Posture Clinic - Warrior 3

The key to Warrior 3 is not in your hip, or your knee; the pose begins with the placement of the standing foot. If you allow the inside arch of your foot to collapse, you will instinctively bend your knee and use various parts of your body to compensate for the lack of balance. The knee joint will no longer be stable and that creates a chain of events within your body.

Before you start Warrior 3, come onto the outside of your foot. Use all your toes and grip into the ground. Now straighten the standing leg. Use the muscles just above the knee to straighten the leg. This is the foundation to each and every standing pose. Very much like a house, if the foundation is compromised, so is the rest of the structure.

You must not be afraid to straighten the standing leg. You have muscles around the knee joint that are designed to stabilise that particular joint. Focus on using muscles to straighten the leg and you will slowly lose your fear and start to feel more balanced, physically and emotionally.

Once you have confidence in your standing leg, you will be amazed at what you can achieve in the various balancing poses.

Once you are balanced, lift the back foot and lower the torso until they are both parallel to the floor.

Have your hands shoulder width apart, eyes looking down, or palms together in namaskar, gazing at your thumbs as taught by B.K.S Iyengar.

What NOT to do:

Bend into the balancing leg. Squeeze the muscles above your knee to keep the leg straight and stable. If you struggle with this, make this your priority.

"Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior"

Relevant posts: The Warrior Pose, Posture Clinic - Warrior 1, Posture Clinic - Warrior 2

Zahir Akram is a certified Biomechanics Specialist (the understanding of human movement) and will be teaching various modules of our yoga teacher training programme beginning in November 2018. For more information visit this link or contact Zahir on 07577 422132