Become a Woods Warrior

February 26, 2014January 27, 2016 by Sarah | 2 Comments

Want more yoga and exercise? Become a woods warrior, try this lower body workout, then end the day with bedtime stretches that relieve lower back pain. Check out my 200hour yoga teacher training experience and read about the school I attended here.

Become a woods warrior. Nope, not the kind that wields a sword, instead the kind that smiles peacefully and stretches deeply. Warrior pose is also known as Virabhadrasana (vira=hero, bhadra=gentle, asana=pose). You can be a warrior anywhere, but I believe the woods to be the calmest and most inspiring space for these stretches. There’s nothing like holding warrior one while you gaze up at your fingertips and see the tops of tall trees swaying in the wind. You have the overwhelming sense of feeling grounded yet flexible like those limbs. Then comes warrior two where you can pause and gaze miles past your fingertips. The forest gives you ample spaces for exalted (reverse) warrior so you can stretch and lengthen until you’re as limber as the trees that surround you. I love looking down at my environment in warrior three. It gives me time to take in the dry leaves and tiny bugs as I breathe, balance, lengthen and stretch with all I’ve got.

After recently completing a month-long yoga challenge, I was a little bored with the warrior poses. I was eager to move on to harder, more intriguing postures, but I realized that isn’t the yogi way. It’s important to be present with each pose, no matter how many times you’ve practiced. The more you appreciate the present, the more space you create for improvement and appreciation. Of course, the same is true with life. The more we focus on the task at hand, the more we come to contribute, improve, appreciate and love what we’re doing. So even if you’ve practiced warrior one, two, and three a thousand times, try them all again and appreciate their presence in your life and your ability to stretch and strengthen your body.

A few tips:

Wear stretchy pants or shorts so you can practice your fullest expression of each pose.
Pick a relatively flat and non-slip surface.
Move into each pose slowly and with intention. Think about each part of your body in order to achieve the proper alignment.
Breathe deeply and evenly through your nose. If the pose seems tough, focus on your breath.
Try each pose for a couple breaths and then go back and hold them longer if you’d like.
My form isn’t perfect so don’t just peep at the pics – read through each warrior before practicing.

Warrior One

Stand up straight with your feet together, arms down by your sides, and palms facing forward. Inhale and as you exhale, step your right foot forward about 4 feet. Reach your arms upwards (perpendicular to the floor) as you rotate your palms to face each other and actively reach through your fingertips towards the sky. Breathe as you roll your shoulders down and back into their sockets.

As you inhale, make sure your heels are aligned and turn your back foot (left) out 45-65 degrees to the left (anywhere from 9 o’clock to 11 o’clock). Exhale and rotate your hips and torso to face forward while grounding into your back leg. You’ll probably have to pull your left hip forward and your right hip back. Try to square your pelvis as much as possible, this is difficult (especially if you have tight hips like myself) and won’t happen overnight. I like to bring my arms down for a moment, touch both my hips and direct them towards the front of my invisible mat.

Keep your back foot firmly planted and as you exhale, bend your right knee over the right angle so the shin is perpendicular to the floor and your thigh is as close to parallel as possible. You may have to scoot your front foot forward a little bit if your knee is tracking over the front of your ankle (you never want that to happen). Your back leg should be straight and your heel should be touching the ground.

Anchor yourself firmly with both legs, even though your front leg is probably burning a little more, your weight should feel equally grounded. Inhale as you reach towards the sky, look up at your fingertips and those beautiful trees and reach some more. There can be a slight bend in your back. You can also bring your palms together overhead and spread your fingers if you’d like.

Relax into warrior one with strength, breathing deeply for thirty seconds to a minute. To release, straighten the front leg while bringing the back leg forward to meet at the front of your invisible mat.

Warrior Two

Starting from warrior one (with your right foot forward), rotate your left arm back and your front arm forward so they create a straight line (parallel to the ground). Keep a tall spine and feel strength radiating from your core. At the same time rotate your hips and your back toes outward. Your shoulders should be stacked directly over your hips and your left toes should be pointed towards the left side of your invisible mat (perpendicular to your right toes) . The heel of your front foot should line up with the arch of your back foot.

Sink lower into your lunge and exhale while relaxing your shoulders. Just like in warrior one, the weight should be distributed evenly in your legs, which means the outer edge of your back leg is pressing firmly into the ground.

Even though you’re actively reaching forward and backwards with your arms, they should be slightly relaxed not rigid. I like to imagine a string tied to each middle finger, knowing I could sway my abdomen forward and backward if someone came along and pulled either string.

When you’re properly aligned, look out over the edges of your front fingertips. Keep your gaze soft and your face relaxed. Hold the pose for thirty seconds to a minute all the while breathing deeply. To release, rotate the arms upwards and the back toe and hips forward to return to warrior one and then straighten the front leg while bringing the back leg forward to meet at the front of your invisible mat.

Exalted or Reverse Warrior

Starting in warrior two, simply rotate the front palm towards the sky and slide the back palm gentle down your back thigh. Inhale the front arm towards the sky, reaching and lengthening the front side of your body while your back hand extends lower on your thigh and eventually calf. You don’t want to put any weight on your back hand, instead use your abdominal muscles and right hand to lengthen and raise your heart towards the sky. Gently gaze up at your fingertips while keeping your neck relaxed.

Deepen the lunge in your front leg and breathe deeply for up to thirty seconds. To exit, return to warrior two, warrior one and then straighten the front leg while bringing the back leg forward to meet at the front of your invisible mat.

*If you’d like to go into a half bind in reverse warrior, bring your lower hand around your back and place your fingertips in your front hip crease. Make sure you keep a deep lunge and your upper body uplifted.

Warrior Three

Starting from warrior one, simply (ok nothing is simple about this pose) tilt your upper body forward about 45 degrees and simultaneously straighten your front leg while you gently push forward and lift your back leg. The goal is to look like the letter T. Your hips should be squared towards the ground. Stretch your arms forward so they’re parallel to the ground while you flex your back foot and push backward. I like to imagine a wall directly behind me that I’m pushing against with my heal. You don’t want your shoulders to sink below your hips so engage your core muscles and lengthen your arms while you gaze at the ground. Hold this for up to thirty seconds, which is a major challenge, and gently release back into warrior one. To release, straighten the front leg while bringing the back leg forward to meet at the front of your invisible mat.

Now you’re well versed with warrior and equipped to take your calming strength out into the woods. I hope you enjoyed a magnified look at these important postures. I’m sure you’ll find yourself in one, if not all four, of these poses during any vinyasa class. And remember that everyone’s body looks and works differently even though we’re all made up of the same parts, which means everyone’s warriors will differ slightly. Embrace yours, whatever it may look like today and leave it in the woods when you’re finished. It may look different tomorrow, embrace that too!

This Isn’t Your Monk’s Meditation

February 17, 2014July 26, 2015 by Sarah | Leave a comment

I’m sure a lot, if not all of you, already meditate in some form or another. Maybe you clear your mind while you exercise or while doing the dishes or while taking a shower. When you are alone with your thoughts you’re beginning to meditate. Over the past couple of years, I have read a few powerful books about mediation and self-discovery and I believe they have had a big impact on my overall happiness and upbeat attitude. I’ve learned to direct and guide my thoughts in a constructive way instead of arguing with myself. Self-love is always in season so from time to time we’ll be sharing a little bit about our paths to self-discovery and tips for your own, in a series called Grey Matters.

First let me start off by saying I don’t identify myself as a Buddhist per say and I’m not here to promote any one religion. I do however think that the Buddhist religion has some really great insights into how to become a better individual and how to pass on that goodness to those around us. Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, founder of San Francisco Zen Center, said it best, “The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.” Buddhism informs us that we should identify the intention behind our actions and whether those actions will have a positive or negative effect on those around us. If you identify with a particular religion or not, I think the Grey Matters series will be helpful to you as you walk on your path to self-discovery.

Clouded mind

Clear mind

In this first installment of Grey Matters I thought it could be helpful to give a little primer on meditation and setting an intention for your day or week. When you let your mind rest you are beginning to practice meditation. You don’t have to venture to a secluded spot and sit in the same position for days on end without talking to a soul. This isn’t your monk’s meditation. It’s a tool for self-reflection that we can all utilize. Mediation has tremendous power in that it helps us identify the motives of our actions and reactions. It helps us to expand our minds and hearts and allows both to more easily accommodate the obstacles we all face from day to day. If the word meditation makes your eyes roll then think of it as constructive thinking. Sometimes life feels like you’re climbing Mt. Everest with no coat when it should feel like you’re strolling along a beautiful beach. Taking the time to reflect while setting an intention and motivation for your day can help you transform that mountain into a plain. Meditation is a helpful tool in reducing stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia and many other uncomfortable conditions of the human mind. At first the goal of meditation is to have an open and clear mind. You can’t solve all of your problems during the first week of meditation. It’s a process so start small.

Here are a few tips to practicing meditation:

Choose a consistent, comfortable, clean and quiet space in your home. I put a pillow on the floor in my bedroom; it’s as simple as that. Some people have a space set aside specifically for thought. Maybe it involves a comfortable cushion and a couple scented candles in front of a sunny window or maybe you’re not sold on the idea of meditation and you choose to sit at your dining room table with a cup of coffee. However you choose to begin is fine.
Minimize distractions and focus within. If you’re sitting on the ground, sit up straight in a comfortable position and rest your hands on your knees or thighs. If you’re sitting on a chair make sure both feet are touching the ground. When you breathe in you should feel uplifted and when you exhale you should feel balanced and grounded, it’s easier to feel grounded when you’re making contact with the earth.
Close your eyes or soften your gaze and focus on your breath. You don’t have to alter your breath, it shouldn’t be a distraction to you, but rather an anchor to the present. We are practicing being present and not letting our thoughts carry us to the past or future. Change is possibly the only constant in our lives; let your flowing breath be a gentle reminder of that.
If thoughts pop into your mind simply exhale them away. Continue to focus on the sensation of your breath traveling in and out. Try not to get caught up in thoughts of your to do list or the fight you had with your friend. Don’t beat yourself up about all these random thoughts either, simply acknowledge that you’re thinking and then exhale the thought and return your focus to the breath.
After five minutes feel free to leave the cushion. It’s important to keep your meditation short and regular. If you find yourself successfully freeing your mind of thought and meditating every day for five or ten minutes then you’re ready to address various issues through meditation.

After all, meditation breeds mindfulness, which is simply paying attention to what’s going on around you and not getting hooked by strong emotion. If we’re being mindful we can begin to identify our intentions and begin to work with them. We’ll save problem solving and addressing emotions for the next Grey Matters installment, but let’s start setting short-term intentions for our days and weeks.

Your intention is a thought or motivation for how you’d like to live your life. It’s kind of like a New Year’s resolution without all the pressure. You can shape your intention daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly. We’ll talk about setting long-term intentions in the next Buddha Brain post, but let’s stick to daily intentions right now.

Tips for setting a daily intention:

Think of a positive word, feeling or focus that will guide you through the day or week. It can be a goal like writing and photographing x number of blog posts, completing a project at work or a gentle reminder like taking a nap when one is needed. It can also be an overarching, nonspecific theme like practice patience or be generous or persevere. Think about what you’re lacking, what you’d like to work on or what your body and mind really needs and create your intention.
Repeat your intention. After meditating for five to ten minutes, repeat your intention, aloud or internally, three times with passion and motivation to carry through with your intent.
Take your intention with you. Now it’s time to go out into the world always knowing that you have your own special guidelines by which you’ll live your life. You can repeat your intention whenever you’re feeling like your day is going off track. Know that above all else something is guiding you even when you feel lost.

If your intention was to get enough rest than you’ll feel better about working harder when you’re awake and sleeping sounder during naps or at night. You won’t have to feel guilty if you need nine hours of sleep instead of eight because you’re paying attention to what you really need to live a happy and fulfilling life. If your intention is to be more patient, it will be helpful to repeat the word patience when a coworker is talking out of turn during a meeting, when your kids are misbehaving or when the line at the grocery store is a mile long. Setting intentions is another small way to take control over emotion and immediate behavior. It’s a tool for shaping our actions, reactions and even the way we talk to ourselves. It’s a reminder that you live by your own rules. It’s time to stop feeling guilty, upset or uneasy about the choices you make. It’s time to stop judging yourself so harshly and instead knowing there was a reason for why you did whatever you did. You intended it to be so and that’s all the reason you need.

I really hope you enjoyed this Grey Matters post and learning a bit about meditation and setting intentions. I always felt like I had it all together, but once I started to peel away my emotions through meditation I realized I had a lot to learn about myself. I’m able to communicate my thoughts so much clearer than in the past and I feel like I actually know why I’m experiencing strong emotion instead of just getting wrapped up in it. I feel free from my own self-doubt and it’s really refreshing. If you’ve ever felt the effects of guilt, anxiety or doubt I encourage you to try some of the tactics in this post. I think you’ll feel a bit if not a whole ton.

Now go live lives of purpose! Whether your purpose is to take a walk in the woods, cook a delicious meal, rekindle a friendship or get a promotion at work. It is all just as important and integral in living a happy and fulfilled life.

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