Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

sudden, sharp pain, stop immediately, pull back to safety, and reassess. Either find a position that
feels better or opt for an alternative. You’ll want a yoga block nearby.
1. From your hands and knees, slide your right knee forward to your right wrist and fan the lower
leg open so your right shin is parallel with the front of the mat and the right foot is in front of the
left hip. Of course, stay within the parameters of your comfort and ability and know that
everyone’s range is different, so honor wherever your body wants to go without pushing it past
its limits. This means that perhaps your shin may not line up with the front of the mat; it may be at
more of a forty-five-degree or lesser angle.
2. With your arms pressing strong and straight in front of you to create a kind of leveraging
framework and steering mechanism for your pelvis and legs, extend the left leg behind you,
making sure that your hips are squared and centered. It helps to tuck the toes of the back foot
under to direct it more efficiently into the center position. Ensure that the front of your chest and
your hips are squared to the front of the mat. Flex your right foot to protect the knee, and then
reach back through your left thigh as you draw your left hip forward. Your toes should still be
curled up and underneath you, getting a healthy stretch for this set-up moment, and then once you
greet the pose, you will soften both feet, releasing them into the floor.
3. As you are trying to establish your optimal position, you may find that because of restriction in
your right hip, the hip doesn’t easily reach the floor and you are tilting off your axis, perhaps
listing to the left. You may also be feeling some discomfort in the knee. If you are askew or need
to relieve some discomfort, grab a blanket. Either roll it up or fold it in such a way that it is high
enough to provide you with ample cushioning and sufficient extra height to level your hips. Place
the blanket underneath your right buttock, under the sitting bone, to level the pelvis. Once you
reach a sufficient height, you’ll find that you feel more comfortable.
4. Once you’ve established what feels like a good starting point, one in which you feel no pain, only
a healthy stretch in the outer right hip and perhaps in the front of the left hip and upper thigh (the
hip flexor), you may feel as if you want to come out of the pose even before you’ve begun
melting. If this is true, welcome! You’ve arrived at your perfect point of departure—no, not to
exit, but to greet your Sleeping Swan. On a discomfort scale from one to ten, with ten being the
most intense, you want to start at a place that is a clear seven or eight—you’re uncomfortable, but
not in pain.
5. Now either grab a yoga block and, placing it on its lowest side, lengthwise in front of your bent
right knee, come down onto the block with your elbows, or if you are more flexible and don’t
feel an overly intense stretch in the outer right hip, come directly into Sleeping Swan by releasing
your entire upper body to the floor and extending your arms long in front of you.
6. Exhale and cease all proactive muscular engagement. Allow your back leg and foot to soften,
releasing the foot to come flat on the floor. Start to relax and drop down into your chosen
variation for the pose. Close your eyes and start to connect to your breath inside your body.
Breathe into the area that is speaking the loudest to you—in this case, likely your outer right hip
—and observe the sensations.
7. Before you come out of the pose, note that coming out of it is as much of an art as getting into it.
Using as little effort as possible, start to bring your torso back to an upright position, and slowly