Benefits of Vyaghrasana and How to Do it By Dr. Himani Bisht

Introduction:

Over half of the world’s population is suffering from mental and physical issues. To overcome all these issues, yoga is the best remedy. Yoga can relax and calm your mind and help to enhance body function. Yoga is the mastery of controlling your body and mind. According to Pancha Kosha, balanced yoga therapy can balance mind-body disturbances by using mind-body-breathe techniques that include practising yoga postures along with controlled breathing.¹ There are powerful yoga poses that may help to achieve a healthy body and mind. One such pose is the vyaghrasana or tiger pose. Let us look at the steps to do vyaghrasana and its incredible health benefits! 

What is Vyagharasana?

The asana vyaghrasana is known as the tiger pose or tiger asana. In English, ‘vyaghra’ means tiger, and ‘asana’ means pose. The tiger pose is a dynamic yoga posture that warms up the body. In this, the body movements are coordinated with the breath, providing deep relaxation to the mind and body. The Tiger pose yoga improves the spine’s flexibility and strengthens the abdomen, back, legs, hips, and buttock muscles.² 

How To Do It?

You can do vyaghrasana yoga in the following way:² 

• First, start with the tabletop position in which you are seated on your heels and hands relaxed on your thighs. 
• Now come onto your knees and keep your palms on the ground. 
• Knees should be at the hip distance apart, and hands just under the shoulders in a relaxed position. 
• Next, your heels should be upwards, and your toes firmly on the ground. 
• Once you achieve body balance, straighten the right leg, and stretch it up and back. 
• Bend the right knee and point the toes towards your head. 
• Now, look up and try to touch your right toe to the back of your head and hold in this position for a few seconds.  
• Then inhale and slowly straighten the right leg. 
• Now, exhale while swinging your right leg under your hips. 
• Now, arch the back up and bend your head down. Your right foot should not touch the ground. 
• You should press the right knee against the chest and try to touch the nose to the knees. 
• Now, go back to relax position and perform this asana 4 to 5 times with each leg.  

Do You Know?

Some of the interesting facts about vyaghrasana are:  

• The tiger pose is an intermediate-level asana. 
• Tiger pose may stimulate sacral or Swadhisthana chakra.² 
• If you want to maintain the position for longer, keep the thighs and hips tight.  
• The following poses should be performed after the tiger pose: 
  • Prasarita Balasana 
  • Savasana 
  • Maracana 
• Here are the vyaghrasana variations which you can perform once you achieve body balance in the tiger pose: 
  • Athena vyaghrasana-Raised tiger position 
  • Vyaghrasana, foot touching head 
  • Vyaghrasana, foot resting on the head 
  • Eka hasta vyaghrasana (One-handed tiger position) 

As per my observations, poor posture has become quite common due to a sedentary lifestyle. These might result in excessive load on the lumbar spine, inadequate muscular endurance, an imbalance of the hip extensor, back injuries and lower extremity instability. In my experience, regular practice of Vyaghrasana may reduce pain while enhancing spine stability and function.

Dr. Siddharth Gupta, B.A.M.S, M.D (Ayu)

Benefits of Vyaghrasana:

Some of the Vyaghrasana benefits are as follows:  

1. Benefits of Vyaghrasana for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): 

 Irritable bowel syndrome is a disorder relating to the stomach and the intestine that causes abdominal pain, bloating, and discomfort, leading to headaches, anxiety, and depression. A study by Kavuri et al. in 2015 found that yoga practices that include breathing techniques and asanas, such as vyaghrasana, may reduce irritable bowel disease.¹ However, more studies are required to understand the full extent of vyaghrasana’s benefits. Therefore, yoga should not be used as a substitute for ongoing medications. It is best to consult with a doctor if you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).   

2. Benefits of Vyaghrasana for Type 1 Diabetes: 

Type 1 diabetes is a genetic condition in which there is the destruction of insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. Insulin is used to control the levels of blood sugar level. A study by Maurya et al. in 2020 showed that performing a yoga regime that includes vyayama, cleansing processes, and regulated breathing helped type 1 diabetes patients. The study showed that yoga postures such as vyaghrasana restore pancreatic cells, improve blood supply to muscles, and enhance insulin secretion that controls blood sugar levels.³ However, more studies are required to check if vyaghrasana can alone benefit type 1 diabetes or not. Therefore, you must consult your doctor if you have diabetes.   

3. Benefits of Vyaghrasana for premature ejaculation: 

Premature ejaculation is a sexual disorder in young males that causes early ejaculation before the person’s wish or after penetration. A study by Mamidil et al. in 2013 showed that performing regular yoga postures such as vyaghrasana may improve ejaculatory control, muscle tone, and blood flow to pelvic and perineal muscles among men.⁴ However, more research is required to understand how vyaghrasana benefits premature ejaculation. So, if you are facing this issue, you should consult a doctor and seek treatment accordingly.  

4. Benefits of vyaghrasana for depression: 

Depression is a mental health problem affecting millions of people around the world. A study by Kim et al. in 2022 on single mothers with depression found that those who have participated in a total of 8 yoga sessions consisting of asana yoga, including vyaghrasana and meditation once a week for 120 minutes, may lower the depression symptoms.⁵ It may also reduce anxiety and promote mental calm. However, more research is required to understand tiger pose yoga benefits.  You must consult a doctor if you have depression.   

Other benefits of vyaghrasana:  

• Vyaghrasana may reduce inflammatory markers that lead to inflammation.³ 
• It may improve physical fitness.³ 
• Vyaghrasana may improve immune function.³ 
• It may improve the flexibility and strength of spinal muscles.² 
• It may strengthen the muscles of the arms, knees, and thighs.² 
• Vyaghrasana might help in removing any stiffness around the hips.² 
• It may help in relieving sciatica pain^2. 
• It may promote digestion. ^2. 
• It may tone female reproductive organs and may be beneficial for women after children.
• It may reduce excess fat and tone thighs and hips.²  
   

Yoga practice may help develop the mind and body; however, it is still not an alternative to modern medicine. Therefore, you must not rely on yoga alone to treat any condition. Instead, please consult a qualified doctor who can assess your condition and advise accordingly. Moreover, it is necessary to practice and learn yoga under the supervision of a trained yoga teacher to avoid any injuries.  

In my experience, Vyaghrasana may strengthen the muscles in the back and the core and relieve pregnancy-related back discomfort. However, I strongly recommend that pregnant ladies first consult their doctors and practice this yogasana only under an expert’s supervision.

Dr. Rajeev Singh, BAMS

Risks of Vyaghrasana

The risks associated with tiger pose yoga are as follows:  

• Do not stain your legs too much, as it may cause pain.  
• You must avoid this pose if you have a hernia, slipped disc, joint pain, weak wrists, spinal disorders, Migraine, pain in the lower back, severe cervical pain, recent injuries to the neck, knees, and back, recent surgery on the neck, back, chest, legs, and abdomen, third trimester of pregnancy.  
• Pregnant women shall be careful while performing vyaghrasana and must practice under a qualified yoga expert.  
• People with medical conditions associated with heart, back, cervical, or spondylitis must consult a doctor before starting this asana. 

With the guidance of a qualified and experienced yoga teacher/yoga expert, we can assess the risk factors and continue to perform vyaghrasana with precautions.  

Conclusion

The asana vyaghrasana is also known as the tiger pose. In English, ‘vyaghra’ means tiger, and ‘asana’ means posture. Vyaghrasana may improve muscle strength, spinal flexibility, and postural balance. It may benefit patients with depression, type 1 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, weak core muscles, and premature ejaculation. People with a hernia, weak writs, slipped disc, joint pain, spinal injuries, migraine, severe cervical pain, lower back pain, and conditions of thighs, knees, and hips should not do the vyaghrasana pose. Pregnant mothers, people with heart conditions, and spondylitis must be cautious and consult a doctor when doing vyaghrasana. You must do this pose under the guidance of a professional yoga trainer.  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

References:

1. Kavuri V, Raghuram N, Malamud A, Selvan SR. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Yoga as Remedial Therapy. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015;2015:1–10. Available From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4438173/ 

2.Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha. Yoga Publications Trust; 1973.Available from: https://ia804508.us.archive.org/31/items/aaa_20210704/aaa.pdf    

3. Maurya S, Kumar DIR, Singh DA, Nagaratna DR. Development and Validation of a Yoga Module for Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes. Global Journal of Medical Research [Internet]. 2020 Aug 15 [cited 2022 Dec 27];20(F9):47–55. Available from: https://medicalresearchjournal.org/index.php/GJMR/article/view/2237/6-Development-and-Validation_JATS_NLM_xml 

4. Mamidi P, Gupta K. Efficacy of certain yogic and naturopathic procedures in premature ejaculation: A pilot study. International Journal of Yoga. 2013;6(2):118. Available From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734637/ 

5. Kim S-J, Lee Y-H. Effectiveness of yoga training programs to reduce depression and improve the resilience of single mothers. Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation. 2022 Apr 26;18(2):104–9. Available From: https://www.e-jer.org/journal/view.php?number=2013600930 

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