Virasana
(Hero pose)
The hero pose is a classic seated pose that is a common starting pose for various poses. It stretches our thighs, hips, ankle, knee, pelvic tilt, and calves. This asana is very beneficial for meditation and pranayam. ‘Vira’ means hero or warrior, Asana means pose.When you first start practicing Hero Pose, you may find that you cannot sit on the floor between your feet. If you cannot sit on the floor you can sit on a prop, such as a block or folded blanket. You can gradually lower the height of the prop when you feel less pressure on your knees and a less intense stretch in your thighs. It may take several weeks of practice before you can sit on the floor between your feet. Never strain your knees in an attempt to sit on the floor. You should avoid performing Hero Pose if you have a knee or ankle injury.
To stretch your upper body you can Interlace your fingers and then extend your arms forward, parallel to the floor. Turn your palms away from your torso so your thumbs are pointing toward the floor. Inhale as you raise your arms above your head until your palms are facing the ceiling. Be sure to keep your neck long and your shoulders relaxed. Stretching your upper body in Hero Pose can help reduce stiffness in your neck and shoulders and open your chest, increasing your ability to take deeper breaths.
This is an intermediate pose and must be practiced under observation as this may cause severe trouble.
Benefits:
When an individual starts practicing yoga he may find it too confusing and difficult to select the appropriate pose. So an individual needs to learn about all the benefits of a particular posture before practicing it so that they can get more clarity about posture and practice. It is believed that if you know about the benefits of a particular pose and then you practice it the benefits of the pose enhances.
So it is very important to learn about the benefits of a particular pose before practicing it. It will be more beneficial for you.

• Stretches: practicing this pose will stretch your pelvis, quadriceps, knees, and ankles. As we sit in the posture a tremendous stretch can be felt on your ankle and results in stretching and improving the movability of your ankle.
• Flexibility: Practicing this pose will increase flexibility in an individual. The pose brings the maximum stretch on the knees and the area around the knees. Daily practice of this pose helps in improving flexibility in an individual.
• Cure Arthritis: when we practice this pose it massages our knee and warms it up. The warmup will help in curing arthritis. Regular practice of this pose can be very beneficial in arthritis and many knee-related problems.
• Aids in digestion: Practicing this pose can be very beneficial for indigestion. it reduces the symptoms of gas and massages your digestive system. The massage on your digestive system helps in improving digestion. It strengthens the digestive system and improves overall health.
• Blood circulation: Practicing this pose is very beneficial in improving your blood circulation. While practicing in this posture we t5ends to pressurize our legs and when we get back to the initial position, the flow increases and flushes out all the debris from our body. The squeezing and releasing of blood circulation increases the rich blood and improves overall health.
• Spine gets its maximum stretch: This pose improves the posture of the spine which works as an advantage for long hours of meditation or pranayama.
• Mental focus: practicing this pose improves the mental focus of an individual. It increases the oxygenated blood flow in your body and helps in improving the blood flow.
• Cures rheumatism disorder: Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. This pose with the flexing of the knees and the hips helps in therapeutically curing rheumatic pains in the knees.
• Curing flat feet: Practicing this pose helps in curing the problem of flat feet. It stretches the ankles and helps an individual in correcting the problem of flat feet.
• Cools down the legs: Practicing this pose will help in cooling down the legs. It is very helpful for athletes to cool down their legs after running. It improves blood circulation in your legs and cools down the feet. This pose is also beneficial in reducing the cramps caused due to running or exercising.
• Balances dosha: Practicing this pose will balance the Vata dosha and eventually calm your mind.
• Therapeutic in blood pressure: Practicing this pose is beneficial in maintaining your blood pressure. It calms your mind and maintains your blood pressure. This pose is very beneficial in maintaining blood pressure and also helps in controlling asthma.
• Correct posture: Practicing this pose will help you in improving your posture. The stretch in your spine and hips will help you in improving the posture of your back, shoulder, and hips.

Techniques:
To ensure safe practice of the pose it is very important to practice with the right technique. Every posture has its technique which ensures the correct practice of the posture with more benefits and lesser injury. Hence it is very important to practice the posture very safely.
Step 1: Kneel on the floor with your knees hip-width apart and your thighs parallel.
Step 2: Move your feet a little more than hip-width apart, keeping the top of your feet flat on the floor.
Step 3: Lean forward and then use your hands to turn the fleshy part of your calves outward.
Step 4: Exhale as you sit on the floor between your feet. If you feel any discomfort in your knees or you cannot sit on the floor, place a prop, such as a block, thick book, or folded blanket, between your feet and sit on the prop.
Step 5: Place your hands on the top of your thighs close to your knees, with your palms facing down.
Step 6: Relax your shoulders and upper body, keeping your spine straight and tall.
Step 7: Point the crown of your head toward the ceiling and gaze straight ahead. Visualize yourself as a warrior sitting tall and proud.
Step 8:  Hold the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute. After performing Hero Pose, you should shake out your legs to help relieve your knees, ankles, and feet.
Precautions:
Practicing the posture with proper precautions is a necessity. To avoid severe injury, it is very important to practice the posture with proper precautions. For a beginner, it is a must to ensure that he knows about the do’s and don’ts to avoid any kind of mishappenings. As all yoga poses are not for everyone. You need to look into your health chart and practice only those poses that are safe and don’t risk your life. Sometimes practicing posture with the wrong technique or without proper precaution can be risky.

• Do not practice this pose if you are suffering from back, spine, knee, ankle, thighs, and hips injury.
• Avoid practicing this case if you are suffering from an abdomen infection. Practicing this pose can worsen your situation.
• Consult a doctor before practicing this pose in case of pregnancy.
• Do not practice this pose if an individual is suffering from vertigo. This posture can enhance the spinning experience and worsen your case.
• Do not practice this posture if you have just recovered from surgery. 
• Do not practice this pose in case of arthritis.
• Do not practice posture if you are suffering from heart disease.

Props and modification:
Sometimes an individual might find it difficult to practice a certain pose. To ensure safety and correct practice of the posture we need some props and modification.
You can modify the pose according to your level of difficulty. You must ensure the safe practice of the pose. You can make changes according to your comfort so that you didn’t get injured while practicing the pose.

• You can place a pillow or blanket underneath if you can’t sit on the floor.
• To modify this pose you can practice several poses such as :

1. Reclined Hero Pose: While sitting in hero pose, walk your hands back, bend your elbows to come down onto your forearms, and slowly lean your torso on the floor.
2. Side twist Hero Pose: From the hero pose, twist your torso towards either side with your palms resting on the floor. Chest wide open and gaze at the shoulder of your back arm.
3. Cow face Hero Pose: While sitting in hero pose, take your left arm behind your back, raise your right arm and take it back. Finally, clasp the fingers of both the palms as we do in cow face pose.
4. Downward-facing Hero Pose: While in hero pose, begin to stretch your hands in front of your torso. Slowly bend forward and touch your forehead to the floor. Keep your palms open like in the downward-facing dog.