Benefits: Opens your hips, shoulders, and chest. Stretches the inner thighs. Doing the pose keeps you from opening a bag of chips.
 

Suffering: Average. Comparable to getting a scrape. The deeper the bend in your front knee, the harder the pose is. So, you can adjust how much you have to fight in this pose. 

To perform Warrior II:

• Have your feet in a wide stance with your feet outside your shoulders along the length of your mat.

• Step the leg you are going to bend out to the side, so the toes and kneecap of that leg are pointed toward the top of your mat.

• Bend your leg so the knee is directly above your ankle. If your bent knee is in front of your ankle, that puts too much pressure on the knee joint.

• Step your straight leg back a little bit to create a longer warrior stance. How far you step back will also determine how bent you want your front knee to be.

• The toes of each leg should be pointing in the same direction as the knee cap of the leg.  

• Have your upper body in a straight line with your legs facing the side of your mat.

• Press down on the outer edge of your back foot to keep that back knee from turning down. This is the pinky toe’s time to shine as they are the leader of the foot-outer-edge area.

• Lift your arms to shoulder height in a straight line with your legs. Turn your head in the direction of the bent knee and gaze at the fingertips of the hand on that side. 

• Repeat the entire stretch on the other side. All one-sided postures should be practiced equally on both sides.
   

Many people crave Warrior II Pose; it makes them feel powerful. Wearing armor gives a similar feeling. Yoga studios need to consider offering armor alongside straps and yoga blankets to enhance their students' experience.
 

Perks of wearing armor during practice include:

• The metal keeps your body cool.

• Sunlight reflecting off your armor turns you into a radiant disco ball.

• Wearing armor can increase your confidence and make your stressors feel more manageable.
   

Downsides of practicing with armor:

• The pieces clanking and banging into each other can be noisy during pose transitions, disturbing the class.

• You are more likely to break your phone if you accidentally roll on top of it.

• It’s harder to expand the stomach and breathe deeply since there is a layer of metal over it.