{"id":2377,"date":"2017-07-28T08:23:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T08:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.destinationyoga.co.uk\/?p=2377"},"modified":"2017-07-31T14:40:58","modified_gmt":"2017-07-31T14:40:58","slug":"how-to-do-warrior-ii-2-pose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/latest-news\/poses\/how-to-do-warrior-ii-2-pose\/","title":{"rendered":"How to do: Warrior II (2) Pose"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HowWarrior II (2)\u00a0<\/strong>(The Sanskrit name is Virabhadrasana II)<\/p>\n

How to do it<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starting from standing (Tadasana), step your right (front) foot to the side so that your feet are 1-1 \u00bd leg lengths apart, then rotate your front foot and leg outwards to face the back of your mat. You can then slightly inwardly rotate your back leg and foot and find a stable base. Inhale and lift your arms to shoulder height and on an exhale, bend the front knee, tracking it over the centre of the front foot (ie not allowing it to drift inwards, which it may want to do!). Gaze forward over the front middle finger. Take several breaths here , ensuring that the front knee faces forward and the arms remain parallel to the floor. Come back into standing by straightening the front leg, rotating the front foot to parallel with the back foot and then step back into your standing pose and repeat on the other side.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coming into and out of the pose<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can come into and out of Warrior II front standing as described above, but you and also come into Warrior II from Downward Dog<\/u><\/a>. From Downward Dog<\/u><\/a>, step your right foot forward between your hands and lift your torso up. Adjust your feet so that your front foot is turning out and your back foot is turning in.<\/p>\n

To come out of Warrior II into Downward Dog<\/span><\/a>, \u2018cartwheel\u2019 your hands down to either side of the front foot placing them on the floor, come onto the ball of your back foot and step your front foot back to Downward Dog<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other tips<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the full pose isn\u2019t yet comfortable for you, you can start with a less deep bend in the front leg and keep your hands on your hips \u2013 or lower your arms a little. For a bit more stability you can widen your stance by a couple of inches \u2013 and of course, feel free to use the wall for support.<\/p>\n

Try to stay \u2018active\u2019 in your pose.Warriors are active, generally! Press down through the feet and you can think about pressing your rear\u00a0thigh back and rotating your front thigh outwards a little. While grounding down through the legs and feet, also think about the \u2018lift\u2019 and space you\u2019re creating by lifting your ribcage away from your hips. Your shoulders will naturally want to try to hug your ears when you lift your arms, so draw them down away from the ears. You\u2019ll feel your muscles working hard as this is very much a strengthening pose. Notice how your mind, facial muscles and breath respond to the hard work. Is your mind chattering about it being a challenge? Are you biting your tongue or lip?! Is your breath choppy? Try to connect back to a smooth breath, which will calm your mind and keep your facial muscles relaxed while you gaze ahead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s it good for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warrior II is good for improving balance and strengthening the muscles of the knee, thigh and ankle. It also strengthens the muscles in your shoulders and arms. You will definitely feel the muscles working after several breaths in the pose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When not to do it<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t try Warrior II if you have knee, hip or ankle injuries or have difficulty standing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Destination Yoga has been running truly unique yoga retreats of the highest quality for over 10 years and has an array of fantastic trips on offer, pairing some of the best yoga teachers in Europe<\/a> with simply stunning destinations<\/a> – The perfect restorative getaway for individuals or groups of yogis of all abilities.<\/em><\/p>\n

Head over to the Holidays page<\/a> to learn about our inspiring trips or check out some of our reviews<\/a> from guests and press.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warrior II (2)\u00a0(The Sanskrit name is Virabhadrasana II) How to do it Starting from standing (Tadasana), step your right (front) foot to the side so that your feet are 1-1…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":2453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2377"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458,"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377\/revisions\/2458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinationyoga.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}