Hi and Welcome to your Journey into Yoga! I’m Avery Rich and am so happy to have you along for the ride

As we journey into our pose today which is warrior 2 or Vhirabadrasana 2, you may recall it sounding similar to the pose we explored last time which was warrior 1!  No, they aren’t identical but they do exist in the same family of poses which I like to call the warrior family.  Although they do have many similarities they also have some important differences - so remember, 1 and 2 are not the same!

To begin, let’s examine the similarities between warrior 1 and warrior 2…Warrior 2 shares an important characteristic with warrior 1 in that they are both heart opening postures or found in the backbending family.  Anytime we look at or find a heart opener in yoga, we are encouraging the body to heat up and expand the heart space.  On an emotional level, we are encouraged to BE OPEn to whatever comes your way!

Another similarity between the 2 warriors is that they both do encourage building flexibility, strength and balance - both poses have strong back legs and deep bends into the front leg and from this strength, the upper body is free to lift and open.

Even though these two poses share the same root name, there are some very important differences between the two poses.   One of the big difference between warrior 1 and 2 is the degree that the back foot is turned in at - for warrior 1 it was 60 degrees but for warrior 2 it is only about 10-15 degrees.  The result of this is that the back hip in warrior 2 is encouraged to open much more, and the body and hips nay be slightly open to the side.

Another big difference is the arm position in the two poses - in warrior 2 we bring the arms up to shoulder height and take the gaze past the front fingers - due to this positioning, the hips will not be pointing forwards but will likely be in different positions - the front hip will be front facing but the back one will be more tilted to the side. 

Often the feet spacing is another difference in the postures - it is not uncommon for the feet in warrior 2 to be stepped apart slightly further than the feet position in warrior 1. 

It bares repeating that warrior 2 is a power pose -  in addition to encouraging strength flexibility and balance, this posture can bring strength and resilience to the emotional body as well - tough meeting or situation to deal with that requires strength? Do a warrior and find your inner strength!

So without further ado, here we go - warrior 2!

As usual, you will want a place where you have space and a surface that will prevent you from slipping - a yoga mat is ideal but if you have a non slip floor space that can work also.  I find that the best way to begin is to stand facing sideways on the mat, having your right foot at the top of your mat and your left foot stepped at least 3.5 or 4 feet towards the back edge of the mat.   Both feet will be in neutral, in that the feet are parallel to each other with no turn in or turn out.  Now, with your right foot which will be at the top of your mat, turn the toes out so that foot is pointing straight forward - this action externally rotates the right hip which is just a fancy name for opening the right hip.  Now, bringing attention to your left foot, turn your left food slightly forward or in - no more than 10 or 15 degrees - If these two actions cause you to feel like you are standing on a tight rope, step your right foot more over to the right- this should help with stability.  With the feet and legs in place, you will likely feel like the hips are not square to the front of the mat but rather opening to the left slightly. Turning attention to the upper body, sweep your arms up to shoulder height with your right arm extending forward and your left arm extending back - once the arms are lifted, keep your back leg straight and strong allow a deep bend into the front leg.  You have arrived - let’s hold for 5 breaths.  Inhale to straighten your front leg.  Turn your right tows back to where you started and now step the feet together.  Since I always like a different view let’s now turn to face the opposite direction for side 2.  This time your left foot will be at the top of your mat, turn the toes of that foot so it is pointing straight forward - this action externally rotates the left hip this time - now, bringing attention to your right foot, turn your right foot slightly forward - no more than 10 or 15 degrees  Again, If these two actions cause you to feel a bit unsteady, step your left foot this time slightly more over to the left.  Now that you have the leg position in place, and the hips slightly opening to the right, sweep your arms up to shoulder height with your left arm extending forward and your right arm back - once the arms are lifted, keep your back leg straight and strong allow a deep bend into the front leg.  You have arrived - let’s hold for 5 breaths.  Inhale to straighten your front leg.  Turn your left tows back to where you started and now step the feet together.

Warrior 2 is in the books!!

After all of this instruction and activity are you feeling like a sweet shavasana?  Allow yourself one! As you head off back to your regular lives I will leave you with this:  take this power with you and use it.  Until next time, thank you for including me on your yoga journey…until next time