Warrior One Forward Bend With Hands On Hips

What Does Warrior One Forward Bend With Hands On Hips Mean?

Warrior one forward bend with hands on hips is a beginner standing posture that increases flexibility and promotes leg strength.

For this position, the legs are the same as in warrior one pose, which is in a high lunge with the forward leg at roughly a 90-degree angle. However, instead of the arms extended to the sky, the hands are placed on the hips and the upper body folds with a straight back over the extended leg.

Warrior one pose is also known by its Sanskrit name, Virabhadrasana A. The forward bend with hands on hips is just one of several modifications of the pose.

Yogapedia Explains Warrior One Forward Bend With Hands On Hips

Warrior one forward bend with hands on hips creates more length in the spine than warrior one pose and challenges yogis with a more intense hamstring stretch of the rear leg. The arm position, though, puts less stress on the neck, shoulders and arms. The forward bend variation with hands on hips offers many of the benefits as the full version of the pose, such as increasing focus and energy; stretching and strengthening the legs, feet and ankles; and calming the mind. As a forward fold, though, it has these additional benefits:

• Stretches the entire back of the body from the feet to the head
• Calms the nervous system and stimulates the internal organs
• Encourages introspection
• Cools the body

Other modifications of warrior one pose include prayer hands, extended arms with a forward bend, and hands on hips.