Yoga Poses for Insomnia oga Fire Log Pose for Insomnia



So we're almost through our sequence for insomnia. By now you should be feeling calm, relaxed, rejuvenated, no worries, almost ready for bed. This is fire log pose, agnistambhasana, and from our easy pose all we're going to do -this is a really intense hip stretch. If you're not comfortable here you might want to bring a block or a blanket underneath your sits bones. We're going to rearrange our legs so that the right ankle is on top of the left knee, and the right knee is on top of the left ankle. So this is the pose. It's extremely challenging. If you need to raise your sits bones up, please do so. If your top knee will not come down below the level of your waistline you need to bring something underneath those sits bones and bring your body up until it can fall down. Once you're here -this is enough isn't it?- all you're going to do is inhale, let the crown of the head float, exhale, let the sits bones gently sink into the floor, and if you're feeling very comfortable and this is not such a big deal at all, try coming forward over the legs and see what happens. This stretch is going to get the outer portion of your hips and the piriformis, which is the cause of nasty, nasty sciatica in many people. See if you can stay here for 1 to 3 minutes. If you prefer to count your breaths, keep your breath long and strong for 20 breaths at least. And then, when you're ready, you can shake your legs out and you're going to switch sides. Right ankle on top of left knee, left knee, wait, this is my left ankle and it's on top of my right knee, and this, this is my left knee, and it's on top of my right ankle, and you're just going to repeat. Again, keep the breath long and strong. Don't let any tension happen in the belly, in the hips. Don't let your tension come into your shoulders because you're like, "Ow!" Keep your breath long and strong, see how you feel.