One of the first yoga postures ever documented in technical and poetic language was Padmasana, meaning Lotus Pose. In the ancient tradition, postures often drew inspiration from nature, such as Lotus Pose and Tree Pose, or from mythological beings and revered sages. As postures within yoga have evolved through modern times names are a less poetic, and more technical application of the Sanskrit language. For example, modern variations of yoga poses will have names to explain the body’s technical position.

This course focuses on a modern posture that entered the realm of yoga asana in the 20th century. It carries the poetic name of a mythological figure: Virabhadra. This legendary warrior can be seen immortalized in sculptures adorning a large temple stretching over a mile in length and towering over a hundred feet tall.

Virabhadrasana, or Warrior Pose, is a foundational posture that has inspired many variations in recent decades. It is a wonderful way to step into a yoga practice. Each video in this course guides you with activities and exercises to practice Warrior Pose.

The first video is a guide to breath in warrior.

Guide to Warrior One: Breath

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The benefits of yoga are linked to its profound impact on the muscles and tone of the nervous system. As you follow along with the guided yoga videos, you will notice the prominent role of breath in movements. The synthesis of breath and motion facilitates a shift from reactive states to restorative conditions. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system to enhance energy regulation, stress management, and overall physiological well-being. Therefore, a regular yoga practice can create more resilience in a person’s ability to adapt to environmental changes, regulate emotions, respond to stress, and maintain focus.

Guide to Warrior One: Asana

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This video explore balance and counterbalance in a breath and movement exercise.

Guide to Warrior Two: Breath

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While muscles like the Gluteus Maximus are heavily involved in movement and weight bearing, there are also many smaller muscles that act with precision to stabilize, rotate and align the hip.

As you practice, these muscles become toned and more functional providing a sense of stability and resilience within dynamic movements. This training becomes paramount to reducing risk of injury and enhancing proprioceptive awareness.

Guide to Warrior Two: Asana

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Guide to Warrior Anatomy: Tutorial

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Take time for rest in śavāsana!

Guide to Warrior Flow: Practice

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https://youtu.be/OgQbkm_kEcs

Uttanasana Yoga is a journey through the length of your spine. These videos help you discover hidden treasures in your daily yoga practice.

Uttanasana Yoga

Of all the forward bends, Uttanasana is a good place to begin because it of the depth of strength is demands.

You might think of cues like “hinge at your hips.” That involves a deep internal hip rotation met by a steady external rotation. It’s from there you create a secure focal point at the base of the pelvis.

Next we gain therapeutic traction from the sacrum to the solar plexus. Uttanasana stimulates the solar plexus by giving the hips a direction of force – down from the hips to the solar plexus.

You can think of the solar plexus as the “x that marks the spot.”

Once you start to inhabit Uttanasana, you’ll also notice a deep calmness through the body and mind. That is because the solar plexus, in addition to being the largest bundle of nerves in the sympathetic nervous system, also has branches from the vagus nerve which helps the body exit fight or flight to rest and digest.

Finally, experiencing the full body and mind benefits of this mild inversion is the final treasure.

https://youtu.be/44eT678q2M8

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Exercises for Balance and Flexibility in your Hips

Target special muscle groups in your hips with this Yoga Rehab video. These simple exercises will help you discover how to improve flexibility and coordination.

https://youtu.be/LZ2y8M5SjXQ

Do 12 reps on each side, of all 7 exercises

In these exercises, we are looking for balance in the pelvis and we are looking for ease of mobility.

These exercises should not be painful. If you do feel pain then you’ve identified something to address. Maybe readjusting your feet or your weight distribution will alleviate the pain, or maybe the pain is an indicator that the exercise is something you should not do.

When I experience trembling in an area, it helps me identify which muscles are fatigued. Then I can focus on a combination of resting and training.

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Follow along with these simple exercises for your Hips

Yoga Rehab Guide

Target Muscles for Balance and Flexibility

Below you will find instruction with a guide to muscles targeted in each exercise.

90/90 Heel Lift

• Hip Adductors
• Pectineus
• TFL
• Gluteus Minimus
• Anterior Gluteus Medius

The first exercise takes the hip opening 90/90 position. So you want to stagger your legs and play around with the degree of bend in your knees. It’s a stretch but you want to have freedom to move because we’re going to isolate muscles by pulsing the heel up and down.

This works the structural glute minimus which is smaller and deeper to the glute maximus. You also get some forward action in the glute medius, TFL (tensor fascia latta), and inner thigh Pectineus and Adductors.

Side Lying Wall Leg Lift

• Hip Adductors
• Pectineus
• TFL
• Gluteus Minimus, Medius, Maximus

Next prop up on your side with your knees comfortably bent. Then straighten your top leg, and keeping it lifted, extend your hip back. As if there was a wall behind you, imagine dragging your heel up and down the wall, keeping your knee straight and hip extended. This is going to isolate the Glutes and the TFL.

Hip Rock Back

• Hip Adductors
• Pectineus
• Gracilis
• Medial Hamstrings

These next two exercises target the inner thigh adductors, pectineus and gracilis muscles, along with the hip joint and medial hamstrings. Now use some extra cushion under the knee that is kneeling. Keep those toes tucked behind you. This is your base. Position your target by extending your other leg to the side. You will widen the angle on your hips and to activate the inner thigh, step your target foot forward in relation to your base knee. Play with the degree to which you step your foot forward. Pull back and rock forward, while breathing and feel the inner thigh muscles as you keep your target leg strong.

Hip Shift

• Hip Adductors
• Pectineus
• Gracilis
• Hip Joint

This keeps the base leg in the same position, but bends your target leg. Point the foot 90 degrees from the direction you’re facing, and again bring the foot forward in relation to the base knee. For this exercise, lift upright and shift the knee of your target leg in the 90 degree direction that your foot is pointing.

Quadruped Rock Back

• Hip Adductors
• Pectineus
• Gracilis

This one takes some playing around to get your knees and feet at the right angle for your body. You want to have some degree of width in your hips, and the toes tucked at a comfortable distance from each other. With your hands on the floor, feel the inner thigh adductors, pectineus and gracilis activate as you shift your pelvis forward, and then rock back.

Standing Balance Exercises

• Psoas
• Hamstrings
• Piriformis

These add another layer of coordination with the Psoas muscle and hamstrings of your standing leg keeping anchor. Lift your target leg and rotate the hip so your knee doesn’t come straight up but slightly to the side. Then release it down, hover, and lift. This exercise bring the piriformis into action as you externally rotate your target hip, and maintains balance in the adductors as you hover and lift. Take it up a notch by adding more piriformis to the movement. As the target leg makes its moves, the anchor leg works just as much.

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LESSON ONE

Sometimes Ahimsa is translated as “nonviolence,” and that’s a good place to start. We don’t want our yoga practice to be violent on the body. I like to go one step further, and think of Ahimsa not just as the absence of violence, but as the active practice of cultivating loving kindness. In your video practice today, you’ll be encouraged to be kind to your tight spots, take the stretches slowly, and honor your body’s natural abilities.

In taking this lesson beyond the mat, I invite you to contemplate what loving kindness might look like in your daily life. Is it enough to be nonviolent when raising children? Nonviolent with our thoughts? Nonviolent when we encounter struggles with others? Or, could it be that we strive for something more actively kind; a form of loving compassion that is expressed in our words, thoughts and deeds in all endeavors and throughout the day?

Today and throughout the week, I encourage you to notice areas where you can go above and beyond just the mere absence of violence (a good start in itself) and step up your compassion game to one of active loving kindness. Try practicing today’s video yoga sequence again, later this week and see if your body feels differently from one day to the next. Does your capacity for loving kindness during your yoga practice expand the more your practice?

Journal ​3-­5 examples from today in which you went beyond nonviolence, and practiced AHIMSA as active loving kindness, either toward yourself, a loved one, or even a stranger.

Meditation ​doesn’t have to happen at the same time as your video home practice. You could carve out 5min at the beginning or end of your day, or maybe during your lunch break to meditate. Find a place to sit quietly, either in a chair with back straight and feet flat on the floor, or maybe sitting cross­ legged or kneeling as is comfortable for your body.

During today’s meditation I invite you to practice Ahimsa toward your breath, thoughts, and body. Start by closing your eyes and breathing in and out through the nose. Bless each breath as it enters your nose and lungs; thank each breath as it leaves. Imagine breathing love into each of your body parts, organs, muscles and bones with every breath. When thoughts arise, meet them with loving acceptance. You don’t have to quiet your mind or create an absence of thoughts; instead simply acknowledge each thought with loving compassion and then refocus your awareness on the breath.

Set a timer for 5­-15minutes and finish with a simple prayer pose and “Namaste.”

Connect w​ith me any time! I love hearing from my students about what works and what doesn’t. Feel free to email me, or post on my Facebook wall a small message about this week’s practice. Was there a pose you found challenging? Something that particularly worked? Did you try the meditation? Want to share part of your journal with me? I’m happy to hear from you, and enjoy staying connected to my community in this way!

FaceBook Page: We Love Zoe Yoga
Email: welovezoe@hotmail.com

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LESSON TWO

For me, Satya, truth­practice is all about alignment.

In a yoga pose, we might consider whether the alignment of our hips is true and squared, like in down­dog with one leg lifted. Off the mat, we may ask ourselves whether our words, thoughts, and actions are all aligned with each other so that all of these expressions become true reflections of our deepest self. Being untrue, is really just a symptom of misalignment­ either on the mat, or in word, thought, or deed.

So one of the biggest requirements of any Satya truth­practice is discernment.

Sometimes the hardest part of true alignment, is recognizing first where and when we are misaligned. This isn’t easy for a beginner to do in yoga poses ­ that’s why beginners need teachers and videos and diagrams to guide them in proper alignment, until they learn for themselves what true alignment feels and looks like. Similarly, most of us require guidance, either from a trusted outside source or from deep inner reflection, to aid us in fine tuning our alignment between our words, thoughts, and actions.

Journal

When have I recently said YES, when I really meant NO?
When have my recent actions been in misalignment with my true feelings?
When have my thoughts recently fallen into a pattern of reinforcing a belief in something that isn’t really true (ex: “I’m not good enough”, “There are no good single available men out there”, “I’ll never be able to do crow pose”, etc)
Try listing one thing you know is true. What can you do today to reinforce that truth in your life?

Meditation

Satya meditation can be a very beautiful way to simplify your thoughts. Find a comfortable seat, either in a chair with feet planted firmly on the earth, or cross­legged/kneeling as is comfortable for your body. Close your eyes and let your mind follow whatever thoughts or feelings arise, and then ask yourself the simple question “is this true?” What I find is that my mind settles on the simple things like, “Now I am inhaling ­ this is true.” Keep following that thread… what else is true? Allow your mind to meditate only on the simple things you know to be true. Another example, “in this moment, I have everything I need.” Or even simpler, “I feel my feet on the floor ­ this is true.” By letting go of loftier judgments, opinions, and emotions for the time­being, we are able to experience inner peace in the present moment, just by focusing on Satya, Truth. Spend 5-­15min in this meditation technique, and try it 3 times this week.

Connect

Feel free to email me or post on my FB wall this week any questions you have, so far, about alignment.

Email: w elovezoe@hotmail.com
FB: We Love Zoe Yoga

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