Yoga Pose: Warrior 1 Video Tutorial

Warrior 1 - Virabhadrasana 1 - is a challenging and beautiful pose. It has many benefits as it opens the hips and shoulders while strengthening and stretching the legs. Overall, this pose tends to make me feel powerful - like a warrior! Keep reading to find out how to move in and out of this pose and make sure to watch the video at the end for some visual cues! 

Difficulty Level: Beginner - Intermediate

Step 1: Begin standing in tadasana at the front of your mat. Ground into the feet and legs so you feel solid and sturdy on the mat. With an exhale take a large step back - at least 3-4 feet - with one foot. 

Step 2: Ensure your back foot is angled in approximately 30-45 degrees, so the toes are moving toward the front of the mat. Make sure to keep your back heel pressing into the mat.

Step 3: Move your hips so that both hip bones are working at facing forward. They might not get totally square to the front of the mat (that is ok!!!) but they are moving in that direction. The ribcage is also open to the front of the mat. 

Step 4: Engage the core muscles and think about lifting the front of the body up, keeping the ribcage from flailing out. Also, think about lengthening down the back body and tail-bone.  

Step 5: With an inhale, bring your arms up, overhead, with your palms facing one another. Stretch through the fingertips so the arms stay strong. Even as the arms reach up, keep the shoulders down away from the ears. 

Step 6: With an exhale, bend deeply into the front knee, moving forward through the shin bone. Make sure the knee does not bend past the ankle as they should be lined up. If the knee is coming past the ankle, maybe try a wider stance.

Step 7: Breathe and feel.

Shoulder blades glide down the back body.

Chest lifts up.

Shift the gaze up to the finger tips. 

Press into the baby toe side of the back foot. 

Step 8: To come out, first release the arms and then step your back foot forward, bringing yourself back to tadasana. Try the pose again on the other side! 

Watch the video below for more helpful tips! 

Real Life: Expectations of Dream Followers & Goal Getters

Welcome to another "real life" blog post! I try my best to keep it "real" both on my blog and social media. To me that means being a bit vulnerable sometimes and sharing my truth. You can check out my past real life posts about a week in my life as a yoga teacher, Yoga Practice, not Yoga Perfect, and what it takes to follow your dreams. 

Ever since I stepped on to the ledge and declared loudly (ie: in a moderate tone that only some people could hear)  that I was going to follow my dream, achieve my goals, make some changes, live my best life, etc etc... I have felt a level of expectation placed on me. Some of (maybe most of) these expectations are of course, self-imposed, but some of them are societal in ways. A lot of these expectations are simply unrealistic and seem to set people up for disappointment and discouragement. Most are meant to be empowering, but if not met can leave one feeling like a failure. I wanted to share some of the expectations I experience, in case some of them are being placed on you, by yourself or others, or maybe you are unknowingly placing them on people around you.

Expectation #1: As a dream follower/goal getter, you are going to make really bold choices like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love.

AKA: "So you're going to quit your job to do this thing you love?" (or else you're not really doing it)

Photos that seem to spread the message of making bold moves found here, here and here

Reality: I have certainly placed this expectation on myself over and over. The reality is, if I quit my steady income job, I will struggle a lot paying bills and buying groceries, because I am just not making the funds to support myself doing what I love right now. I know this, so while I have changed my schedule around at my day job to allow for more time to start my Yoga Program and get it off it's feet (I have gone from having 1 person in a class to selling out my latest Beginner session in 6 months time!!!) I still need to go in for my 9-5. This doesn't mean that I am less committed to making this Yoga Program work - in fact I have to be super committed to fit it all in! The goal is that there will come a time that my Yoga career will edge out my 9-5 and then I will gladly hand in my walking papers and hit the yoga mat full time. Life is not like the movies and TV shows we love where the hero/heroine makes a bold gesture and still manages to live in their upscale apartment or travel the world. The boldness in real life is in the statement that we, dream followers, want more out of life and are working at getting that.

Expectation #2: Success comes faster when you do something you love and are good at.

AKA: "So how long are you going to give it??"

Photos that make success sound as a "natural" occurance if you're doing something you love found here and here

Again, some of these are self imposed or my interpretation of things based on the immense pressure I put myself under to achieve my goals. However, success is not EVER overnight. It's actually more like: attempt - fail - attempt - mini success - attempt - fail - attempt - bigger success - attempt - fail again - and on and on.... I can recall every high moment I have had so far in this journey, because that is what keeps me going. I can also remember exactly how each of those low moments felt, because I feel them very deeply. There is not a straight line to success, so if I give myself a timeline, and at the end of my timeline I am in a "fail" moment,  I may be giving up before my next big success! I'm certainly not saying to hold on to an unrealistic dream until you're 45, broke and have to go back to working in retail for the next 30 years to pay off your debt (again, see above expectation). I am saying that I don't know how long I will give this thing. I don't know how long I will give this because I don't know when all this hard ass work I am doing is going to pay off! I didn't know I would sell out a session in my first 6 months - that wasn't the goal. So, the answer is: I'm giving this my all. And really.....

Photo found here

Expectation #3: Success is measured in dollar signs.

AKA: "Is it worth it?"

The first 6 week session I ran, I lost money after paying my rental fee, buying yoga props, advertising and having very a low participant count. The second session, I think I broke even or came close, and the third I made some money, which all goes into my program and I personally do not see any of it.

BUT.

The first session, I had a brand new participant start my program and attend every week of the session and sign up for the second session (a returning participant means she loved it - success!)

The second session, I met a participant who ended up telling her friends about the program and 3 of them signed up for the next session (she must love it if she is telling her friends - success!)

The third session, I had people asking me to email them updates on Fall programming so they could be sure to sign up.

I am bringing yoga into the lives of people who maybe wouldn't have tried it otherwise. They are falling in love with the practice, how their bodies feel, and how they feel in their bodies. This is how I am measuring success. So, yes, It is worth it. 

I would love to hear from you! Are you experiencing pressure from expectations, self-imposed or otherwise? Are there others I have missed? Let me know in the comments :) 

Your Best Yoga Manifesto: Listen to and Respect your Body (and Limitations)

Photo by Tine Butler

Back on the blog to break down a couple of the final lines to my Your Best Yoga Manifesto. If you have missed any of the previous break-downs you can check them out here, here, here, and here. Now on to lines 7 & 9 - Listen to and respect your body and Respect your limitations and celebrate your successes. I am combining these two lines as they really do have the same intention behind them. 

If you have ever attended a Yoga class that I have taught you likely would have heard me say at the beginning of the class, “turn your attention inward and scan through the body”. One of the reasons that I provide this cue is because it’s a way of grounding people and bringing them in to the present moment,but the other reason is because I want them to start connecting to their body. Body awareness is a large part of a yoga practice. It means knowing where the heck your arms, legs and head are in space (because we don’t often stop and think about that) but it also means paying attention to how your body feels and knowing and respecting what it is capable of. Let me share an example from my own practice to explain this point further. I was participating in a class where we were moving from Prasarita Paddotanasana (a wide legged forward fold) into Head Balance, which means your forearms and head must touch the floor while in the forward bend in order to bring your legs up to the head balance. My hamstrings are TIGHT. They were stretched to their capacity and my arms were not pressing into the floor, so I started to come out of the forward fold and move into head balance another way. The instructor came over to me and stopped me, as it seemed she thought I was just taking an easier route of getting in to head balance and I could make this work if I really tried. Instead of allowing her to assist me in my forward fold (because I knew I already was at my edge) I just let her know that this variation was not working for me because of my hamstrings. This took me not only listening to my body, but also respecting it and not letting my ego get in the way. I could have tried and tried and let her provide a gentle press or lift of the hips, or whatever she came over prepared to do to get me to where I needed to be, but it just didn’t feel right in my body. I felt like I was going to injure myself. I respected my body and it’s limitations more than my need to feed my ego.

I can ask you to do a variety of things during a yoga class – fold from the hips, bend your knee, lift your chest, or sit into an imaginary chair – but just because I am instructing you to do so, doesn’t mean you have to. You have the power to choose not to do something if it doesn’t work or feel right in your body. For the purpose of this article, I will say in the Yoga class setting, I may be seen, as a certified and trained Yoga instructor, as the “expert” on the yoga practice, but I am not the expert on your body. If you just blindly follow instructions and cues that I provide you may end up doing something that causes you pain or even injury. This is also why I am not a huge hands-on adjustment person, especially if I have only taught you a couple times. I do not know what your body is capable of, so by coming to you and attempting to lift your arm here, or deepen a forward fold there, I could seriously injure you and likely piss you off! I put the trust in my students to be their own judge of what their body can and cannot do by listening and respecting their limitations. Certainly there are times when I see someone doing something a bit differently than others so I may give another alignment cue to see if they are just misunderstanding the instruction, or ask them if they can perform a certain movement, but I always assume they are listening to, and respecting their body and it’s abilities, and I leave them be. I’d much rather have a class of people doing their own interpretations of a pose (as long as they are safe and happy) than an army of perfectly positioned people who leave with injury.

So in my class, and all the others, please listen to and respect your body and limitations. And while your at it, be sure to be your own advocate in class so you don’t end up receiving an unwanted well-intentioned adjustment.

My Favourite Restorative Yoga Poses using a Bolster

If you are a regular reader of my Blog (thanks so much BTW), or you follow me on Instagram (@sandrayogawpg), you may know that I made my very own Yoga Bolster to complement my restorative Yoga practice. Now, as much as I like the price tag for this home-made yoga bolster, and would recommend people try making their own to use for a simple home practice, the quality isn't quite the same as using an actual bolster (here’s a link to a great affordable one from Amazon Canada) However, I have been able to practice some of my favourite restorative yoga poses that require a bolster with my home-made one, and wanted to show you how you may use your bolster at home for some supported relaxation and opening of the body. 

For the US residents, here is a link to the bolster on Amazon US.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Pose: Chest Opener

What you do: Place your bolster horizontally on your mat and lay over it. Make sure the armpits are over the bolster so the shoulders can come to the floor. You can keep the legs straight, bend the knees, or even bring your legs in to a butterfly position. Tilt the head slightly so the chin is not tilting back. 

What it does: Provides a supported and passive opening into the chest. 

The Pose: Supported Belly Down Twist

What you do: Place the bolster on the mat so that you can sit with your Right hip touching the bolster. Turn your body so it faces over the bolster, bringing the twist in to the spine. Lay your body over the bolster (your whole torso should be supported by the bolster) and turn your head to one side . 

What it does: This supported twist is a great release into the back and side muscles and reportedly helps with digestion. 

The Pose: Supported Setu Bandha

What you do: Lay on top of the bolster so that your shoulders can reach the floor. Most of your back should still be supported by the bolster. Place a yoga block at the end of the mat for the feet so the legs and torso are one height, and the shoulders are lower, creating the opening into the chest. Tuck the chin slightly so the head is not tilting back and the neck stays long. 

What it does: Creates a supported chest and shoulder opening. Great alternative for someone who isn't able to do unsupported Setu Bandha for any reason. 

The Pose: Viparita Karani

What you do: Place the bolster horizontally either right at the wall or about an inch or so away from the wall. Sit toward the left side of the bolster and mat, so the sitting bones are touching the wall. Lie down on your side, and then roll over so the hips lay flat on the bolster and the sitting bones stay in contact with the wall. Note: The most difficult part of this pose is getting in to it, there will likely be a lot of wiggling and giggling - it's ok! You can also ditch the bolster all together and leave the hips on the mat. 

What it does: This is a supported inversion - your feet are above your head - changing the blood flow. This pose is especially great after a practice focused on standing postures as it rests and relaxes the legs. This is a posture that is generally done at the end of a practice. 

I hope you find these little tips and tricks with the bolster helpful! Let me know if you try any and how much you love them :) 

Real Life: Yoga Practice, Not Yoga Perfect

This post was supposed to be my favourite restorative poses to do with the Yoga Bolster, however, I didn't get the photo's all done for the poses... nobody's perfect right??? 

Let's talk about that for a minute. As a Yoga Instructor there are some real, and perhaps imagined, expectations that are placed on me, either by students, other teachers or myself. I got to thinking about this when I found myself in my car shouting at another driver (all windows closed of course)  and feeling slightly road rage-y. I thought, I am a Yoga Teacher, I should really be better than this. This is not in line with Yoga values. Well guess what?! The very next day I'm pretty sure the entire situation played over again - shouting in my car, feeling bad about it, scolding myself for not being better. This is just one example of an expectation that I have put on myself, but what about expectations others may have?? Some examples that I have heard of or have experienced include:

"I thought I saw you in your car, but the person I saw was eating chips so I thought it couldn't have been you"

(This happened to another teacher I know....Just so you know, I eat chips and love them)

"You must be vegetarian" 

(I eat all types of meat) 

"You must be pretty calm and zen all the time"

(Yells at people in the car on the reg')

So, why am I telling you my dirty little meat eating, road rage secret? To let you know that it's a Yoga Practice, not Yoga Perfect. You don't have to get it all right, all the time or even some of the time, and do not expect your teacher to. Do not put a teacher on a pedestal - that leads to all sorts of problems - they are human just as you are, so when they are at the front of the class talking about presence, or gratitude, maybe it's as much of a reminder for themselves as it is for the class. It doesn't mean someone is a "bad yogi" - at least in my humble opinion, it means they are human. It certainly shouldn't mean that you think less of them as a teacher or student (or that they should think less of themselves). So, next time I find myself shouting at another driver, I will continue to practice mindfulness by recognizing the behaviour and feeling and then maybe, someday, I may be able to drive around Winnipeg only raising my voice to sing loudly in my car. 

Have you ever had an experience where you felt there were expectations placed on you, by others or yourself? Do you have expectations of your yoga teachers?