Feeling Strong And Empowered: Warrior I & II

Warrior is one of the most recognizable poses in yoga and is one of my personal favourites. When I go into Warrior pose I really do feel like a warrior, strong, confident and supremely focused.

Warrior poses, as the name suggests are great for building strength. They not only strengthen our feet, hamstrings, quadriceps and gluteus muscles they are also great for strengthening our core muscles. If that wasn’t enough, because of the arm extensions they also give us an upper body workout by opening the chest and building strength in the arms and shoulders.

Moving from one Warrior pose to another requires us to shift our body weight and alters our alignment so Warrior poses can be a little challenging but they are so, so empowering!

Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I)

• Standing in Mountain Pose with your feet 4/5 feet apart.
• Turn your right foot out to a 90-degree angle and your left foot in at 45-degrees.
• On the inhale raise your arms above your head, keeping them straight and shoulder distance apart, palms facing each other and fingertips pointing to the ceiling.
• On the exhale slowly let your head fall back taking care not to put any strain on your neck and gaze upwards.
• Stay here for a few breaths, breathing normally.
• Repeat on the other side.

Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)

• Standing in Mountain Pose with your feet 4/5 feet apart.
• Turn your right foot out to a 90-degree angle and your left foot in at 45-degrees.
• On the inhale extend your arms out to the sides at shoulder level with your palms facing downwards and your torso facing forward.
• On the exhale bend your right knee so it’s in line with your right heel and the right thigh parallel to the floor so your leg is at a right angle.
• Your left leg should be straight and the soles of your feet pushed into the floor.

As with all yoga poses if you have any health concerns such as high or low blood pressure, heart conditions or back, neck or shoulder pain please make your yoga teacher aware as they will be able to adapt the poses for you. These little adaptations will ensure you still reap the benefits of the pose but don’t cause you injury or discomfort.