Every time we step onto the mat, we face the physical limits of our bodies, but we also bump into the emotional and psychological hurdles that keep us from attaining our fullest potential. Through asanas, breathwork, and the wisdom of yoga philosophy, we can develop potent tools to foster resilience, determination, bravery, and perseverance. Each moment we push against our boundaries—whether by holding a pose for just one more breath or attempting a challenging asana—we’re cultivating courage.
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What is Courage?
Courage is the inner strength to overcome fear and uncertainty. It propels one to take appropriate action when needed. The word courage originates from the French term coeur, which translates as heart. This etymology suggests that true courage comes from deep within our emotional core.
Courage can appear in many forms. It might be physical bravery, like rescuing someone in danger. It could be moral courage, standing firm in your convictions even when challenged. Emotional resilience is yet another aspect, involving the willingness to face personal fears and vulnerabilities head-on. Yoga can strengthen courage on all levels—physical, mental, moral and emotional.
In the yoga tradition, courage is a rich virtue that encompasses fearlessness, inner strength, authenticity, and spiritual development. In Sanskrit, the word saurya translates to courage and shares its roots with the word for sun. While not always highlighted in yogic texts, this idea beautifully illustrates that true courage springs from a profound inner source, much like the sun’s radiant energy.
Abhayam: The Absence of Fear
In yogic philosophy, the absence of fear (Abhayam) is considered a fundamental virtue. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna lists fearlessness as the first of the 26 Divine Treasures of a virtuous human. This highlights how fearlessness is essential to spiritual growth and liberation. Krishna teaches that fear stems from attachment and uncertainty. Through devotion, dharma, knowledge and wisdom, one can build the capacity to act bravely.
The Best 11 Yoga Poses for Courage
Certain yoga poses can enhance our physical, mental, and emotional resilience and strength, helping to cultivate courage and confidence in the face of challenges. A daily practice of the below poses can help us to confront fears and uncertainties with grace and determination.
- Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I): This asana symbolizes strength, determination, and a brave warrior spirit. With the front foot stepping forward and the back foot firmly rooted to the earth, Warrior I inspires us to face challenges and difficult situations head-on with an open heart.
- Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II): With active and rooted legs and a one-pointed gaze on the horizon, Warrior II encourages an unwavering sense of presence, determination, and inner strength. Holding this asana with a slow, deep breath creates discernment, focus, and the courage to see clearly the challenges ahead.
- Camel Pose (Ustrasana): This heart-opening asana accesses and opens the anahata chakra to promote vulnerability, surrender, and the release of feelings and emotions that do not serve your highest good. It takes great courage and inner strength to fully open and reach the chest towards the sky in this deep backbend.
- Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): Learn how to rise above self-doubt, fear, and negativity as you to lift your chest and heart toward the sky in this gentle backbend. Use the symbolism of a cobra snake to inspire the shedding of old patterns and limiting beliefs, and to embrace its powers of transformation, renewal, wisdom, courage and self-awareness.
- Bakasana (Crow Pose): Courage, strength, focus, determination, and balance are all required to successfully pursue this challenging asana. Overcoming the fear of falling and failing is essential to hold this pose for more than one breath.
- Forearm Plank (Makara Adho Mukha Svanasana): Build core strength with Forearm Plank. Activate the solar plexus chakra, linked to willpower, determination, and self-esteem. Develop the physical and mental strength needed for courage.
- Chair Pose (Utkatasana): This Fierce pose asks us to deeply breathe and sit with the discomfort, challenge, and intensity of the present moment. With practice, we can bring this resolve, focus, and inner strength off our mats and into our everyday lives to be present with adversity as it arises.
- Lion Pose (Simhasana): Learn to roar like a lion and embody a fearless attitude in this invigorating asana. Feel the power of a lion’s majesty, valor, strength and fearlessness as you stick out your tongue and fiercely exhale in this pose.
- Low Crescent Lunge (Anjaneyasana): Find a foundation of support and strength to allow the heart to open and expand in this asana. The balance of strength and vulnerability required in this lunge is often helpful when navigating life’s many challenges.
- Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana): This heart-opening pose promotes a grounded confidence to rise above self-limiting beliefs and embrace new possibilities. Through lifting the chest outwards and upwards, you create space for courage, confidence, vulnerability, and fearlessness to flow in.
- Boat Pose (Navasana): The strength, concentration, and endurance needed to create the “V” shape in this asana illustrates the inner fortitude required to navigate and stay afloat amidst life’s turbulent waters.
Yogic Techniques for Courage
Finding Your Inner Warrior
The warrior archetype personifies the qualities of inner strength, determination, authenticity, and resilience. The Inner Warrior represents not only the physical prowess required to master challenging asanas but also the mental fortitude to face life’s adversities with grace and confidence. While the warrior poses—Virabhadrasana I, II, and III—invite us to embody the qualities of a warrior, there are many other asanas and yogic practices that can also cultivate a warrior-like courage off of our yoga mats.
Finding your inner warrior is a process and practice, but it is also an attitude! Notice the places where you make yourself feel small or when doubt and insecurity arise. Instead of shrinking away, make a conscious choice to step into a place of power, courage, and confidence.
Pratipaksha Bhavana
Pratipaksha Bhavana, the mental practice of creating a positive thought as an antidote to negative thought or feeling, is described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This mindfulness practice requires the recognition of doubt, anxiety, fear or other negative emotion, and the deliberate cultivation of a positive mindset to counteract it. Try using these affirmations when you need to shift your mindset towards courage:
- With each breath, I nourish my inner strength and warrior spirit.
- I choose to rise above fear and step into my true potential.
- I am strong, resilient, and capable of overcoming any challenge that comes my way.
- I accept the unknown with a courageous and open heart.
- I welcome challenges as opportunities for growth and transformation.
- With each exhale, I release fear.
Meditation
The control of the mind through various meditation techniques is helpful to cultivate courage. When practicing meditation, we strengthen our focus, inner strength, and resilience. Confronting our fears will be much easier when we have clarity of mind, discernment, and unwavering resolve. When the mind becomes still, we can distinguish between constructive fears that safeguard us and destructive fears that hinder our personal growth. This awareness allows us to make conscious choices rather than reactive decisions driven by habit or unconscious samskaras.
Shraddha (Faith)
Faith and trust provide the inner strength, detachment, and resilience to transcend doubts and obstacles on the spiritual path. Shraddha is not just blind faith, but a confident commitment based on knowledge, wisdom, and experience. It involves trust, devotion, and a deep sense of commitment to the spiritual path. Regular sadhana (spiritual discipline), including meditation, prayer, mantra, reading sacred texts, and devotional rituals, deepens shraddha.
Tapas (Discipline)
Tapas—the fiery determination and commitment to undertake practices that may initially feel uncomfortable or challenging—is a core yogic practice to build courage and grit. Thorough embracing the discomfort, challenge and intensity, we awaken our willpower and cultivate the courage to lean into our physical, emotional, and mental boundaries—both on and off the yoga mat. Each time we challenge ourselves—whether it’s holding a challenging pose for an extra breath or through the psychological discomfort of self-reflection and honesty—we cultivate the courage to face life’s trials with a steadfast heart.
Solar Plexus Chakra Activation
The solar plexus chakra, or Manipura, is the energy center associated with personal power, self-confidence, self-esteem, and courage. Located at the diaphragm, this chakra acts as a bridge between the lower energy centers, which relate to our survival instincts, and the upper centers, which are connected to our higher consciousness and spiritual aspirations. When the solar plexus chakra is balanced and energized, we feel empowered to take action, assert ourselves, and face challenges head-on. When this chakra is blocked or imbalanced, it can lead to feelings of helplessness, self-doubt, and fear of failure. The Manipura chakra can be activated by practicing yoga poses that focus on core strength, such as Boat Pose (Navasana), Plank Pose (Phalakasana), and Warrior III (Virabhadrasana III), and active pranayama techniques, like Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath) and Bhastrika (Bellows Breath).
Pranayama
There are several yogic breathing exercises that help to calm and center the mind, reduce anxiety, and find inner balance. By intentionally slowing down and deepening our breath, we can engage the parasympathetic nervous system, which counters the fight-or-flight response triggered by fear. Use the following breathing exercises to remain calm under pressure, and to maintain your courage when faced with challenges:
- Ujjayi pranayama, known as “victorious breath,” can be practiced during asana to create a sense of determination, vitality, and focus.
- Nadi Shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing, is balancing, harmonizing, calming, and stabilizing.
- Dirga pranayama, or the three-part breath, deeply calms the nervous system, nourishes the heart and emotions, and reduces stress and anxiety.
- Sama Vritti Pranayama, or Equal Breathing, calms the mind, balances one’s life force energy, and reduces anxiety, worry, and stress.
Inquiry Questions
Reflecting on these questions can deepen your understanding and connection with the elements of bravery and courage integrated into yoga practice.
- What personal fears or uncertainties currently hold you back in your yoga practice or everyday life?
- How do you define courage, and what experiences in your life have required you to summon inner bravery?
- In which moments during your yoga practice do you feel the most challenged, either physically or mentally? How do you respond to these moments?
- When was the last time you held a challenging pose for an extra breath? What did this experience teach you about perseverance and courage?
- How does breathing deeply during asanas change your mental state? Have you noticed a difference in how breathwork impacts your emotional resilience?
- Reflect on a time when meditation helped clarify a fear or doubt within you. How did this clarity influence your actions or decisions afterward?
- How can the concept of Shraddha (faith) serve as a guiding principle in overcoming obstacles in both your spiritual path and daily challenges?
Final thoughts
As we practice these techniques and flow through our asanas, we may encounter physical limitations or mental blocks. It is in these moments that we can choose to back down or rise up. With each inhale, choose to draw in courage and confidence. With each exhale, allow yourself to release any lingering doubts or fears.
The courage found on the mat extends far beyond your practice. It becomes a part of who you are—a guiding light that illuminates a clear path through uncertainty and fear. As you step off the mat and into the world, carry this newfound bravery with you. Embrace challenges with an open heart, knowing that you possess the strength and grit to face anything that comes your way.
