Set up your tadasana with feet hip distance apart, shift your weight over to one side and take a step directly back with the other foot, place it down with your toes pointing towards the front of the mat as much as comfortably possible for you. Check in here to ensure your feet have remained hip distance apart.

Square your hips off to the front of your mat, you may need to bring your hands down to your hips to assist.

As you inhale, engage your bandhas and reach your arms straight up in line with your ears shoulder width apart. Fingers splay and reach towards the ceiling, pinky fingers turn slightly inwards towards each other as you draw your arm bones down into their shoulder sockets and lengthen through the collar bone. Ensure you aren’t wearing your shoulders as earrings.

As you exhale, bend through the front knee to a 90 degree angle, ensure your knee does not pass the ankle, lengthen your stance if needed.

Breath here as you check in with your body. Ground down through the four corners of your front foot, firmly press through the outside edge of your back foot, the big and little toe mounds and lightly engage your arch.

Switch the legs on and use them to further square your hips off, front hip comes back whilst back hip comes forwards. On your next inhalation can you reach towards the sky? elongate through the spine all the way through to the crown of your head, chin slightly tucked and as you exhale can you sink a little deeper?

Variations here, Adjust your stance, shorten or lengthen your stance as needed in order to find the correct alignment in your hips. Arm variations are also available here. You might like to draw your hands together and take a bind, keep the length in your spine and ensure that your ribs don’t flare, prayer hands, hands can remain on your hips.

Virabhadrasana 1 is a great pose for connecting with your balance and strengthening throughout the body.