Warrior 2 – virabhadrasana 2 – is one of my all-time favorite Yoga poses. It makes me feel grounded, strong and at ease all at the same time. This pose works well to strengthen and stretch the legs, groins, feet, and ankles, and of all the Warriors, it is probably the one that is most easily accessible to the most amount of people – and in case you didn’t know - that is very important to me when putting a tutorial up on the blog! Keep reading to find out how to move into this posture and be sure to check out the handy visual at the end!
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Step one: Standing in tadasana facing the long end of your mat, take a nice wide step with your feet, so they are about 4 or so feet away from each other. Make sure that the baby toe sides of your feet are parallel with the short end of the mat – toe’s point straight ahead.
Step two: Turn the Right Foot out 90 degrees so the toes point toward the short end of the mat.
Step Three: With an inhale, raise your straight arms up to shoulder height, stretching through the finger tips – nice, strong warrior arms!
Step Four: With an exhale, bend deeply into the Right knee, being conscious to keep the knee in line with the ankle and not coming past the ankle. Also, notice if the knee covers the baby toe side of the foot or the big toe side of the foot when you look down. You want to try and have it cover the baby toe side of the foot so the knee isn’t collapsing inward.
Step Five: Breathe – Try staying here for 5 -10 full body breaths
Gaze gently over the Right finger tips – This is your Drishti
Release the shoulders down away from the ears.
Press into the outer edge of the back foot to activate the back leg and keep it from collapsing
Move forward through the shin bone of the bent leg
Sit lower through the hips, lengthening the tailbone down toward the ground
Step six: With an inhale, straighten the Right leg. Bring the hands to your hips and turn the Right toes to face the same direction as the Left and then heel/toe the feet toward one another to come back to standing.
Repeat on the other side!
Namaste :)
