Yoga for Absolute Beginners: Virasana
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Thunderbolt pose (virasana) can be particularly hard on the knees and ankles, so David shows you how you can sit comfortably using blankets and pillows, while still getting the most from the pose and maintaining the ability to move into other stretches. He also shows you how to make a bolster if you don't have one. This class is a part of a 'Yoga for Beginners' series.
Looking for more of a challenge? Check out the 14-Day Intermediate Challenge here.
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Comments
Doing YTT and this was a nice video on thunderbolt pose and some shoulder exercise. David is wonderful at instruction!
In January, I completed a 30-day challenge and found it difficult because I was also doing studio Barre Pilates and yoga classes. Due to some changes in my schedule, I decided to switch to DYWM with just an occasional studio class. Although I've taken yoga classes for a number of years, I'm starting at the Absolute Beginner level and have learned so much in these first two classes. I wish I had used DYWM when I first started yoga. Hopefully, the three or four days per week of these yoga programs will also be easier than an every day schedule. I'm looking forward to advancing through the levels of the DYWM programs.
Hi David,
I attended a yoga studio for just shy of a year, but have since moved out to the country where there isn't a studio for miles! I haven't practiced yoga for about six months and wanted to do the beginner series to really focus on the fundamentals and make sure that I didn't have any bad habits, since it wasn't really feasible for my previous instructor to focus specifically on MY form all the time with a room full of experienced yogis to teach.
I experienced a non-unsubstantial amount of pain in my knees and inner ankles during this video. I have dynamic arches in my feet, meaning that if the arches don't have to work, they drop down low (similar to a lazy eye, but for arches). Because my legs developed this way, my kneecaps and second toes do not line up. My kneecaps literally point inwards when my feet are parallel, and I therefore need to point my feet outward for my knees to bend straight. I have shoes and exercises to work on correcting/managing this, but because of this misalignment, I found aligning my calves with my heels and middle toes nearly impossible and fairly painful, no matter how many blankets and pillows I used. It took me about 10 minutes after this video to be able to straighten my knees without pain (and without physically moving them with my hands). The inner ankle pain feels like it may be due to a very intense stretch. Are either of these pains normal? Should I be modifying this somehow? It may be worth noting that the tops of my feet were flat on the ground, whereas yours only partially touched the ground.
Any guidance you could offer would be greatly appreciated :)
Hi David, thank you for these classes, its my first time with yoga and I've been really enjoying it. When I tried this, after I put both my hands in my back, my lower back started to bend forward, is this normal? I kept pushing it back to make my spine more straight but it hurt when I did. I also couldn't connect my hands when my right one was up, is this a problem? I have bad posture and a low degree of kyphosis, should I keep trying?
Thanks!