HAPPY HIPS: Part 7 FIRELOG POSE

FIRE LOG POSE - AGNI STAMBHASANA 

also known as Double Pigeon can be modified to the need of each Yoga student. I am no friend of forcing people into poses, just because it needs to look like the "Original" from a book or Yoga Poster. That doesn't work, because you would be comparing a dancer with tremendous mobility to someone working hard whilst sitting at a desk. 

I encourage you to modify the pose so that you feel a comfortable stretch, and at the same time not harming your knees or lower back. This is a tough pose for me too. You can see that my knees are not resting on the floor (yet). The first photograph is showing the hardcore/advanced stacked leg position in FIRE LOG POSE and the second picture is the easier, modified version.

PROPS: 

• optional: Blanket underneath hip 
• optional: Block/Blanket underneath upper knee

BENEFITS:

• stretches the inner groin and outer hips

CAUTIONS:

• do not practice with pain, esp. in Groins or Hips, Lower Back or serious knee injuries                        

STEP BY STEP:

• Sit on the edge of a folded blanket or on a block/books.
• Place your left shin in front of you, shin parallel towards the front of the mat, so that you create a wider, more open SUKHASANA - CROSSED LEGGED SEAT.
• Stack your right shin on top of your left shin. 
• Flex your feet to support your knees.
• To help release the hip, grip your right thigh at the hip crease and rotate it outward.
• Keep your sitting bones grounded and slowly increase the stretch by leaning the upper body forward.
• Breathe evenly and hold the pose for 1-10 minutes on each side.

• Modification: 

• For an easier version: don't stack your shins, just bring the right foot down in front of your left shin. 
• Walk your feet toward the outer edges of the mat.
• Keep your sitting bones grounded and slowly increase the stretch by leaning the upper body forward.
• Breathe evenly and hold the pose for 1-10 minutes on each side.

Note on the side: Count your breaths, so that you can hold both sides for approx. equal amount of time. It is quite common that the left side, the other side is being held for a little shorter while.