Yin Yoga - Frog
Okay, so you've just finished pigeon and normally frog goes here. But I forgot to have J take pictures of me in frog. So you're stuck with me surfing the net looking for suitable frog graphics. Plus frog is a ... let's just say not the most flattering position so maybe I don't want a picture of me doing frog on the internet, hm?
This, well, this is a dancer doing frog and, frankly, they're a lot more flexible than you or me. This is the goal of the stretch (hold for three to five minutes, breathe, stillness, meditation, you know the drill) but if you can't get there, here's a computer rendered place to start. You can't tell, but her feet are on the ground - that's important to get a stretch. If I were to try this stretch this way, my feet are off the ground because I don't have enough rotation. Ergo, I do this:
You want to feel this stretch in your inner thighs - from the groin to the knee. I put a lot of padding underneath my knees when I do this stretch. I also typically melt down into my back and that probably isn't the best practice - I've just got a freakishly long back.
You can get into it however you like, but *I* get onto my hands a knees careful to keep hips over knees (not too forward nor too back - hips over knees) and hands under shoulders. Then I replace my hands with my elbows so I'm on elbows and knees with the elbows carefully under the shoulders. Then slide the knees out - to the left and right respectively - carefully keeping the hips and the knees aligned front to back.
Remember that this is a three to five minute pose, not seconds, which is why you do this on carpet or padding - so you don't just slip right down into pure pain. Further, if you need / want to, you could do this pose with a pillow / blanket / bolster for support - underneath your pelvis.
You can either keep your feet together like the dancer in the first picture or apart like the second picture.
Remember to ease into and out of poses!
To escape this one, I push forward - using my arms to move my body forward until my legs are straight and I'm lying face down. Then I typically roll onto my back to breathe for a few seconds before moving into the next posture.