Follow these steps in slow, easy stages:

1. Kneel on the ground on all fours. Lean forward to place hands on ground below your shoulders, fingers facing forward, hands placed in line with knees. Your arms and thighs should be at right angles to the floor; your knees may be slightly separated.

2. Breathe in deeply. Raise your head and drop your spine so your back is concave. Hold for three seconds.

3. As you breathe out, drop your head and curl your spine upwards. At the end of the breath, pull in your buttocks, contract your ab muscles, and place your head between your arms.

Repeat 5 times.

(Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautions before following any of the asanas/poses from this article and this site. To avoid any problems while doing the asanas, it is advised that you consult both a doctor and a yoga instructor. The responsibility for performing the asanas correctly and protecting their health lies solely with the reader, and not with this site or this site’s writer!)

(Warning: DO NOT perform the Cobra pose if you are pregnant, suffer from hernias, or have injured your back. Stay safe!)

Do this in easy stages:

1. Lie facedown on the ground, legs tightly together and stretched back unbent. Your forehead should be on the ground. Put your hands on the ground, palms down, and place them just under your shoulders.

2. Breathe in and raise your head, pressing your neck backwards. Now use your hands to push the trunk of your body up until you’re bending in a beautiful arc from your lower spine to the back of your neck.

You need go no further than this. However, if you’re supple enough, you can now straighten your arms completely, bend the legs at the knees and drop your head back to touch your feet.

3. Even if your head goes nowhere near your feet, drop it back as much as possible and hold the posture with deep breathing.

4. Come out of the posture very slowly, returning to the face prone posture. Relax with your head turned to one side and resting on the ground. Repeat.

(Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautions before following any of the asanas/poses from this article and this site. To avoid any problems while doing the asanas, it is advised that you consult both a doctor and a yoga instructor. The responsibility for performing the asanas correctly and protecting their health lies solely with the reader, and not with this site or this site’s writer!)

Do this in easy stages:

1. Lie face down and prone on your mat. (If you are skinny or slender, use a thick, padded mat for this pose.)

2. Breathe in and bend your knees up.

3. Breathe out and stretch back with your arms. Grab and hold your ankles, keeping all your fingers and thumbs together on the outside of the joint.

4. Breathe in and at the same time, raise your head and chest, pulling at your ankles and lifting your knees and thighs off the ground.

5. Breathe normally and evenly, trying to kick up your legs higher and lifting your head up. You’re now bent like a bow, balancing the weight of your body on your abdomen.

You can stop right here but if you can still stretch further, then slide your hands down your legs, lift them higher, keep the knees together and pull back as much as you can.

6. Hold for a few normal deep breaths, then move slowly back to the facedown position. Relax, turning your head to one side and resting it on the ground. Repeat.

(Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautions before following any of the asanas/poses from this article and this site. To avoid any problems while doing the asanas, it is advised that you consult both a doctor and a yoga instructor. The responsibility for performing the asanas correctly and protecting their health lies solely with the reader, and not with this site or this site’s writer!)

I’m going with a yule themed pose on this Christmas week: knee to ankle is also called firelog pose because the legs should look like neatly stacked logs. I’ve also heard this pose called double pigeon and, on occasion, heard a few curse words thrown out as the hips open and knees settle into place. Happy Holidays!

Knee to Ankle – Agnistambhasana Is the Yoga Pose of the Week originally appeared on About.com Yoga on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 22:12:44.

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