When it comes to yoga teacher training, I feel very fortunate that I learned from a team of highly skilled and evolved trainers. My lineage includes Judith Lasater and B.K.S Iyengar, and my own mentor trained in Hanna Somatics as well as yoga and other fitness modalities. As such my training is rooted in personal antomy, and somatic experiencing. One thing that has always felt ‘off’ to me was the warrior 1 to warrior 2 transition. It feels awkward and clunky. Through my own education and experience over the years I’ve come to a shortlist of three reasons why I don”t like it, and don’t teach it.
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Traditional Warrior 1 to Warrior 2 transition
In many yoga styles, warrior 1 and 2 are taught in a sequence together. You begin in warrior 1. Traditionally performed with the front knee bent and back leg extended. Hips and torso facing towards the front of your mat, with the feet grounded, and arms raised overhead.
Then, to transition to warrior 2, open the hips and torso to the long edge of your mat. Shoulders over the pelvis and the arms lengthening to the short edges of your mat.
Three reasons why I don’t like it, or teach it
Firstly, these two poses are totally different anatomically. Warrior 1 is neutral/internal rotation at the hips, and warrior 2 is external rotation. For many, the nature of warrior 1 having the pelvis towards the short edge of the mat and the foot planted to the floor, means the stance has to be shorter than it would for warrior 2. This alone kind of shows that the poses don’t belong together. It’s not just simply a matter of turning the pelvis and torso to the side, you have to adjust the feet and leg position too.
Secondly, this adjustment from front to side on can be problematic. Due to the back foot being grounded the turning motion can create torque in you body, leading to instability of the pose. This toque can manifest as pain or tension in the ankle, knee, hip or lower back. This loss of integrity of the pose can happen in the straight leg, or the front bent leg. While you man not feel this torque and stress the first few times, this is similar to an RSI that gradually may build up over time.
Thirdly, it just feels funky. Tiny adjustments in yoga poses are fine, but these two poses have different foot, knee, hip, pelvis, torso and arm positions. There is lots of opportunities to lose the mind-body connection and again lose the strength and stability of the poses.
How I teach the warrior 1 to warrior 2 transition
While I prefer that these two poses NOT be together in a sequence, if I have to then I’ll switch in high crescent lunge instead of warrior 1. This allows for a longer space between the feet. The back foot can pivot more easily to the floor, reducing the torque in your body. And most of all, it just feels a lot nicer in your body!
So that about sums up the top three reasons I don’t like or teach these poses together. While they have the same word in the name they aren’t poses that go together, in my opinion. If in your yoga practice you feel the transition between these poses is a little clunky then perhaps give crescent lunge a try.
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Questions
- How do you feel in this yoga pose transition?
- Would you be willing to change warrior 1 to high lunge?
- Are there any other transitions or poses you find challenging?
12-minute Anjaneyasana Sequence for Beginners
Khushboo
These are really so good poses for flexibility. I would like to try it too.
Di Hickman
They can be, give it a try!
Kristin
I’ve never really thought about it but when I do a practice at home I usually separate the 2 warrior poses with a sun salutation. Always a good stretch and strength builder.
Di Hickman
they can definitely be used in a sun salutation, especially if building a flow. But again, like you said, separate them!
Natasha Mairs
I don’t really know much about the warrior pose. But you really made me understand the differences between each pose and why they shouldn’t be used together
Di Hickman
thats great! Thanks for stopping by!
Bethan Taylor-Swaine
I also find this transition really clunky, it just feels strange transitioning the pelvis and leg so dramatically and often teachers will set a pace that means you have to move quite quickly which seems to send everything ‘off’ (may be personal preference, I like a slower pace with focus on alignment!). It was really interesting to hear you feel the same and to read your thoughts x
Di Hickman
Yep, I was lucky in my yoga teacher training that we focused on alignment from anatomy perspective. For a faster flow, I highly recommend crescent lunge over warrior 1.
Shar
I’ve read about the benefits of the warrior postures of yoga before. I find them very beneficial. Great to see the correct posture through your photos.
Di Hickman
both have benefits, just not together 😀
Lori Bosworth
Your explanation about why you don’t position Warrior 2 immediately after Warrior 1 makes sense. The two positions in sequence don’t seem to provide a nice flow and can cause pain.
Di Hickman
yep, they don’t flow. Exactly!
Nisha
Nice tips on transitioning from warrior 1 to warrior 2 position. It was great to read about the details of the hip rotation and crescent lunge is a good one to try. Great post!
Di Hickman
My prefered variation is crescent lunge, esp as most people struggle with warrior 1 already let alone transitioning from warrior 2 to 1.
Lyosha
Great post! I am used to warrior 2 – half moon – warrior 1 sequence but most often I don’t see it close. I find transition uncomfortable, I feel like there is too much to check and alter so I just avoid it, it doesn’t give the flow feeling
Di Hickman
from half moon, go back to warrior 2 instead of warrior 1. Again it’s about the hips, coming from half moon to W1 is asking for too much at the hips.
Alvern
It’s great that you found a more comfortable way to transition over from the warrior 1 to the warrior 2 positions.
Di Hickman
Yep, so many people think they belong together, they really don’t