The Problem of the Warriors

Posturesyoga

Apr 27

warrior one and warrior two yoga 300hr teacher training

Have you ever been in a yoga class and wondered why these ubiquitous postures are called warrior one and warrior two?

IMHO, I think because our hands and arms are slaying and our feet in an attack position, but who really knows! What I do know is that it has taken me a very long time to understand how these two postures fit in my body, and not how my body fits in the postures, and I’m still refining it.

I was a long distance runner for many years, and my hips were very tight from lack of proper stretching. When I started yoga, my hips didn’t have much range of motion or to say it another way, my femurs lacked mobility in their internal and external rotation.

The problem lies in that when we step onto a yoga class and the teacher calls out these postures, they may not necessarily teach about the nuances of the posture,

Most probably it will be replaced by flowery language surrounding the metaphor of the warrior. I think teaching nuances efficiently takes tremendous skill. Even after my first 200 yoga teacher training, I had not learned to work with the sensitivities of my body, nor how to vocalize those sensitivities.

I have to say how much I love these 2 postures now and how they rehabilitate my body. I still have to get past how I look in the mirror because, it never is what I’m picturing in my head, lol. Let’s break it down, shall we?

Warrior One

No matter how many times my teachers may have spelled it out for me, I had to find out what all that meant in my body. My breakthrough happened when I paid attention to pressing the floor down, but I’ll get to that later.

Feet are super important in this posture (and all postures) because traditionally they are aligned heal to heal. I think this is super restrictive to people with my body type and sensitivities. Therefore, I think setting them just a little bit wider, left and right, can create space to develop better range of motion.

Now, if you have tight hips, the back heel may not necessarily be pressed onto the mat. Why? Because if the right femur cannot internally rotate at the angle the hip is set, while the heel is pressed on the mat, the result will be that the back knee will torque out of skeletal alignment. What I’m saying is, the joint to factor in regarding foot placement, is the back knee. I truly believe keeping our knees healthy is super important for our overall health and longevity.

It doesn’t really matter if the right hip is not fully pressed forward or squared towards the front of the mat IF the back knee is being torqued. What matters most is how it feels in the body. The hip will open overtime and develop the range of motion to open the hip forward. Check out the video below.

Warrior Two

Shakira said it best: Hips don’t lie! There is a natural play between our hips and our knees that is very specific to our individual anatomy, and there is a fine line between positioning our bodies and forcing our bodies into position. While some yoga teachers are sticklers to alignment, I think a kinder approach can aid in the longevity of our yoga practice.

Most importantly, I think that the way we press our feet down into the floor can really express the power of this type of hip opener.

What are we opening on our hips? Inner thighs, connective tissue, psoas, TFL, and strengthening the pelvic floor. The traditional way to teach this posture is with hips completely square, but that action may actually cause the front knee to buckle inward, destabilizing the posture.

When we focus on the front knee being stable and allowing some forward rotation of the back hip, while pressing the back foot down, it may overtime open the hip for better mobility. When the four corners of the feet are pressed against the floor it engages the entire back leg to really create that attack position, charging towards deserving thoughts to open for the possibility of a peaceful mind and heart.

Check out the video below.