(upbeat music)
Ok, so for Warrior I, Virabhadrasana I,
we're going to begin in the Runner's Lunge.
If you are new to Runner's Lunge,
we have a video for that.
You can learn it with us and then come back to Warrior I.
So, here I am in my Runner's Lunge.
I'm making sure that I'm on two parallel lines,
rather than one tight rope.
And from here I'll inhale, radiate the heart forward.
Exhale, just stretch the front of the right hip crease.
Coming into my Runner's Lunge, okay,
and now prepping for Warrior I.
I'm going to take my back foot
and I'm going to plant the entire foot on the mat.
In this case I'm pressing into my right heel
and my right toes are pointed
towards the front right corner of the mat
or the front right corner of the room. Okay.
I'm going to really pay attention
to the outer edge of that back foot,
so none of this.
That's horrible on the knee.
We're gonna spread through the pinky toe,
pressing into the outer edge of the foot
and then just like I do in my Mountain Pose,
or my Tadasana,
I'm going to press into the foundation
and then draw energy up from there.
So, no loosey goosey, but really pressing into the mat,
and then drawing up through the leg, lifting the knee cap,
toning the quadricep here
as I lift it all the way up to the hip.
Same thing in the front leg.
Pressing through all four corners of the feet.
I know from my Runner's Lunge, that I stack my knee
directly above the ankle.
And then here I am, ready.
I'm really pressing into my foundation.
I'm drawing energy up through both legs here. Right?
Working with integrity. Working from the ground up,
which is a great, great note for beginners.
There's no rush. Take your time. Work from the ground up.
Find what feels good. I'm pressing in.
From here, for a beginner, I recommend
hooking the thumbs behind,
taking the hands to the waist line,
pressing into your foundation, we'll inhale.
Roll the shoulders forward, up and back
and then let that movement allow the heart to lift up,
as we come into our standing posture, Warrior I.
Lot's of action points here.
This pose is a beginner's pose, a foundational pose, but,
I'm always cracking jokes that this pose is challenging.
This is hard. So, be kind.
No toxic thoughts. Just take your time.
My legs are working super hard here.
I'm breathing into the front of my right hip crease.
I can take that thumb, that left thumb,
and peel that left hip crease back.
Slowly encouraging my hips to come square off.
Now remember I'm not on a right rope.
For beginners, you might want to take your left toes
and your left heel and walk them out a little bit.
Just give yourself a little space.
Okay. I'm also going to take my hands, the power of touch,
♫The power of touch...love...touch♫
Taking my hands to my rib cage,
I'm going to soften them down.
And then just sometimes, I literally take my belly,
my gut, and just use my hands to
move it in the right direction.
This takes time, okay. The hips won't square at first.
They might. But this takes time, so breathe,
and don't stop paying attention to the
outer edge of that back foot.
Pressing into that back heel.
My whole back leg is super engaged right now.
Sinking into my front knee.
Working from the ground up. Lifting up. Mula Bandha,
from the pelvic floor.
We'll talk about that more on another day,
but I'm lifting and lengthening up and out of the spine.
At the same time, opposition, right?
I'm squeezing my shoulder blades in together and down,
grounding through the back heels,
sinking into that front leg.
So as I lift and lengthen through the crown of the head
and the heart, I'm also grounding.
Tagging a little weight in the elbows
finding that opposition.
Starting to build a little bit of a sweat here,
as I peel my left hip crease back, rotate the hips forward.
I can stay as a beginner here in Warrior I
with hands on the hips, no problem.
Just strengthening the legs.
The last action point that I really think is important
that I'd like to share with you is just
squeezing everything in east to west, north to south.
Almost as if I were trying to pull the front edge of my mat
and the back edge of my mat together.
So I'm really working hard here.
Building strength from the inside out.
Integrity in my posture.
To go into the full Warrior I, I'll inhale, smile.
Exhale, ground through the heels,
and then inhale with the fingertips spread,
reach forward, up, and back. Opening the shoulders.
We can interlace the fingertips here
or if you're a little bit tight in the shoulders,
you're feeling a little bit cramped,
go flying V. Give yourself the space that you need.
Especially in the early stages of our asana practice.
You can see I'm getting a little belly dancer here,
the point is to find what feels good, to move around.
So again we don't want to come here and
be static in a posture.
That does us no good. No benefit.
We want to breathe. We want to create space.
Keep going through our action points.
Keep sinking into that front knee.
And then we arrive. Warrior I.
In kids yoga, the affirmation here we say is,
"I am bold."
And it is a bold posture.
Extending through the crown of the head,
relaxing the shoulders down,
pressing into my foundation.
And then seeing if I can just grow a little bit
soft in the face here.
Find that ease as I work hard. Marrying the ease to the effort.
Warrior I.
To come out of the posture, I can open the shoulders
by exhaling, sending the fingertips behind me,
just nice chest opener here. Hello.
Felt good.
And then I'll come back to Runner's Lunge
by melting the belly to the thigh.
Fingertips come to the mat.
And then I can either step my back leg up
by lifting the heel up to Forward Fold.
Ooh, hello.
Or often, just a little sneak peak,
I'll plant the palms and often in Hatha yoga,
I'll from here step it back, to Downward Dog,
which was our video last week.
Ok, so that was Warrior I or Virabhadrasana I,
in Sanskrit.
It's the first of the standing warrior series.
If it's not easy, that's okay.
Keep at it. Give it a try.
Practice. Practice is what's it's all about.
Practice and all is coming, as they say. I love that.
For more about the posture and other things
Yoga With Adriene related, visit yogawithadriene.com.
Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already.
Have a happy, happy most blessed holiday
and Namaste.
(upbeat music)