How to Do Fire Log Pose in Yoga (Agnistambhasana)

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Fire Log Pose Step-By-Step

  1. Sit on your mat with knees bent and feet on the floor. You can elevate your hips on a folded blanket. Elongate your spine.
  2. Slide the left foot under your right leg, so it sits a bit past the hip-width. Then place the right ankle on top of the left knee. In the full version of the pose, the legs are perfectly stacked on top of each other. However, it’s completely normal that your right knee opens towards the sky – don’t force it to touch the left ankle if that causes any pain.
  3. For a deeper stretch,  reach your torso forward with a flat back. You can walk your hands forward or rest them on your knees, but don’t use them to push the knees downward further than comfortable.
  4. Hold for several deep breaths, or longer if you want to make this a passive pose. With an inhale, return to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

Fire Log Pose Quick Look

Sanskrit Name: Agnistambhasana
Pose Type: Hip-Opening Yoga Poses, Seated Yoga Poses
Difficulty Level: Intermediate pose
Targets: Hips, groins, thighs
Benefits: Fire Log pose provides a deep stretch for the hips and groin area. It especially stretches the piriformis muscle, which commonly causes sciatic pain. It stimulates the organs, improving metabolism and digestion. Furthermore, it opens up the root chakra, bringing a sense of grounding-and the sacral chakra, responsible for creative and sexual energy. That makes it a perfect pose to practice before meditation and pranayama.
Preparatory Poses: Bound Angle pose, Accomplished pose, Pigeon pose, Lotus pose

Notes

The Fire Log pose is one of the deepest outer hip stretches in yoga. It’s a seated pose in which you stack one shin on top of the other in front of you.

This pose gives a big stretch to glute muscles and can help to release tension we get from sitting in our chairs for long hours. It’s an advanced stretch, and it will take some time before you’re able to get into the full version of the pose. However, it’s never important to get into the full version when you’re practicing yoga – just going as far as you can without pain will give you a powerful stretch.

The pose is perfect to practice after a long day and can help you relieve any pain and tension in the lower body before going to sleep.

“We tend to hold stress and other negative emotions in our hips – it’s no wonder deep hip stretches can bring us to tears.”, says Yoga Answered contributor Sara Popovic. “That makes this stretch not only beneficial for our hip mobility but also to release suppressed emotions.”

Beginner’s Tip

Make sure your pelvis is in a neutral position, spreading your weight equally on both sit bones. Always hold the pose for the same amount of time on both legs – and don’t worry if one side is more flexible than the other. Your spine should be long and straight for the entire pose, don’t round your back and shoulders. If your knees hurt in the pose, replace it with the Easy pose (Sukhasana).

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