Asana
Kneeling Lunge - Anjaneyasana

​Kneeling lunge is one of the most practical poses for stretching the quadriceps and psoas muscles. It can be stayed in for a long time due to the low work intensity, although the experience of letting go can be quite intense so one should go slowly and with deep, controlled breathing. This pose has many variations to work into different areas of the hip joint and thigh muscles.

Poses like kneeling and high lunge are great preparations for deeper backbends that require extreme extension of the hip joint such as wheel or foot to head. Some practitioners may experience knee discomfort because of pressure on the knee cap. You can pad under the knee to reduce this with towels, cushions, or just folding your mat. Once you are deep enough or in certain variations of the pose, the pressure will be off the knee cap. As you get deeper into hip extension the front foot can move more forward. Move it enough forward that the heel remains steady and grounded.

Working directly on hip extension
In the following versions of kneeling lunge, the hip joints are kept in the sagittal plane. In poses where the hip is extending (the leg is moving backwards) at a certain range it will also begin to externally rotate. To work specifically on stretching the front of the thigh and more directly on the full length of the illiopsoas squeeze your inner and maintain a slight engagement of internal rotation. See that your knee and toes are directly behind your hip with the toes pointing back.

Move forward and down through the front of pelvis while reaching upwards through the chest, stretching from the knee.

The front leg hamstring can be used to create an action as if sliding the heel back while maintain the position of the foot to stretch the other hip.

Less mobile variation focusing on just the hip stretch.

Use of blocks to stabilize and distribute stretch with more control.

Bringing the head back once the thoracic spine has extended.

Variations and opening the front hip
​If you start to go very deep in the kneeling lunge while keeping the front leg in the sagittal plane you may become limited to go further because the thigh and the toros will be blocking each other. This can lead to another variation where we allow the front leg to turn outwards.

Working on the quadriceps stretch
You can reach back to grab the foot and pull or push the foot to flex the knee, doing deep stretching in the quadriceps. Depending exactly how you do this it will stretch specific portions of the muscle with greater intensity. 

Right hand to left foot. Keep lifting through the chest as pelvis sinks down.

Keeping the pelvis low, begin to exhale and pull then push the foot towards the opposite buttocks.

If the foot is sufficiently close to the buttocks you can rest your forearm onto the top of the foot and place the hand in the jnana mudra.

Half Frog in Anjaneyasana
Going back to keeping the legs in the sagittal plane and coming up to more of a standing position you can reach back with the right hand to the right foot. Use the left hand on the left knee to stabilize. In this variation the pelvis doesn't go as far down but because of the foot position and lifting of the chest the stretch is still very deep on the illiopsoas. Generally, work simultaneously on bringing the right foot to the outside of the hip, lifting the chest and the chin, and sinking the pelvis forward and down. Eventually the foot can tuck to the abdomen under the ribs.

Foot to head in Kneeling Lunge
Before attempting this, it is recommend to be fully comfortable to do this technique in the Pigeon pose. This pose requires great flexibility of various joints and if any one is not particularly open it could cause injury in any of the involved joints, but especially the low back or shoulder. 

Grab from the outside of your foot to the inside edge. Turning the leg out to the side will make this easier.

Pull the foot and shoulder closer together turning the elbow forward.

Turn the elbow up towards the ceiling only if it is smooth in the shoulder joint.

With the elbow fully up begin to extend your spine and bring your head to your foot.

This movement can first be learned using a strap. Place the midpoint of the strap behind the ankle, over the top of the foot, and between the 1st and 2nd toe. This makes it much easier and you can feel how the joints are supposed to move. The same technique can be used also in the Dancer's Pose, Bow Pose, and other similar backbends brining the foot to the head.

Using the wall and tucking the tail bone
A wall is a great prop for this pose to intensify the stretching and makes one of the easiest ways to work on the foot to head position. Also, in this technique any of the Sagittal plane versions of the pose you can try to tuck the tail bone at the same time the hip is extended. This will pull the muscle both ways for very deep stretching. 

Bring the knee as close to the wall as possible and begin to move the pelvis forward while extending the spine.

Half Frog against the wall
Alternatively, you can use the wall for the half frog position too. As the pressure will be directly on the knee cap it's advisable to fold a towel or cushion. Also if the top of your foot is bony it may be uncomfortable against the wall in these poses. You can use thick socks or place half of your yoga mat up the wall. It can make it a little awkward to hold the mat with your foot while getting into the position but may make it vastly more comfortable so you can stay longer in these poses.