(upbeat music)

Ok, so for Warrior I, 
Virabhadrasana I,

we're going to begin
in the Runner's Lunge.

If you are new 
to Runner's Lunge,

we have a video for that.

You can learn it with us and
then come back to Warrior I.

So, here I am in 
my Runner's Lunge.

I'm making sure that 
I'm on two parallel lines,

rather than one tight rope.

And from here I'll inhale,
radiate the heart forward.

Exhale, just stretch the
front of the right hip crease.

Coming into my 
Runner's Lunge, okay,

and now prepping for Warrior I.

I'm going to take my back foot

and I'm going to plant the
entire foot on the mat.

In this case I'm pressing
into my right heel

and my right toes are pointed

towards the front 
right corner of the mat

or the front right
corner of the room. Okay.

I'm going to 
really pay attention

to the outer edge 
of that back foot,

so none of this.

That's horrible on the knee.

We're gonna spread
through the pinky toe,

pressing into the 
outer edge of the foot

and then just like 
I do in my Mountain Pose,

or my Tadasana,

I'm going to press 
into the foundation

and then draw 
energy up from there.

So, no loosey goosey, but
really pressing into the mat,

and then drawing up through
the leg, lifting the knee cap,

toning the quadricep here

as I lift it all the 
way up to the hip.

Same thing in the front leg.

Pressing through all
four corners of the feet.

I know from my Runner's
Lunge, that I stack my knee

directly above the ankle.

And then here I am, ready.

I'm really pressing 
into my foundation.

I'm drawing energy up 
through both legs here. Right?

Working with integrity.
Working from the ground up,

which is a great, great
note for beginners.

There's no rush. Take your 
time. Work from the ground up.

Find what feels good. 
I'm pressing in.

From here, 
for a beginner, I recommend

hooking the thumbs behind,

taking the hands 
to the waist line,

pressing into your
foundation, we'll inhale.

Roll the shoulders 
forward, up and back

and then let that movement
allow the heart to lift up,

as we come into our
standing posture, Warrior I.

Lot's of action points here.

This pose is a beginner's pose,
a foundational pose, but,

I'm always cracking jokes
that this pose is challenging.

This is hard.
So, be kind.

No toxic thoughts. 
Just take your time.

My legs are working 
super hard here.

I'm breathing into the 
front of my right hip crease.

I can take that thumb, 
that left thumb,

and peel that 
left hip crease back.

Slowly encouraging my
hips to come square off.

Now remember 
I'm not on a right rope.

For beginners, you might
want to take your left toes

and your left heel and
walk them out a little bit.

Just give yourself 
a little space.

Okay. I'm also going to take
my hands, the power of touch,

♫The power of 
touch...love...touch♫

Taking my hands to my rib cage,

I'm going to soften them down.

And then just sometimes,
I literally take my belly,

my gut, and just use my hands to

move it in the right direction.

This takes time, okay. 
The hips won't square at first.

They might. But this
takes time, so breathe,

and don't stop 
paying attention to the

outer edge of that back foot.

Pressing into that back heel.

My whole back leg is
super engaged right now.

Sinking into my front knee.

Working from the ground up.
Lifting up. Mula Bandha,

from the pelvic floor.

We'll talk about that 
more on another day,

but I'm lifting and lengthening
up and out of the spine.

At the same time, 
opposition, right?

I'm squeezing my shoulder
blades in together and down,

grounding through 
the back heels,

sinking into that front leg.

So as I lift and lengthen
through the crown of the head

and the heart, 
I'm also grounding.

Tagging a little 
weight in the elbows

finding that opposition.

Starting to build a little
bit of a sweat here,

as I peel my left hip crease
back, rotate the hips forward.

I can stay as a 
beginner here in Warrior I

with hands on the hips, 
no problem.

Just strengthening the legs.

The last action point that
I really think is important

that I'd like to 
share with you is just

squeezing everything in 
east to west, north to south.

Almost as if I were trying to
pull the front edge of my mat

and the back edge 
of my mat together.

So I'm really working hard here.

Building strength 
from the inside out.

Integrity in my posture.

To go into the full 
Warrior I, I'll inhale, smile.

Exhale, 
ground through the heels,

and then inhale with
the fingertips spread,

reach forward, up, and back. 
Opening the shoulders.

We can interlace 
the fingertips here

or if you're a little bit
tight in the shoulders,

you're feeling a little bit cramped,

go flying V. Give yourself
the space that you need.

Especially in the early
stages of our asana practice.

You can see I'm getting a
little belly dancer here,

the point is to find what
feels good, to move around.

So again we don't 
want to come here and

be static in a posture.

That does us no good. 
No benefit.

We want to breathe. 
We want to create space.

Keep going through 
our action points.

Keep sinking into 
that front knee.

And then we arrive. 
Warrior I.

In kids yoga, the 
affirmation here we say is,

"I am bold."

And it is a bold posture.

Extending through 
the crown of the head,

relaxing the shoulders down,

pressing into my foundation.

And then seeing if I can
just grow a little bit

soft in the face here.

Find that ease as I work hard.
Marrying the ease to the effort.

Warrior I.

To come out of the posture,
I can open the shoulders

by exhaling, sending the
fingertips behind me,

just nice chest 
opener here. Hello.

Felt good.

And then I'll come 
back to Runner's Lunge

by melting the 
belly to the thigh.

Fingertips come to the mat.

And then I can either 
step my back leg up

by lifting the heel 
up to Forward Fold.

Ooh, hello.

Or often, 
just a little sneak peak,

I'll plant the palms
and often in Hatha yoga,

I'll from here step it back, 
to Downward Dog,

which was our video last week.

Ok, so that was Warrior I 
or Virabhadrasana I,

in Sanskrit.

It's the first of the
standing warrior series.

If it's not easy, that's okay.

Keep at it. 
Give it a try.

Practice. Practice is
what's it's all about.

Practice and all is coming, 
as they say. I love that.

For more about the
posture and other things

Yoga With Adriene related,
visit yogawithadriene.com.

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if you haven't already.

Have a happy,
happy most blessed holiday

and Namaste.

(upbeat music)