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Becoming a Warrior of Love
On August 17, 2012 in
General
by
Wendy
My best yoga teachers have always stressed that the strength of Warrior 1 is finding the balance between grounding the back leg while stretching the front forward. In order to rest in the center we are literally holding ourselves fully in the present moment. Finding this central alignment both lengthens and strengthens muscles in the legs, shoulders and arms, while opening up space for your heart and lungs to expand. It is said that the full expression of this pose is “to honor the highest self” which in the best of worlds is the same reason we love each other.
It might seeem an oxymoron of sorts, to use the words love and warrior in the same phase, but the truth is that for real and lasting love to flourish and thrive in life, it takes a warrior’s heart. Practicing Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana) forces us to simultaneously rely on our strength while stretching into the limits of our flexibility. Our stability comes from these efforts merging. The same can be said of the work of intimacy. Beyond the initial euphoria of falling in love, finding the reasons to keep your promises takes both the strength of belief in the basic goodness that the container of your relationship holds, and the willingness to stretch your emotional boundaries into new spaces of vulnerability.
Our relationships wobble beneath us when we don’t bring both of these qualities to our ability to love. It is easy for us to lose sight of our basic faith in ourselves and to not offer the benefit of the doubt to the people we love. It is such a small quarter turn of vision that brings us back to this place where we fundamentally trust that we are doing the best we can, and that the people who love us are doing the same. Building this kind of trust into our relationships, as basic as it seems, gives you the foundation to be steady when things don’t go as planned. People’s shortcomings, and even our disappointment with our self, can be contained and even create compassion for the striving and failing that is inherent in our efforts to love.
Opening our heart and even our breathing to wider spaces of vulnerability is how relationships evolve and grow. What we are not willing to share, to disclose and express doesn’t just keep our relationship shielded from our full self, it keeps us at a distance from what is really happening inside of us. In either case, this defensive mechanism designed to keep us safe, often without our recognition often accomplishes the reverse by cutting us off from the heart connection that we long for in love.
So next time you rest into Warrior 1, consider all the spaces that are opening and becoming stronger in your body, preparing you to become a warrior of love, which is the truest battle we have the honor of fighting for in this life.
By Wendy Strgar
Wendy Strgar is the author of
Love that Works
and founder and CEO of
Good Clean Love
. Her natural and organic product line is sold and endorsed by physicians nationwide. Good Clean Love won the prestigious Oregon Entrepreneurial Network’s 2011 Tom Holce award for the best developing company. Wendy is a loveologist who writes and lectures on Making Love Sustainable, a green philosophy of relationships which teaches the importance of valuing the renewable resources of loving relationships and family. Married for over 25 years with four teenagers, her daily life is the lab for her loveology work. She tackles the challenging issues of sustaining relationships and healthy intimacy with an authentic and disarming style and simple yet innovative advice. Visit Wendy's website and purchase products at
GoodCleanLove.com
, and visit her blog at
MakingLoveSustainable.com
.
Start practicing with these classes today to open yourself up to love:
Chakra Balancing Yoga
– Natalie Maisel
Heart Opening Flow
– Jackie Casal Mahrou
The Fearless Heart
– Michelle Marchildon
Related Posts
The Benefits of Warrior Poses
The series of warrior poses are the foundations of a strong and solid practice of asana. Warrior poses are among the most common poses in yoga practice, and help with balance, stance and hip opening. Warrior poses are great for nearly every type of body and skill level, are easy for beginners to get to grips with, while still being a great pose for building up strength, confidence, and feeling like, well a warrior! As we do warrior poses more and more often, it’s easy to forget the benefits they can give our minds and bodies. We’ve taken a look at some of the common variants of warrior pose, and the benefits these can give you. Warrior 1 Warrior 1 is a pose that will give you more flexibility in your hips, strengthen and tone your legs when practiced often.
To Love vs. Be In Love With Your Body
Is there a difference between loving your body and being in love with your body? We are presented with this notion that we need to love ourselves-- that our love must exist as this unquestionable force of worship, one that sustains and thus bestows wholeness upon us. This approach has always felt flat to me. As a surface stripped bare of footholds. A richly rough and complicated concept made smooth by the dogmatism of devotion. Love yourself.
Love
I love love... I mean I really love LOVE! I’ve been accused of overusing the word in some of my circles. Regardless of that, I continue to use it because it rolls off my tongue and feels good when I say it.
Simple Ways to Show Love to Yourself & Others Regularly
Love, it makes the world go round. All you need is love. It’s so simple right? Actually, maintaining and nurturing loving relationships in our lives can take effort and practice. However, showing your love to others, as well as yourself, can make a huge positive impact in our lives. Love comes in many forms, from our significant others to family, to friends and even pets. Feeling loved can harbor a sense of caring, and inspires you to make others in your life feel good. It’s really quite contagious, so here’s our top ways to help you show love to others (and a few to show some love to yourself too). Listen to others
Discover Your Inner Warrior
Within us all, rests a powerful warrior. An ally, full of belief, support and courage. A passionate protector, ready to go into battle when there is risk. When harm comes your way, your inner warrior rises into full defense. The reaction of your inner warrior is usually not to external threats, but to the struggles which we create ourselves. Called to action by ego, doubt, fear, ignorance, self-sabotage and neglect. The battle of your inner warrior, is to restore and reveal your best self. Fueled by passion, the inner warrior is strengthened by being open, raw and real. Life experience cultivates wisdom and calling on our inner warrior inspires resilience. Intelligent and articulate, our warrior is fine tuned to rise when needed, acting in support of our highest self. Think of your warrior as your biggest cheerleader.
Yoga to Awaken your Inner Warrior
A true warrior is a combination of characteristics: strength, clarity, composure, and fearlessness. To awaken your inner warrior, it is vital you dig deep and recognize your own desires, truths, and powers. Being a warrior and standing up for what you believe in doesn’t mean you have to be the most physically powerful person, nor the fastest or most agile. A true warrior comes from within: being firm in your resolve, true to your beliefs, and learning to bend and not break. Yoga guides us to turn our attention and awareness inward with the intention of recognizing and releasing our inner truth and sharing it with the world. When you practice yoga with an emphasis on uncovering your personal truth, you begin to discover and cultivate your unique power and gifts. Through a dedicated yoga practice, we strengthen our external body and fortify our inner resolve. By becoming still and calm, you can discover what motivates you. Then, you know what you want and what you are willing to take a stand for, without fear.
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