Sleeping Swan is a favorite Yin Yoga pose of many practitioners, in part because they may be familiar to it’s cousin half pigeon, and are familiar with the release they experience in the outer hip, external rotators, and even low back.

Others dislike this pose, because they experience extreme tension in the outer hip or hip flexor, or because they feel compression in front of their front hip, inside of the knee, or even against the floor.

The excellent news is that this pose can be modified by changing the angle of the knee and hip, or even the angle of the torso relative to the front knee. Then, props can offer appropriate support to move this pose to the appropriate edge of sensation for the practitioner.

If all of these variations are “beyond” the edge of sensation, a student may choose to flip onto the back and take a different orientation to gravity. 

If no props are available and this pose is not accessible on the back, I suggest substituting an alternate shape like sphinx or desperado, depending on the other poses in the sequence and the student’s individual limitations.