By Claire Diab and Dennis Boyle
Strength, flexibility, and balance are so important for everyone. Yoga gives us powerful and practical tools that allow us to achieve these elements in our everyday life. The job that you do requires strength in the caring and wearing of heavy equipment and helping people of all ages, shapes, and sizes.
In addition, your job requires the utmost flexibility, especially when you need to maneuver on ladders and stairwells. Warrior pose is a powerful pose to include in your daily routine. Warrior also helps develop concentration and focus.
Warrior Pose
This is a wonderful pose to perform outside when possible, gazing toward your natural surroundings or a focus point in front of you.
- Start with your feet together in the middle of your mat facing either side of the room.
- Walk your legs out to the side as far as you are comfortable; this is your perfect warrior distance.
- Turn your back foot 90 degrees so it is parallel with the back of the mat.
- Bend your front leg about 90 degrees, keeping your knee in line with your first and second toes.
- Inhale your arms up till they are in line with your shoulders, turning your gaze toward your front arm.
- Hold here, keeping the knee over the ankle, and take four to eight deep, full breaths, gazing in front of you.
Some variations include the following: Coming in and out of the pose by straightening and bending the front leg and putting hands to heart (great for neck and shoulder issues); putting your back leg against a wall or a brick.
Strengthens: Your legs, quads, glutes, shoulders, and shoulder blades.
Claire Diab is an internationally recognized yoga therapist. She is the director of the Yoga Program for the Chopra Center founded by Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon. She is an adjunct professor of Asian Studies at Seton Hall University. She is the author of several books and DVDs on yoga including “Yoga for Firefighters.”
Dennis Boyle is a retired fire director and acting chief with the West Orange (NJ) Fire Department. He was the recipient of the 1999 New Jersey Deputy Fire Chiefs “Fire Officer of the Year” award.
