Welcome to yoga workshop Fridays! Don’t know what I am talking about, check out this post.
This series will be each Friday explaining how to do a particular pose leading up to a peak pose on the last Friday of the month. Throughout this series, I ask that you listen to your body to prevent injury and warm up for a pose when needed.
Disclaimer: Though I am a certified yoga instructor, please consult your doctor before you begin practice and note that everyone’s practice may look a bit different as you align the pose to your body.
Today’s pose is Warrior 1 or Virabhadrasana I in sandskrit. This pose is one that I struggled with for a long time. It is still difficult for me if I am not warmed up. I like to warm up with a few basic sun salutations and a warrior 2 sequence before doing warrior 1. Find a warm up that works for you and then work on warrior 1.
Warrior 1 is a great pose to work on to help with opening the hips, shoulders and chest area as well as strengthening through the legs.
How to do the pose:
To get into warrior 1, you can either start from standing by stepping one foot back about 3 feet, or start from a lunge with your hands framing the front foot. From either starting position, inch the back foot towards the edge of your mat so that your feet are NOT in line. The idea is that you are on train tracks with your feet instead of them being on a tightrope. Then lower the back heel down at about a 45 degree angle. On an inhale, slowly rise up, lifting the arms overhead. Allow your shoulders to relax down your back, rotate the palms so that they are facing each other. Rotate the back thigh inward as you square the hips to the front of your mat. Rotate the front thigh externally towards the front pinky toe, keeping the front knee over the ankle. Begin to gaze upward towards your palms as your neck allows.
Take a few breaths here and then on an exhale release the arms down to the ground, coming back to your lunge position or simply stepping the back foot forward to come to a forward fold before continuing to the second side.
Benefits:
- Opens hips
- Improves balance
- Strengthens legs through the thighs, calves and ankles
- Opens your shoulders and chest
Share your pose on Instagram, tagging @bridgesthroughlife and hashtags #bridgesthroughlife #yogaworkshopFridays
I hope you enjoy this series. If you have any suggestions for what poses you would like me to break down, I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment or send me an email [email protected]
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