Want to build some courage? How about some heat? Warrior pose has been a favorite of mine since the beginning. It is amazingly versatile and can be adapted for beginner and advanced practitioners. It is also wonderful in a therapeutic setting.

Let's consider some broader implications. Have you noticed, like I have, that fear has been a prevailing emotion in our lives lately? Fear has its place in our lives - we evolved to have a certain response to danger, and our nervous system is hard-wired stay on alert. However, everywhere I look I see fear out of control.

Fear of food: gluten, dairy, allergies, too much, not enough... Should we be vegan? Or maybe vegetarian is enough? Fish oil or flax oil? Does red meat = cancer?

Fear of people: even though America has never been safer, we are more afraid than ever to let our children out of our sight. Terrorism, violence, accidents...

Fear of experiences: failure is there no longer to teach us how to be better, how to face adversity, it is there to keep us from trying, from putting ourselves out there. We are afraid of being alone, judged, disapproved of, abandoned. We are just as afraid sometimes of success, love, and togetherness, because then we will have to face the fear of loss.

Let's stand up, tall and open-hearted, with Warrior Pose, Virabadrasana. Let us square our chest forward towards whatever is coming and face it, head on. Let us raise our arms, open our chest, brace our core, ground firm through our legs and feet. Let us not be afraid, but rather joyful at a chance to experience something unique. 

You see, it is when we attached a label of "good" or "bad" to something that it begins to control us. We want to seek out the "good" and avoid the "bad", whereas the same experience, depending on how you interpret it, can be either, or neither, you can have a totally neutral stance.

Let's take a look at the various ways we can tap into courage with the Warrior Pose. Join me!