The Crescent and The Warrior
As told by ChatGPT 🤣,
Once upon a time, in a small village nestled in the mountains, there lived a fierce warrior named Malik. He was known throughout the land for his bravery and his skill with a sword. One night, as he was walking home from a long day of training, he looked up at the sky and saw a beautiful crescent moon shining brightly in the sky.
As he gazed up at the crescent, he noticed something strange. It seemed to be pulsing with an otherworldly light, and he could hear a faint humming sound emanating from it. Intrigued, Malik decided to investigate.
He set out on a journey that would take him deep into the mountains, where he encountered many dangers along the way. He fought off wild beasts, navigated treacherous terrain, and braved fierce storms, but he was undaunted.
Finally, after many long days of travel, Malik reached the foot of a towering mountain, where he saw the crescent moon hovering in the sky above him. He realized that it was not a natural phenomenon, but a magical object that had been placed there by powerful sorcerers.
Determined to claim the crescent for himself, Malik began to climb the mountain, using all his strength and skill to overcome the obstacles in his path. As he neared the top, he encountered a group of sorcerers who were guarding the crescent, but he was able to defeat them in a fierce battle.
Finally, Malik reached the summit of the mountain and grasped the crescent in his hand. As he did so, he felt a surge of power course through his body, and he realized that he had been chosen by the crescent to become its guardian.
From that day forward, Malik was known as the Crescent Warrior, and he used his newfound powers to protect his village from all manner of threats. He became a legend in his own time, and his name was spoken with awe and reverence throughout the land.
And so, the crescent and the warrior became forever linked, their destinies intertwined in a tale of bravery and magic that would be told for generations to come.
The Real Tale 🤔
Once upon a time there was a hip warrior named Malike who had a busted knee. They had big dreams of salying but they had committed to a day job where they sat all day. Their body was stiff, their low back ached and their shoulders were tight from being anchored to one body positioning all day. Their dreams of slaying seemed further and further like a tale of faeries. Malike remembered the joy of their training from long ago under the crescent moon.
Malike decided to regain confidence in movement and attended the nearest yoga shala to reclaim their breath and life. They arrived coyly and inspired to make new friends and feel connected with themselves. The yoga teacher opened class in they way it had been taught by her teachers, and her teachers’ teachers: Center | Ohm | Sun Salutation A | Sun Salutation B.
Malike, having been out of the practice of slaying, moved through the series feeling heavy and clumsy, but their body started to remember! Malike smiled at the familiarity of the movements when suddenly they felt a pang on their busted knee. What is happening? they asked….
Does this seem familiar? You may not know this, even if you’ve ever taken a class with us. The reason why the way we sequence feels right in the body is because we move from posture to posture in a simple to complex methodology (Thank you Hot House Yoga family for this wisdom)
We have tried most lineages of yoga, and the genius of sequencing in the way we were taught is that it allows the body to open slowly in a way that makes you feel strong and curious as opposed to restricted, tight and weak. This contrast is why this simple but purposeful approach greatly minimizes the risk of (re)injury. (If you haven’t yet, I recommend checking out The problem of the Warriors post)
If you’re experiencing tightness at your hips from sitting down and not slaying and start by “warming up“ with Warrior one without prior hip openers, overtime we may be asking for an injury, either at the hip or at the knee that corresponds with the back foot (think about internal/external mobility of the femurs).
Don’t get me wrong I love a good cardio warm-up which the sun-sals tend to achieve, but is it possible to open the hips in a way that reduces injury over the long run?
While Crescent Warrior may feel like a deeper hip opener, it is easier to control its depth by the height of the hips through the bend of the front knee. However, this hip stretch can prepare for the possibility of better rotation of the femur in the Warrior One posture. Additionally, by the time we typically arrive to Crescent Warrior in our class, we will have prepped the hips with gentler openings to reduce the risk of (re)injury in Crescent Warrior.
The crescent and The Warrior ChatGPT story seems far simpler than contorting our bodies in a position that will not support our a asana practice over the long run. I don’t know about you, but I want to keep slaying until a very old age.
