Way of the Warrior
By Julie Gudmestad
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Next, still lying on your back, create the shape of Warrior II: Leaving your right foot where it is, straighten your left leg out to the side, turning your foot in slightly as you ground your sole on the wall. Place your left foot so that a line drawn between its arch and your right heel would be parallel to the floor. Stretch your arms out to the sides at shoulder height, and—voilà!—Warrior II. Stay for a minute or two, and then repeat to the other side.
Up Against the Wall
The other secret to proper alignment of the bent leg in Warrior II is engaging and strengthening the muscles that externally rotate your thigh. The main external rotators are the gluteus maximus and the six deep rotators that lie underneath it—the piriformis, obturator internus, obturator externus, gemellus superior, gemellus inferior, and quadratus femoris.
To get in touch with and build these muscles, stand with your back near the wall and your feet 4 to 41/2 feet apart. Turn your left foot in slightly and your right foot out 90 degrees, parallel to the wall, and set yourself up so your right hip is touching the wall. (Don't force your left hip to the wall, or you'll force your right knee out of alignment.) Watch your thigh and knee as you bend your right leg into Warrior II: Make sure your right thigh is parallel to the wall and your right knee points out over the center of your right foot. Next, place a tightly rolled yoga mat between the wall and your bent knee. Pressing your knee firmly into this prop, press through your left foot, keeping your left knee straight and your left thighbone pushing back toward the wall. You should feel your right hip rotators working deeply to hold your right knee and thighbone in proper alignment.
Now apply the lessons you learned at the wall to Warrior II in the middle of the room. Make your pose "all in one plane": Firm your right buttock and tuck it into your body; press both knees, but especially your right one, toward an imaginary wall at your back. Move in and out of the pose, taking care that your knee doesn't wobble inward as you make your transitions.
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