Even Warriors Need Rest

Come and listen to our Host, Gia-Raquel Rose for our "Determined, Not Distracted” Podcast Series.
 This mini-series serves as your blueprint for a high-impact year, distilling success into three non-negotiables: Goal Clarity, Resilience, and Commitment. By sharpening your focus, hardening your mental toughness, and anchoring your habits in discipline, you’ll shift from chasing temporary inspiration to achieving unstoppable, year-long momentum. 

Gia-Raquel Rose, owner of Airs Above Yoga, LLC and a real estate sales associate in Tewksbury, New Jersey has had a love for horses stemming from early childhood. Growing up in “horse country” afforded her the privilege of beginning to ride from the tender age of four. It was a childhood illness, which brought her riding aspirations to an abrupt halt. It took twenty years before she was able to reunite with her long lost passion for horses and their ability to heal. In that time, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communication from Arcadia University and became a twice two hundred hour certified yoga instructor in both Hatha and Vinyasa. It was the loss of her mother, Rose, to breast cancer, which ultimately shifted her trajectory from the corporate world to the internal work for which yoga, as a practice, is renowned.

We explore why rest is a strategy, not a setback, and how small, steady choices rebuild momentum after a draining season. Then we break down Warrior I–III with clear alignment, smart modifications, and a simple flow that turns intention into action.

• choosing rest to recover from overwhelm
• clearing space at home to quiet the mind
• sustainable resolutions that start small
• listening to energy and honoring fatigue
• Warrior I fundamentals for lift and focus
• Warrior II alignment for hip opening and release
• Warrior III balance with wall and strap options
• safe sequencing from grounding to expansion
• micro goals that build confidence and consistency

For more goodness, follow me on all the socials at Above the Ground Podcast and visit my website, airsaboveyoga.com
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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And New Year Framing
• 1:07 Waves Of Life And Why Rest Matters
• 3:48 Choosing Peace Over Holiday Pressure
• 6:48 Rest, Don’t Quit: Building Balance At Home
• 9:30 Overwhelm, Safety, And Self-Compassion
• 11:05 From Rest To Momentum: Listening To Your Body
• 13:12 Rethinking New Year Timelines
• 15:25 Start Small: Sustainable Resolutions
• 17:12 Why Warrior Poses Build Momentum
• 19:30 Warrior One: Grounded Lift And Focus
• 22:00 Warrior Two: Open Hips And Release
• 24:12 Warrior Three: Balance, Drive, And Direction
• 27:05 Alignment, Modifications, And Safety
• 30:02 Sequencing Warriors For Energy Flow
• 33:12 Micro Goals And Confidence In Practice
• 36:10 Honoring Fatigue And Routine Choices
• 39:00 Transitions, Self-Trust, And Showing Up
• 39:31 Gratitude And Ways To Connect

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

It's Divas that Care Radio. Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change. Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone. This is a global movement for women, by women, engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations. To find out more about the movement, visit divasletcare.com after the show. Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.

SPEAKER_01: 0:31

Namaste and welcome to the Divas That Care Network. I'm your host, Gia Raquel Rose, owner of Airs Above Yoga, and you are listening to Above the Ground Podcast. If this is your first time tuning in, we are headed into our 16th year and listened to in over 30 countries. I would like to personally thank you for taking the time and giving me the gift of your time. As always, it is my honor to hold space with and for you. And first of all, um, allow me to say, as this will officially not be evergreen, happy new year to everyone. Um we're moving into January, and I want to touch on a couple things. You know, I have always been a little bit of I'm not a big New Year's resolution person. I'm sure I've said this in the past, mainly because I feel like everyone should always be striving to just improve upon who they were yesterday, which kind of inspires that element of forgiveness intertwined with the element of determination and moving towards your goals. But I have to say that at certain times, you know, you can kind of feel like a little kid that's gotten knocked over by the waves of life, right? Where you're just trying to stand up and you can't quite get to it. Um, and of course, obviously, as a little kid, you you want your mom or your dad to come and pick you up and take you out of the water. But as we grow into adults and those waves turn into real actionable issues that we have to navigate and gracefully pull ourselves up out of the sand and stand tall towards, I'm not even gonna say against, but towards, you know, there's not necessarily a mom or dad coming to save us. And so it is up to us. And so, you know, if you've ever gotten knocked around by a wave here or there, you know, like not only is it a little disorienting, um, it's always scary. And it's always something that you need to first survive, right? First get out from under the water, first be able to get your breath. Second, I mean, depending on the wave, if we're gonna run with this metaphor, you need to be able to know which direction is up and which direction you're actually supposed to head in. And a lot of times I think that's where A, in really truly terrifying situations, that's where people can get really disoriented when you're not just at the beach, but you're out in the ocean. Um, and when we're talking about the metaphor of a child at a beachfront, typically you can pull yourself up to that air relatively quickly. But after you have thrashed and fought and tried to stand up and get got knocked down again, and eventually you'll see if you can picture it, I can very clearly in my mind's eye, you know, that little toddler kind of kind of trip traipsing out of the water and just crying and screaming and you know, just being very, very disillusioned with themselves after getting their, you know, their you know what's handed to them by the beach. And so, what's the most important thing that we need to do after we've gotten our you know what's handed to ourselves? Well, it is rest. And so as we talk about New Year's resolution and everyone talks about the momentum, even I talk about the momentum, and this is actually gonna be a kind of a counterintuitive conversation because the poses that we're gonna discuss in this asana episode are actually momentum-inspiring poses, but I want to address first the need for rest. And the reason that I, you know, other than I my collaboration always with Diva's the Care Network, um, I also took a break through December. Um, and I'm okay with that. And I hope you guys are too, because it was a very, very challenging holiday season for me, as I know that it can be for many people, no matter what their circumstances. Um, the holidays I think can be very triggering and very difficult for anyone who's lost someone. I know I've discussed this in the past, and this year was particularly challenging for me. Um, I will share that I didn't even get a tree this year, which always makes me sad when I don't have a tree or I don't put decorations up. But you know what I did do instead is I got my house in order. And I took the time that normally most people would take in their shopping and their wrapping, and not that I didn't do some shopping and rapping, I did um for others, but all of that time and energy that I would take and put into getting a tree, decorating it, putting all the things out, putting all the things away, I said, you know what, this year I need to focus on balance and I need to focus on, you know, getting standing up from these waves that have kept crashing. And so what did I do instead? I said, I'm going to take a rest. I'm going to actively choose to make different choices in this month of winter, of December, the solstice. Um, and I'm going to take every moment that I can to really just be with myself, sit with myself, um, heal with myself, quiet, peace and quiet. And so I really focused on the peace of the month. And, you know, um, a hectic or a chaotic desk for me, closet for some people, you know, workspace, living space. Anytime that that happens, it is, I believe. I'm not the one who coined this, but it's a reflection of your mind. It's a reflection of your being. And I had been, you know, very busy. I have a different uh full-time employment situation now. Um, and I've been trying to keep this podcast going and working full-time. And with the commitments that I have in my life, you know, trying to create that balance without really losing things and giving up. Um, and I think that's really important, is one of my favorite mottos, rest, don't quit. Rest, don't quit. And so that's what I did in December. And I I thank all of you for giving me the grace of that and allowing me to take the time that I needed to be able to come here. Um, I won't even say, you know, fully out of the dripping, wet, toddler screaming moment of this past fall and winter. Um, but we're here and we're showing up. And I think that that's the most important thing. It doesn't need to be perfect, it doesn't need to be polished. I didn't have a Christmas tree this year, but you know what? I have a completely cleaned out guest bedroom. I have a whole pile of clothes to donate to my church for their campaign that they run after the holidays. Um, so some good will come out of that. And in addition to that, you know, I'm setting myself up for the beginning of this year in a place of balance where now the time that I would have been spending elsewhere, I spent kind of attending to business and things that make me feel at peace when I come back to my home. And I think that that's very, very important for people, um, especially people who maybe don't live alone, you know, trying to cultivate. I've mentioned it before, Drew Barrymore's meditation closet, a space of peace for yourself within your home. And without having the ability to rest, we lose that momentum. We lose that motivation because it can be such day-to-day living can be so overwhelming. Even with all things going well, overwhelm is a true and real thing, especially in this life. And we're not even going to get to talk about all of the external influences like the news, what's going on in the world. I'm just, we're not, we're not, that's not why we're here. We're here to uplift, we're here to be the change that we can be within ourselves and in our immediate surroundings, because that is going to have, if everyone did that, again, lights, lights on a dark globe. If everyone lit up, that this world would just become lighter as it stands. So my focus is on creating the space for you to be a little bit inspired, I hope, a little bit motivated, and to find a place A, of peace for yourself, B, the grace that you give yourself to rest when you are when you feel like you want to quit. When that wave knocks you over and you're sandy and you're swallowing salt water and you're screaming and you don't know which direction is up. As soon as you get yourself, and that's up to you, getting yourself upright and out of the water in the right direction, and that is something only you can answer. When you drag your tired, screaming toddler of a self out of the beach and you get onto the sand, just laying down in the sunshine and appreciating that peace. You're out of the fray, you're on your towel, right? You're in your safe space, which hopefully is your home. And again, I hope I wish and hope that for everyone. I know that's not always the case. So, as always, if ever you are not safe in your own home, please, please, please, there are ample resources online. Um, and I hope in your community to help you with that. But again, I digress. So, back to the inspiration part. Hopefully, after a time of rest, after a time of recuperation, after a time of rebalancing, of taking care of the things that are just clogging up your mind, right? Like if you have a pile of laundry, it's just a thing in your head that you still need to do, and it takes up space and it wastes energy. It takes energy and it takes less energy to do the laundry than it does to procrastinate the laundry. And hi, this me, two thumbs procrastinator, right here. That's me. So, you know, there is there is the acknowledgement of the rest, of the relaxation, of the taking the time to restore yourself, to lay on the beach, to lay on your couch, to cuddle with your dogs, what cuddle with your children, cuddle with your partner, whatever it is that it may be for you, where your peace is, be in that. And when you really, if you feel like you need to, take the time and make the sacrifice, but don't let it be a permanent sacrifice. Let it be that race of rest and let that be a gift that you give yourself, and then you can move forward. And once you do, you'll know your body will tell you your, you know, I'm here today, and I'm tired today. I'll be very honest with you. I am not my best self. Um, I'm very tired. I just did a yoga practice um in preparation for this. And, you know, for me as someone who practices yoga on a pretty regular basis, um, you can tell in your body there are some days where just it's harder. You're sluggish, you're moving slowly, and that can be from any number of things, from diet to hormonal to just the amount of sleep you got the night before. Um, you know, there's so many things, your mental and emotional well-being, all of those things come into play. But if you practice yoga on a regular basis, you will know beyond the shadow of a doubt where your energy level is based on what those asanas feel like, especially some of the more challenging ones and the relaxing one, because I'll tell you, I took a couple extra minutes in Shivasana today. I said, Oh, this is what I need. I need to be laying down on the floor. And so hear that, feel that, become attuned enough with your own body and your own self to understand that and to recognize it and to give your body what it's asking for. I think that is so important. And that's one of the reasons why I love yoga and love the practice and love the attunement that it gives you to yourself, because again, we can't be anything for anyone else if we're not first that for ourselves. And that starts with self-love, I believe. So once you are back on that beach and you had that moment, that toddler moment of the tantrum to the rest, and you know, you start to kind of open one eye and want to play in the sand and build a sand castle or whatever it is that you want to do. We're really running with this metaphor now. Take it on a life of its own. Um, you're going to need to find that spark and that momentum back. And those are the asanas that I want to talk about. So there's a whole situation um going around about, you know, the the different starts of the new year. And, you know, maybe it's just on my algorithm, but I think I think that it's always been made a lot of sense to me that as we enter the new year, we're we've just entered winter, we've just had the winter solstice, and we are starting what would be a brand new year in the dead of winter, where it's cold, it's miserable outside, you know, you've just spent all this money you necessarily didn't want to spend, or you know, you've you've m spent extra around the holidays. Maybe you did want to spend it and you love the people around you and you want to give to them, et cetera. And that's beautiful and wonderful. But you know, you're you're bringing things down, you're putting decorations away. This is kind of where everybody, a lot of people are. I won't blanket statement where a lot of people are. Um, and and it's just not the season for, you know, new beginnings, I feel, you know, uh just organically. And so a lot of people then talk about the Chinese calendar and the the that lunar new year and the idea of the the fire horse has been everywhere because we're moving from the the snake year to the horse year. Um, and so people start talking about that as like the true new year. And then there are people that go into the the older, you know, more seasonal new year of the astrological calendar, and that would be in that Aries, and hi, I'm in Aries, but that would be that that start of the astral astrological calendar in the Aries season, which is you know end of March, beginning of spring, when things start to bud and bloom out in the world. And so it doesn't matter whatever you ascribe to, but just as that thought process of if you are trying to initiate things, right? If you're trying to start resolutions, you know, go back to the gym for that first month when everyone their brother shows up and then no one's there by March, you know, consider maybe starting small. And instead of kind of using the ball drop as your kind of you know, gunshot to run with something and move and go with it and start forcing yourself if you don't feel it, right? Um, holiday hangover, if you will, gen then start small. It doesn't mean you can't make resolutions, it doesn't mean you can't take actions on them. But I like to think of the momentum as something buildable, something actionable, something achievable, first of all, top priority, achievable. And finally, something that you can sustain, sustainable, sustainability. And that's you know, been a big theme for me, especially with my dietary um choices, I'll call them. And you know, for things that are slow, steady progress. Think tortoise, not hair, right? And and so when we're talking about this kind of building of momentum, and herein lies the point, we're talking about the asanas that that are dynamic, that will inspire and create movement and generate some heat in the body and and provide focus. And if you can't see where I'm going with this, my some of my favorite asanas, some of the most notable, some of the most traditionally associated with asanas, are the warrior postures. And that's your warrior one, your warrior two, and your warrior three. And they are with some modifications accessible to pretty much everyone. Um, and I say with some modifications, and I also, and a wall would count for Warrior Three. Um, but essentially what I love about these postures is they are traditional, well, at least one Warrior One is traditional in a Sun Sleute. Um, but Warrior One is your, you know, your fierce, again, associating not necessarily with gender, but with the yogic principles of forward-facing sun masculine heating element, that's your Warrior One. Whereas your Warrior Two, I'm gonna say, because of the fact that A, it is somewhat of a hip opener, pardon me, and B, it is as opposed to the feminine receptive. And here's where I'm gonna get I'm gonna trip myself up a little bit, but it's it to me, it has that feminine aspect out of the warrior sequencing because it is a lateral pose, not a forward facing. So when I talk about this, if you're thinking of a yoga mat, forward facing is gonna be the far end, the small end of the mat, lateral facing is gonna be the long, the lengthwise side of the mat, not the not the short side. So you open your body up, it's a hip opener, it it changes the way that the hips are situated in in the in the sockets of the joint. Um, and a lot of a lot of vinyasa flows, I've done this numerous times. My a lot of my yoga teachers that I love have done it. You move from a warrior one to a warrior two, and it's like this opening up, right? So your hips are facing forward, you pivot your back foot and you kind of come from arms up or arms up to arms out, and it's this expanse. And I think that it's a beautiful transition that tons of yoga instructors do, and it feels so good in your body. Um, and and it brings that feminine aspect to it, but it is still, you know, a bit of a strenuous pose. There's tons of modifications that you can do. Um, but when you're talking about the the movement of energy, what I love about the warriors is that they are aside from downward-facing dog, which is an inversion, and you know, a traditional and very much you know associated yoga posture, your warriors are they not only ground, but they physically direct energy, and they direct energy in in theory, almost any direction that you want, right? So if you're thinking of warrior one, your feet are grounded into that floor. Your your legs are strong, they are leg-strengthening asanas. Your core is strong. You are literally holding this position of a warrior. And your arms, now warrior one has tons of arm variations, but traditionally speaking, the arms are raised up, whether they're interlaced in front and you have a deep backbend and you're lifting up from your heart center, careful not to pop the ribcage, but lifting up from your heart center, or even if you don't have that kind of open chest mobility and your arms are straight up, fingers pointed toward the sky. It's this balance of grounding and upward movement at its core, right? And then when you're talking about a warrior two, it's the same thing, this balance of this grounded, bringing that energy up from the earth, creating that that connectedness, building that strength in your legs and in your hips and your and in your lower abdominals and core. And then that energy is moving outwards from your body through your arms. So it's still bringing that energy up through the earth and then directing it maybe not up but out. And it's so it's a release, right? As opposed to, as I like to say with the Warrior One, you're like building, it's connecting earth and sky. It's this beautiful single line of energy moving bottom to top. Warrior two, it's this dispersion of energy away from you. So if you really just feel like you need to release, warrior two is there for you. And for Warrior Three, um, is a it's a balance pose. And what I love about Warrior Three, especially when we're talking about momentum and we're talking about building, warrior one and warrior three are very much in unison with each other. They're very much in common. Um, warrior two again is that little outlier, which is why I like to kind of name it akin to that feminine receptive energy, the moon, the left side of the body, right? Those are all of the alliances. Again, gender neutral, but in yoga, that's been the traditional um distinctions of the two different sides of the body, left, right hemispheres, etc. And again, you can go down huge rabbit holes. We don't have eight hours over time collectively, but in the I like to keep people's attention to the best of my ability. So warrior three is very, very similar to Warrior One with one very, very big distinction, and that is you pivot at your hip crease, stand on one leg, and send the opposite leg directly out behind you. So you wind up looking in an ideal world like a T standing on one leg. Now you are directing energy from the earth in opposite directions. This is a very strengthening posture. It can be grumpy on people's lower backs if not done appropriately. And obviously, as a balance posture, if you don't have a wall or you have not the best balance, I, you know, you have the tendency or the potential to fall. And of course, in any yogasana, if you lose your balance, you have the potential to fall. I will always say for Warrior 3, it's one of my favorites. Um, and what I love about it is you can do it with your hands on the wall, you can do it with your fingertip on the wall, you can do it with your back leg on the wall, which is I recommend having an instructor help you through that. Not that you can't figure it out, but I do recommend that because, or at least a good set of mirrors around you to kind of see to make sure that you're in the correct position. But what's great about any of these different ways, you can also use a strap. You can take your hands behind you and use a strap and open the chest and have the arms out. So you're kind of combining a warrior two and a and a warrior three to a certain extent, not for the hips, but only for the the arms and the upper body. And there are so many ways to kind of prep yourself for the warrior three posture, which again again is the is the most challenging of those three, and and it directs that energy. You feel like you're moving forward, but you're also, I always, my biggest cue for this, and what I do with a lot of my students is I'll stand behind them and I'll I'll have them press their foot into my hip. And the light bulb moments that I get from students that forget about their leg and you're just kind of hovering, you have this limp, floppy foot, which is not the point. And as soon as you give someone something to push into, you that stream of energy goes in both directions. And so it's just such a beautiful way to create that momentum. So no matter if you're practicing for balance, no matter if you are just trying to build strength, if you're trying, now I will say all of these postures will help with flexibility, especially with the hips. Um a little more so with the spine and only in Warrior One per se, um, but but truly for the hips and strengthening of the legs. That is is at its core, right, where we are with these postures. These are not going to be as flexibility focused as let's say lower high lunge, where you're really deepening into those hip flexors. These are going to be strengthening the calves, the thighs, the glutes, um, strengthening through the core, really creating the basis for balance. So when you're talking about practicing them, it's it's either a heel-to-heel alignment on your mat, which for Warrior Two, um, and for Warrior One and Warrior Three, it's the train track alignment. So your feet are in line with your hips. And you want to do that to protect the back knee, whatever leg is reaching back behind you, it's going to be on a 45-degree angle. And it creates just this little pivot in the hip that if you do have um, you know, tight groin muscles, tight inner thigh muscles, it can pull on the inside of the kneecap of the back leg. So if you feel that, you always want to shorten your stance. If you have a little bit of weakness through your quads, you want to reduce the bend. In a perfect world, it is a 90-degree angle of the front knee and stacking it directly over the ankle, never forward, never over the toe. That's how you start to move into the platella in the front of the knee. So once you have that, then your back leg steps back, little tiny 45-degree angle with that back foot. And what the most important thing is you want to lift up through the arch of that back foot, kind of press the blade edge of the back foot into the earth to engage through the muscle. Similarly in Warrior Three to putting the foot against me or a wall, where you have that point of contact, that engagement through the back leg. And then through the hips, you have that kind of similar one leg, both legs in Warrior One and Warrior Three have a little bit of an internal rotation with the exception of the back leg in Warrior One, which is slightly externally rotated to accommodate the turning out of that back foot. But once you start to pivot on that toe and take a small step forward to hover up into a Warrior 3, whether you're touching a wall, whether you're supporting with a strap, whether you are using, you know, measuring first to know where you are and using your back leg. These are all different methods that you are able to use. And you'll notice that that hip is going to start to rotate inwards as that back leg comes off the mat and brings you towards your forward now, Warrior One. I'm sorry, Warrior Three. So moving from Warrior One into Warrior Three is a beautiful and very simple transition. Um, and again, takes that energy from grounded upwards facing to out in two directions and focused. And I think that's what makes me so excited about these postures in relation to new beginnings, because it's taking energy that's that's tired, right? It's it's it's accessible energy and it is strengthening it, building upon it safely, and then directing it in a specific place chosen by yours truly or your or yourself, wherever you want to take that energy. Um, and when you talk about the second aspect, the warrior two aspect, that divine feminine aspect of it, it's the same strengthening grounding nature of the legs, right? Only now our hips are the front leg is an external rotation and the back leg is slightly internally rotated. So a lot and a lot of teachers that I've had different schools of thought. So let me address that briefly. In Warrior 2, traditionally speaking, if you have a yoga practice, the front heel and the back arch are whatever come into alignment. So you're on a single line of energy, right? If you have any it balance issues or if you have tighter hips, then you would take a heel-to-heel alignment so that the front heel ends up in line with the back heel, and that gives a little more room to that back hip to release and open up. And again, remember if you go back to warrior one, it was the opposite, where the front is an internal and the back is an external. So it's kind of while it's while it's easy to transition from Warrior One to Warrior Two, these little kind of yoga instructor deep practice micro movements do make a big difference. Um and so as you open up into that warrior two, you're opening up through the pelvic bowl, you're opening up through the front of your hips, you're engaging through that front glute. A lot of instructors, and I don't love the cue, but I've used it many times, they say roll that front hip under. And what that means is that as you engage the glute, the the knee is gonna start to pull out towards the pinky toe of the of the front leg. And as you do the same and you ground through the outer edge of the blade of the back foot, you're you're gonna feel if you if you have heel to heel or you start to engage both glutes, you'll feel the compression start to creep up into your lumbar spine. And for many years, I thought that was the way that you're supposed to practice this pose until an instructor said, no, no, no, internal in the back. And it just released all of that compression in the lumbar spine by kind of it basically crunches the tailbone with the pelvic bowl. There's I could get into the dynamics of how and why it does that, but essentially, I am I ask for you to try it if you feel so inclined. Disclaimer, not a doctor, yoga instructor, not a physical therapist, yoga instructor. So if you have any contraindications, they are your responsibility. Giant, I'm not a doctor, disclaimer alert, as it comes to lower back lumbar spine injuries or even hip replacements and these postures. So there are some contraindications to be mindful of. And those are definitely some of them, especially for hip replacements, because that can limit mobility. Lumbar spine surgeries can limit mobility. So we're talking about a general generalization because frankly, that's all that we have time to get into in this kind of a snippet. But these are the little nuances of what happens in the hips and then the core, you know, you're still drawing from the lower abdominals up. And then that energy instead of a gentle backbend that we get in a warrior one turns into a very solid and even slightly a slight remove. Well, I guess it could say a slight removal of the back bend in a warrior two. So as you're opening the hips, you're not, you don't want an arched back. You want to have that core strong, you want to have the spine in alignment. And in so doing, you will create that line of energy, that core strength, and that stability to then open the arms and release. And if you have tension in your shoulders, if you can't see my palms are facing down, tension in your shoulders for those of you listening and not watching. You can flip the palms up, which then releases the shoulders from the neck and allows for the kind of shoulder blades and the lats to engage. And I love that for women who carry a lot of tension in their upper, upper backs, necks, and shoulders. Men too, but women definitely tend to have that kind of little more of a hunch, right? So if you're if you're kind of struggling in your hurt with a crunchy neck, and by here, I kind of look like a turtle again for those of you. For those of you that are listening, you're gonna drop those shoulders down, flip those palms up. You'll feel the opening in the shoulders and you'll feel the engagement just beneath the shoulder blades. And that's so important for women to again have we carry a lot of weight in our chest, fellas don't. We do, generally speaking. And so this is a great kind of cue for women to get the strength in the right place as opposed to dumping into the tops of their shoulders and traps where they're already so tight and strained. Um, so just another little cue into how to make the Warrior II a little bit more of a receptive but still strength-building pose. And again, sending that energy grounding through our torso, grounding through our legs, and then sending everything that we don't need away from our bodies through our arms. And I just think that that is a wonderful way to begin to build a solid and steady practice. And when you're talking about a flow of these things, I would almost suggest a lot of times people go from warrior one to warrior two. And I've heard yoga instructors say never close the hip. A lot of times in a vinyasa, I've done it, instructors of mine have done it. We go in a vinyasa flow from a downward-facing dog, step a foot up, open up into warrior one, open up again into warrior two. This is a sequence that you'll see a lot. It's very rare that you'll hear a yoga instructor open up into warrior two and close that hip off into warrior one. It's just not done. And there's thoughts, there's different thoughts as to why, but it can create a little bit of torque on the hip if it's not done properly. So a lot of times, what I would recommend is for you to potentially start in your warrior one, move through your warrior three. If this is in your practice, if it's not in your practice, then I will encourage you to practice warrior three statically and safely with a wall, get your balance right, get your favorite placement right, start to build those core muscles that you need in the joints to support the structure of the pose, building, right? This is all about building blocks, sustainability, achievability, and the ability to continue without A harming, creating injury of any kind, B, getting yourself to a place where you're bored with it or see and you know, just giving up on it, right? We don't want to give up on it. We want to be able to meet these tiny little micro goals that will inspire us to continue to go. And so if it's not in your practice, then I would say moving from a warrior one to a warrior three and then hinging open from a warrior three, once that leg is up in the air, you can gently place it into your warrior two and just release everything, including the hips. And I think that is a beautiful little micro sequence that you can try at home if Warrior Three is in your practice. If it's not, then practice opening up from Warrior One into Warrior Two. Practice with the foot alignment, whether it's heel to heel, whether it's heel, and remember Warrior One train tracks, heels are aligned with the hips, not each other, unless you're practicing a very strong practice, or there are certain schools of thought that I won't get into that do practice it that way. It does put a lot of torque on that back leg, and I don't love it for the knee. So I like to practice train track alignment in Warrior One, moving from that train track alignment gently, slowly with confidence, steadiness, and stability into Warrior Three. And then gently, as you place that back leg down from Warrior Three back to the mat, opening up into a Warrior Two and just letting all that energy go, letting it all release. And if you've had your arms open and forward in Warrior Three, like I said, a lot of times, whether it's kind of like Charlie's Angel style, or for those of you who are not with the fingers interlaced and you're looking forward, that's one option, or arms straight up over the head, like parallel, but like parallel to your ears, palms facing out, kind of keeping the shoulders away so that you're not kind of crunching into your ears. But having that and tilting forward into your warrior three and then coming back and opening up into that warrior two, I think is a beautiful transition, pardon me, that you might be able to utilize as you start to get a little bit more confident in your balance and your ability to move that energy through. So these are three postures that most yoga students are have some familiar with, some familiarity with, at least the first two, warrior one and two. Pardon me. And as for warrior three, let it be a challenging pose for you. Let it be a goal pose for you, let it be something that inspires you to cultivate the strength, the steadiness, the balance, the the uh, the uh inspiration to get there, to do it, to to face something that might be a little more challenging, a little harder for you. They always say in yoga, the pose that you hate the most, I don't like to use that word, but just you know, tongue in cheek, is the pose that you need the most. So whatever pose challenges you, and that doesn't mean to say the pose that you're contraindicated against, but it just means the pose that you do, but that you're like, oh, that's oh, it doesn't feel like oh, my body doesn't like it. Oh, I don't love that. Um, or oh, it's too hard. Those are the ones. That's where the money is. That's where, that's where the magic happens. Um, that's where your body is is your mind is stopping your body from what it needs, essentially. So, with all of this in mind, I encourage you so much as we move through whichever new year you feel aligned with, January 1st, the the lunar new year or the astrological new year, wherever you fall. I still believe that any resolution can be done at any time of year. It doesn't need to have a January 1st date or gunshot, and that you are able to build actionable, achievable, and sustainable results by starting small, forgiving yourself when you take a break or an act of choice. And I'm gonna share this one more thing. So uh I've been wanting to incorporate you know my yoga into my everyday. And the other day, as I said, today is not, I'm not at my I'm not at my top energy level today, and I haven't been for a couple days, and that's okay. But the other day I had a I had a choice to make because I have a little bit of a routine. I'm a routine-based person. It helps me kind of feel like there's some control to the chaos, even if it's an illusion, let me have it, please. It's uh sometimes we need it. And you know, I I was really tired and I really just knew I wanted to take a shower in the morning and not the night before. And oftentimes I'm much happier in the morning if I've showered and done what I needed to do the night before. But I just said, you know what? Tonight I'm gonna make the choice. I'm gonna not practice yoga tomorrow, and I'm gonna take my shower and dry this hair before it's very cold where I am, before I go out, and I'm gonna make that conscious choice. And it was a conscious choice, and it went against what you know I want for my routine, which is to do yoga every morning. And that needs to be okay, just like taking a break over the holidays, because if you I don't want to, I don't want to come here and do a bad job. I don't want to, I don't want to not inspire. I don't want to not motivate people to to do their best, also with the caveat of rest if you need to, and let that be okay. And don't feel guilty about it. Make the conscious choice. I know that my body in this week, in this two, three-day period, needs more rest. And these are the things that I need to do, and these are how I want to, this is how I want to show up for myself. And in that moment, I was so fatigued and I was so tired that I said, I think it's best for me to go to sleep post-haste, favorite word of mine, immediately, and to make the sacrifice of my yoga for one day of the week so that I can start refreshed in the morning, get a little more energy from that morning shower, maybe. I don't know. It's an Ayurvatic principle to definitely shower at night, um, rinse the day away, kind of that energetic when I love it, I love it. But also when you start the day fresh and you have that first shower in the morning, it wakes you up. It helps kind of get you get you moving. And when we're talking about momentum and these warrior aspects, just always remember the transitions in these postures are so important. And taking those transitional moments in your evenings and your mornings, those are so important. Making sure that you honor your body in the moment, no matter what your routine is. And that doesn't give you carte blanche for quitting everything and giving up, and you know, that that's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is you'll know, and your body will tell you when you create and cultivate this relationship with it, where you actually listen to it, what it needs. And when your overall goals need to take one day, that's okay. When your toddler, tantrum, wave crashed self needs to take a beat over the holidays, that's okay. It doesn't have to be over the holidays. But as long as you rest and don't quit and show back up in the best possible space that you can, not perfect, but the best that you can with something to say that hopefully has some substance with it, and with something to give and share and energy to bring, then do so. The rest don't quit. And as always, I am so grateful to each and every one of you for sharing this space with me. So I ask that you please feel free to share the same with your loved ones. For more goodness, follow me on all the socials at Above the Ground Podcast and visit my website, airsaboveyoga.com. As always, please don't forget to check out my other episodes and all of my amazing sisters at Divas That Care. You can find us on Spotify, Odyssey, Apple, Amazon, iHeartRadio, or anywhere else that you feel guided. Again, my name is Gia Raquel Rose, owner of Airsabove Yoga, and you are listening to Above the Ground Podcast, where every day is a good one.

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