Supta Virasana is one of my favorite postures because it has so much to teach. If you find this posture challenging, stick with it and allow it to teach you compassion, patience and unwavering steadiness. Done correctly, this pose will heal knee pain and knee problems! You must be super steady in the actions of your feet and be clear on how a sickled foot will instantly create knee pain. Open to compassion and use as many props as necessary to sit up high enough to find good alignment in the feet and shins while also patiently giving your quads time to open and lengthen.
In addition to healing knees, this pose is brilliant in opening the hip flexors, particularly the psoas. This is where the supine expression really shows up in all its therapeutic glory. Its one of the most powerful postures for rooting the femur bones deeply toward the back body. Be cautious as your practice this pose; your femur bones will want to pull upward toward the sky as you lay back. Can you keep your femur bones rooted while also lengthening your tailbone as you make your way to your back?
From a teaching perspective, this pose is a must as it is truly a marker for exploring the deeper hip openers in the intermediate and advanced postures. Teach your students how to embrace and love this posture and you will open a whole new world of asana for them!
Watch my Supta Virasana video, have fun and enjoy!