I’m looking for opinions about eye of the needle pose, here called Lying Hip Stretch. A Pilates instructor once said I was defeating the purpose of the pose when lifting my head and had me rest it on a ball and use a strap. I’m also told that it’s better to hold the knee than behind the leg where there are tendons.
I would really like to be able to leave my head on the floor when I am holding my leg or knee. Also, it would be nice to know some other poses that affect connected muscles. When I sit on a couch with my ankle on my knee, my folded leg is elevated and it’s not very relaxing. In pigeon pose, I have a limited range of placements of my shin. I sit on a prop when I cradle my lower leg horizontally, in that one other rock-the-baby pose seen in the cover image for David’s Deep Release for the Hips, Hamstrings, and Lower Back (a great go-to course).
As things stand, when I do this pose, my best bet is to reach reach reach, then try to rest my head on a zafu with my hands around my knees. You can probably guess by now I am very inflexible, but that pose looks very relaxing and releasing, and I would love to hear others’ experiences with modifications and supporting poses.