Tampa yoga instructor and fitness coach Shannon Thigpen displaying warrior 1 pose

Warrior I works your total body, especially your legs. You get both more strength and greater flexibility as your practice this pose.

To perform the pose properly breath purposefully:

  1. Position weight evenly on the ball and heel of your feet, lifting arches. Keeping your heel down, feel the activation of your ankles.
  2. Align knee over ankle and keep behind your toes. Ensure your knee is tracking your 2ndor 3rd
  3. Position the front of your hips (hip flexors) so they face forward like the headlights of a car facing straight ahead.
  4. Keep the thigh of your front leg active and aligned with your knee so the knee can continue tracking your 2nd or 3rd toe. That will keep the alignment of your ankle and foot.

5.  Lift navel up and in toward the spin to stay strong in the core.
6.  Keep shoulders down away from ears and jaw relaxed.
7.  Stay strong in the arms while keeping space between the ears and shoulders.
8.  Tighten glutes of the back leg. Avoid arching back excessively.
9.  Keep back leg as straight as possible while keeping arch lifted and weight evenly on the inside and outside of the foot.
10. Breathe purposely!!!

Warrior I can be beneficial in improving strength, flexibility, and focus.  Click here to view a video tutorial of a similar pose, Crescent Lunge.  The difference is in Warrior I, the heal of the back foot is down.  With Crescent lunge or High-heel lunge, the heel of the back foot is lifted.