So the actual writing of the blog is taking up more time for me than doing my daily yoga. I will try to post here as often as I can, but I won't be able to re-cap what I'm practicing everyday. I have missed one day of yoga so far-and I'm allowing myself 5 (hence the 360) and hopefully I will continue to practice as often as I can.

After the holidays, I am still technically "on vacation" as my out of the home job doesn't start up again until the end of the month. I am feeling unmotivated and lazy, lately. I have not been in my shop to work for several weeks now and after the holiday break, everything needs a clean up, which I am not apt to do right now. I thought about how my yoga practice might be able to help motivate me in other areas of my life and may have a solution.

Let's talk Warrior Poses. I love the Warrior poses. When I first found yoga, these were my favorite poses because honestly, they made me feel like a badass. I feel strong and steady when I flow through the Warrior I, II, III. I'm doing a bit of an experiment by doing only these poses for a few days to see if they will affect my motivation, energy, desire to be more creative. We'll see what happens. ;)

Start by moving in to Warrior I, pictured above. You can get straight into the pose, or start from the lunge position in your Sun Salutations. The pic above shows her with her hands in the prayer position on her chest. This is a great starting point, but most Warrior I poses reach the hands up over the head, clasp palms together, then arch the back a bit while moving your gaze toward the sky.

Veerabhadrasana is Warrior II, named after an incarnation of Lord Shiva of the Hindu religion and was a mighty warrior. 

To start with Warrior II, first get in to this position: 

Try not to take too wide of a stance. You want to feel strong and balanced. Adjust your feet until you have a firm base. 

Arms straight out to your sides, muscles engaged, palms toward the floor. 

This image shows her with her palms facing up, but I was taught to do this pose with palms toward the floor. Try each and see what feels best of you, or alternate the way you do it. You want to lead this pose with your gaze moving from straightforward (second pic) to looking to one side. As your gaze shifts, your torso will rotate toward that side, slightly. Rotate your forward foot toward your gaze as you bend that forward knee at a 90 degree angle. Feet should be nearly aligned with each other. 

Warrior III is a standing, balance pose that for me, is much more difficult than it looks. 

You move in to this pose from Warrior II, shifting your weight onto the 'down' leg by pushing off from Warrior II up onto that leg. Your other leg goes out behind you, parallel to the floor as you lean forward, straight back, arms out in front of you, pointing forward. Interlace your fingers and use your two first fingers to point in the direction you are leaning. Try not to lock your down knee. Hold as you can. ;)