Yoga for BJJ

The Path of Courage

jiujiteiramagazine January 25, 2022 2 min read

By Evelyn Sutton

This uplifting simple flow of poses will help you connect with your inner warrior and find the courage to move forward when life feels chaotic.

Low Crescent Lunge
Start in downward facing dog. As you exhale, step your right foot forward, between your hands. Lower your left knee to the floor, sliding the foot back until you feel a stretch in the left hip and thigh. With the next inhale, engage your core, open your chest and sweep your arms up alongside your ears. Hands are stretched out and active. If you have the flexibility in your lower back, take a gentle backbend and stretch deeper. Hold for 5 breaths. When you are ready, move to the next pose in the flow: warrior one.

Warrior One
From neutral low crescent, move into warrior one by engaging the core, and pushing through the feet, lift the back knee up from off the mat. To help you with balance, find something straight ahead of you at eye-level, to look at. Keep your chin parallel to the floor. Raise your arms straight up to the sky and gently “sit” your hips, by lowering down just enough to feel the stretch along your back leg. Stay here for 5 deep breaths. To get out of the pose, shift your weight to the front foot and step the back foot to meet the one in front. Go back to downward facing dog. From there, take a low crescent lunge again, this time, step the left foot forward and continue from there to work both sides of the body.

Child’s Pose
After a few rounds of low crescent and warrior one, nothing is better than completely surrendering your tired muscles and relaxing your breath in child’s pose. Stay in this pose as long as you like. You’ll feel mentally rejuvenated and overall stronger.

Evelyn Sutton

Evelyn Sutton is a E-RYT200 yoga teacher and owner of LuxDei Studio in Melbourne, FL. A white belt in Jiu-Jitsu, Evelyn applies her personal practice and knowledge of yoga to BJJ while helping others do the same. You can contact her at luxdeistudio.com