice this position for several minutes a day over the span of several months you will see good results.
This pose is also good for digestion as it will relieve the heaviness feeling after a large meal.
Counter Poses
Contraindications