Reclined Hero Pose (Supta Virasana)

Pronunciation and meaning

Supta Virasana: SOOP-tuh veer-AHS-uh-nuh. Supta stresses the first syllable, and Virasana stresses AHS.

Supta means reclining, vira means hero and asana means posture. It is Hero Pose, the kneeling seat with the feet beside the hips, taken back onto the forearms or the floor.

How to do Reclined Hero Pose

1. Kneel with the knees close together and the feet slightly wider than the hips, tops of the feet on the mat. Sit on a block or bolster between the feet, never on the feet themselves.
2. Check the knees. If there is any pain or strong pressure in them, stay upright in Hero Pose or sit higher. Do not go further.
3. Place a bolster lengthwise behind you. Lean back onto your hands, then lower onto the forearms one at a time, keeping the knees on the floor and close together.
4. If the knees and lower back are comfortable, lower the back onto the bolster. Draw the tailbone gently toward the knees so the lower back stays long.
5. Rest the arms out to the sides and breathe slowly for five to ten breaths.
6. Come up the way you went down: press onto the forearms, then the hands, and sit upright before stretching the legs out one at a time.

Make it easier

• Stay on the forearms, half reclined, with the bolster under the upper back only.
• Recline on one side at a time: one leg folded back as in Hero, the other foot flat on the floor with the knee bent.
• Add a second block under the hips, or a rolled towel under the ankles.

Pregnancy and after birth

Pregnancy. Adapt. Keep a high bolster under the whole back so you stay well propped, and widen the knees for the belly, or stay upright in Hero Pose. Check with your OB or midwife.

After birth. Adapt. Once your doctor or midwife has cleared you, start half reclined on a high bolster. Ease off if you feel a pull along a caesarean scar or across the belly.

Expecting? Joahnna Lee Yoga has notes on adapting each trimester.

Common mistakes

• Lying back when the knees already hurt upright. The knees decide, not the back.
• Letting the knees lift and splay wide, which arches the lower back hard.

Reclined Hero Pose is a deep stretch for the fronts of the thighs, the front of the hips and the ankles. In a hatha class it often comes near the end, after the standing work, when the legs are warm.

It is a pose for people whose knees are already happy in Hero Pose, the kneeling seat on a block. If sitting upright is not yet easy, stay there, or step back to Thunderbolt Pose, sitting on the heels. That is a full practice, not a lesser one.

How do you know if your knees are ready?

Sit in Hero on a block for a minute. If the knees feel fine, try leaning back in stages. If you feel pain inside the knee, a pinch at the side of the joint, or pain that lingers afterwards, leave the reclined version out and see a doctor or physio if it continues.

What can you do instead?

The quad stretch, standing and lying reaches the same muscles with far less knee bending. For a long, supported hold in the Yin style, see Saddle Pose, the Yin version.