7-26 Warrior 1 and 7-28 From the Center

I like to think of my body as having two distinct entities when I practice yoga, and my intent is to find the union between the two parts. In this practice, I wanted to imagine our "hara" center as the dividing line - the lower body grounding and rooting strength while the upper body flows and grows with grace. I hope you found this series well-rounded and useful.

Class quote: "Yoga is not about touching your toes; it is about what you learn on the way down."

Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana 1) was the focus of practice Monday night. The first Warrior pose is often more difficult than Warrior 2 since it has a strong twist of the torso to keep your headlights (hip pointers) facing forward. There are so many bits and pieces to this pose. The following list of "to-do's" in Warrior 1 is from the book, Cool Yoga Tricks by Miriam Austin:

*Stand with your feet four feet apart, aligned with each other and facing forward.

*Lift your arms to shoulder height, palms up.

*Bring your arms overhead, shoulder distance apart, palms facing each other.

*Turn your right leg out ninety degrees an dyour left foot to the right by forty-five to sixty degrees. Turn your torso to the right.

*Find the four corners of each foot.

*Lift your quadriceps (thighs), rotating your right thigh outward and your left thigh inward.

*Align your front hip bones by bringing the left hipbone forward an dthe right hipbone back.

*Move your tailbone downward while lifting your ab muscles.

*Extend your spine upward.

*Expand your chest, lifting the sternum.

*Stretch your arms upward, but not your shoulders. Release your neck, throat, and face.

*Bend your forward knee toward a right angle.

*Look either straight ahead or gently toward the ceiling.

*Keep lifting your ab muscles.

*Stretch the back leg, pressing the back foot into the floor.

*Hold the posture as long as you like. Repeat on other side.

And people say yoga is easy!! Just because we make it look graceful and effortless doesn't mean it is a static practice!

I loved the quote for tonight - words for us all to take to heart: "Allow yourself to become a bigger container to hold all of life."