#firelog pose

Yoga Pose of the Week: Firelog Pose

Happy Monday, everyone! It’s the first day of winter quarter here at UC Davis, which means I only have 2 more quarters of college! Pretty crazy. In honor of a new year and a new school term, I thought this simple but awesome pose would be a good one to talk about.

Yoga isn’t about being able to do the craziest, most challenging poses. It’s about the practice; being mindful, taking care of your…

Benefits:

This pose stretches the hips and groin. It can also be useful in dealing with stress.

Caution/Contraindications:

Low back injury or knee injury

Coming into the Pose:

Sit on one edge of a thickly-folded blanket, knees bent, feet on the floor. Lightly shrug your shoulders up, strongly roll the heads of your upper arm bones back, and press the bottom tips of your shoulder blades into your back.

Slide your left foot under your right leg to the outside of your right hip, and lay the outer leg on the floor. Then, stack your right leg on top of the left. Be sure the right ankle is outside the left knee (so the sole is perpendicular to the floor).

Press through your heels and spread your toes. Keeping your front torso long, exhale and fold forward from your groins. Be sure not to round forward from your belly: Keep the space between your pubis and navel long. Lay your hands on the floor in front of your shins.

As you inhale, notice how your torso rises slightly; when it does, lengthen from your pubis to your sternum. Then on the next exhalation, fold deeper.

Hold 1 minute or more. Inhale the torso upright and uncross your legs to come out of the pose. Repeat for the same length of time with the left leg on top.

Modifications: