What Is Warrior Yoga?

Warrior yoga is designed to be a form of yoga that applies specifically to individuals who train in martial arts and similar athletic pursuits. Its goals are to develop fitness and the strength, control, balance and flexibility that such athletes utilize on a daily basis. One of the major benefits of participating in warrior yoga for martial artists and similar contact athletes is its ability to help the athletes recover from strenuous workouts and sparring sessions. It actually functions as a form of physical therapy that can help reduce the risk of injury. Participants in warrior yoga rely on seven different basic related concepts in their training. The first of these concepts is the development of balance, which assists athletes in the generation of explosive power with a minimal expenditure of energy. The next is distance; it deals with using the concept of balance in the proper distance and from the proper angle for a particular technique. Vision is the third basic concept; its emphasis is on creating positive expectations of oneself in order to develop a strong mind. Concept number four is precision, which deals with expending energy intelligently so that your techniques are as effective as possible. Rhythm, the fifth technique, concentrates on chaining techniques together so that they flow smoothly and naturally, boosting your endurance and speed. Transition, which is the sixth concept, is intricately linked to rhythm; it helps develop your ability to change your techniques on the fly, allowing you to adapt from one rhythm to another, so that you do not become predictable. Finally, breath, the seventh concept, helps develop the muscle memory to keep a continuous supply of oxygen flowing into your body during any technique. Within the overall breathing concept are five different styles of breathing. Three-part breath is the most common type of breathing in general, but heating breath is the most commonly used in warrior yoga. A heating breath simply makes both the inhale and the exhale very slow, deep, relaxed and drawn out. Rhythmic breath, fire breath and releasing breath are three other types of breathing that are also used by participants in warrior yoga. Warrior yoga, much like other styles of yoga, incorporates a series of different types of poses. Those incorporated into warrior yoga work together to help develop the seven concepts just mentioned. For example, lengthening poses help stretch and lengthen the muscles, whereas strengthening poses, as you can guess, are designed to improve the body's power and endurance. Balancing poses help participants develop their physical balance; detoxifying poses attempt to purify the body; and finishing poses are complex, difficult poses that are designed to be a benchmark to measure the participant's developing ability. Restorative poses are designed to stimulate recovery and healing of the body. And finally, meditative poses are designed to allow participants to become still and to clear their minds. Within these poses are a several different types of motions. A lift motion moves a part of the body away from the floor, while a drop motion moves it towards the floor and a linear motion moves it parallel to the floor. Circular motions move a body part in a circle. Cross motions incorporate two opposing forces into one motion. Some poses make use of continuous motion, flowing from one to the next, and others incorporate no motion -- perfect stillness. Although warrior yoga is a fairly physical, athletically oriented form of yoga, it does emphasize the development of the mind and of the person as a whole, not merely the development of the body. It describes this process of personal development through the Five Steps of a Warrior. These steps are purification, which deals with emptying the mind and accepting instruction; illumination, which deals with the quest for knowledge and understanding; manifestation, which deals with positive visualization to achieve goals; liberation, which deals with transforming problems into opportunities; and union, which deals with sharing what has been learned.