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Chief among the Warrior poses is the Warrior I and Warrior II pose. They are in Sanskrit known as the Virbhadrasana I and Virbhadrasana II pose. The Sanskrit word Vir means brave and Bhadra means gentleman. Asana means pose.
The Warrior poses I and II are both standing poses, however with the back slightly bent backward. The poses evoke images of what a warrior means to us and the realization of the strength of a brave warrior and his great agility and flexibility. They are definitely both easy poses to perform, although their advanced variations can only be performed correctly with continuous practice.
While the Warrior I and II poses, both help to promote a feeling of strength, they also strengthen the leg muscles, open out the shoulders, and the chest. The Warrior II additionally also helps tone the abdomen. It improves your balance and improves your stamina too.
How to perform the Warrior I & II Poses?
Generally, you transpose into the Warrior I pose from the Downward Facing Dog pose in Yoga. The first step of the Warrior I pose involves bringing your right foot forward. You need to bring it close to the point where the right hand is. Next pivot on the ball of your left foot and position your left heel back to touch the floor entirely, however with the toes turned outwards almost at a 45 degree angle to the heel in its original position.
Then bend the right leg at the knee joint so that the calf makes a right angle with the thigh, which in turn must be horizontal so that it is parallel to the floor. Bring your right hip back and left hip in front so as to square them both in front. Next raise both your arms up vertically above the shoulders and join your palms in a Namaste posture.
However only the tips of the fingers of both hands should join and the palms must make an angle with the tips of the joined fingers of both the hands being the vertex. Remember that your back must remain vertical while performing the pose. After this raise your head up to look up at the joined finger tips. At this juncture bend your back backward only slightly. Finally take the arms backward over the shoulders towards the back as much is easily and conveniently feasible.
Now repeat the sequence with the left leg in front and the right leg back. Then move into the Warrior II pose from the Warrior I pose after this. To do that open out your right arm in front in line with your right leg and bring your left arm towards your rear in line with the left leg that is positioned at the back. Then open the left hip back maintaining the right knee bent and the right thigh still parallel to the floor as in the Warrior I pose.
At this point take in your belly but only slightly till you find that the shoulders are directly positioned above and over the hips. Then reach out to the maximum with your fingertips stretched outward remembering that your line of sight is just forward of your right hand. You will find that you are in fine balance if you use your triceps to support your hands and your quadriceps to support your legs.
Repeat the sequence of moves in the Warrior II pose by keeping your left leg where you had kept your right leg and vice versa and changing the hand and gaze movements accordingly.
Hold each of the two positions in the respective Warrior I & II poses for five breaths. The more advanced variations of the poses involve holding your breath ten times. Beginners should also note the tendency of the right knee to drift over to the left. To ensure that this does not happen, keep it tracked over the middle toe of the right foot.
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