| Level
5 Difficulty. Here's a pose that thoroughly opens your hips, loosening
your groin ligaments and releasing your lower back and sacrum. It
might feel awkward at first and may challenge your ability to bend
forward, but if you can get comfortable in it, you'll love the way
it brings you to a slower, calmer frame of mind. |
 |
| If
this pose is still difficult for you, you might like to start with
the gentler Baby
Pigeon. People with round bodies and women in the
first half of pregnancy can still gain lots of benefit from this pose
by taking tips in the 'modifications' section below. |
|
|
|
|
Main Benefits:
Loosens outer hip, sacrum, lower back, hip rotators, inner thighs,
knees, groin ligaments, firms lutes.
Good for These
Practice Goals: General flexibility and also flexibility specifically
of: Hip Rotators, Upper Back, Upper Chest, Spine, Middle Back, Lower Back,
Sacrum, Outer Hips, Glutes, Groin, Inner Thigh, Hamstrings, Quads, Knees,
Ankles, Feet; Sports in general and specifically: Running, Biking, Swimming,
Martial Arts; General Fitness; General Yoga Practice; Better Sleep; Improving
Personal Posture; Clearing Cleansing & Energizing of the Root, Belly,
Solar Plexus & Heart Chakras; Chanting from the Root, Belly or Solar Plexus
Avoid
Under these Health Conditions: Arthritis
in hips; osteoporosis in knees or hips; diverticulitis, femoral, hiatial
or umbilical hernia; fresh hip injury or surgery in hip, lower back or
knee; pins in upper, middle or lower back; pins in knee or ankle region;
high blood pressure (untreated); pregnancy - last half; prolapsed intestines
or uterus.
Try
learning Baby Pigeon and Pigeon first. These will help
you learn the basic movements and will prepare your body to be able to
do this pose.
|
| Note
Serenity Yoga teaches Pigeon poses differently than some other schools
do. You might be familiar with the more common method of centering your
weight and, over time, training the hips to drop to be in full contact with
the floor. We've found that our approach, (of starting with the hips fully
dropped and then encouraging your weight to center) will bring you to the
final, correct alignment sooner and with less chance of injury. |
 |
Start by
going into Pigeon
- * Sitting
with your legs out in front of you.
- * Tuck your
left foot in toward your groin.
- * Bend the
other (right) knee & foot off to the (right) side.
|
 |
2. Turn
your body slightly, so that you are facing your right knee. Place
a hand on either side of that knee.
Tip
Your
belly button should be in line with your knee, but if you can't
turn that far, that's OK. This will happen in time.
|
|
| Next
|
|
 |
3. Extend
your back (right) leg straight out behind you as much as possible.
|
 |
Tip
This is done by rotating the hip while stretching it out.
4. As
your leg straightens, start turning your knee and the top of your
foot so that they make more complete contact with the floor.
|
|
| Encouragement
You might not be able to fully straighten your
leg, or it might not completely rotate into place. This is OK. In
time, this pose and others will increase your ability to do this.
So don't force your leg into position and definitely do not twist
it to the point of pain. |
|
| Progress
Marker If you can't get your leg much farther back than the starting
position in picture #2, then you might not be ready for the full Pigeon.
Baby
Pigeon might be more appropriate for you for now. You
might also like to use hip openers like Happy
Baby and Dead
Bug, in combination with outer hip loosening poses like
Knee
Stretches and Side
to Sides; also various lunges like Spider
1, Frog
and the basic Lunge
pose in order to make this pose more possible for you. |
|
.jpg) |
Next
Right now
you are probably leaning more on your right hip than on your right. Roll
your weight more toward the center line of your body, beginning to even
out the weight on each hip.
You'll start to feel
the stretch in your right glute.
|
.jpg) |
Key
Do not allow your glutes leave the floor. Only roll to the center as far
as you can without either hip lifting off the floor. If this means that
you are not fully centered, then that is OK. Again, in time your hips will
loosen and you will be more able to center your weight. |
| Key
|
|
 |
Once
your back leg is in place, your front hip, (your front glute), needs
to be in touch with the ground. If this means you have to roll your
weight more onto one side than the other, this is OK for now. In time,
your hips will loosen and you will be more able to have your weight
evenly spread between both hips. |
| In
all cases, it's important that your front leg and hip be fully in
touch with the floor. |
 |
A
Note on Your Front Leg
The more you 'square off' your front leg, the more difficult the pose
will get. That is, the more your front calf and knee form a squared
corner with your front thigh, the more demanding the pose. In this
way, you can control some of the intensity of the pose. |
|
| Finishing
the Set Up and Holding the Pigeon |
 |
Now that you
are more or less set up, fine tune your alignment:
Turn to face
the front, with your belly button lined up with your front knee.
Adjust your back leg so it's lined up with your belly button and
front knee as much as possible.
|
 |
Breathe in
and elongate your spine, making your body as perpendicular (straight
up and down) as possible.
Breathing
out, feel the weight in your hips sinking, your groin stretching,
your legs sliding more and more apart as your hips drop closer to
the ground.
|
|
|
Optional
Hold for 6 or more breaths, (or until your body will not release any
farther into the pose).
|
|
You
Will Feel This In
- Your groin
ligaments (the front of your thigh)
- Your hip
rotators
|
Safety
Tip If you're feeling pinching in
your lower back, you're holding yourself too upright. You need to
lean slightly forward until the day that your hips loosen enough to
allow you to be more straight. |
|
| Encouragement
You might find that you're 'holding back', not allowing
yourself to fully drop into this pose. This especially happens when
we're afraid that the pose is going to bring us pain. However, by
taking your time with the pose and letting your weight drop with each
breath out, you can safely let your weight fully go - thereby bringing
yourself its maximum benefits. |
|
|
Advanced
Acquisition of Pigeon
Once you are fully comfortable with the Pigeon and can easily acquire
the correct alignment, you might be ready for the advanced method
of getting into the pose. Only do this is you can easily center your
weight in the middle of your groin; can keep your leg, belly button
and knee lined up when you're in the pose; and still keep your front
hip and back thigh in touch with the mat. |
 |
Start in Table
Stance with your knees fairly close to your hands.
Slide one leg
backward, straightening it so it begins to settle into the back
position.
|
 |
As your back
leg settles into place, start bringing your front foot slightly
forward, squaring it off.
While you do
this, you begin to adjust your front knee so it's more in line with
your belly button.
|
 |
Begin to rest
weight onto your front hip.
Adjust the weight
distribution between your hips.
|
|
When releasing
the pose, return to Table Stance and then go briefly into the Puppy
(as your compensating pose).
Once you get
used to this method, it can become one easy motion to slide your
legs and body into the correct alignment.
|
|
|
Next
Step - Sleeping Pigeon
From Pigeon, slide directly into
Sleeping Pigeon. This is done in much the same way as you would go
into Child Pose: |
 |
* Stretch your
body forward, along your thigh.
* Lower your
body down to rest on your thigh. Your sternum, (the middle of your
chest), should be resting on your knee or thigh.
|
 |
Key
On a good day, (when you are fully able to be in the pose), your
knee, sternum, belly button and back leg will be lined up with each
other.
|
|
Once
you are in place, the challenge is to fully let your weight drop.
Hold for 6 or more breaths or until your body will not release
into the pose any farther.
|
|
Optional
Extension
Once you have held the Sleeping Pigeon in this way for your full
length of time you can go into the Extension before you release
the pose.
|
 |
* Reach your
arms forward, holding your hands in prayer position, so that your
arms and hands continue the straight line formed by your back leg
and spine.
|
| *
Feel the stretch along your shoulder sockets, along your arms and
into your hands. |
|
| Keys
for the Optional Extension |
- * Don't lift
your body at all. The movement is only in the arms.
|
- * Elbows
need to be straight - do not drop them to the floor.
|
|
| You
Will Feel the Sleeping Pigeon In |
- *Your groin
ligaments of one leg
- *Your hip
rotators, (your hips sockets)
|
- *Your glutes
" Your lower back (sacrum)
- *Possibly
your spine, shoulders and knee.
|
|
| Release
the Sleeping Pigeon |
 |
by reversing
your steps, ending up in Resting Sage, where you wait until your
muscles have fully let go of the stretch.
Repeat on
the other leg.
Do 2 - 3 times to each side.
|
|
Modifications
for the Sleeping Pigeon
Most
modifications for Sleeping Pigeon focus on reducing the weight you're
placing on your groin. |
 |
For the Pigeon
part, it's OK to lean forward a little, and even bend your back
leg slightly until such time as your hips allow you to more fully
acquire the exact alignment.
|
 |
However,
if you have to bend your back leg a lot or lean forward a lot, you
might find Baby
Pigeon more appropriate for you for now. |
|
Modifications
Most modifications for Sleeping Pigeon focus on reducing the distance
you need to bend forward. In that way, you ease the stretch in your
lower back and glutes. For example, you can: |
 |
Make
a 'nest' with your hands and rest your head there. |
 |
Put
a small, firm cushion under your head. |
 |
Or
bend well forward, but continue to hold yourself slightly upright
with your hands. |
|
|
| Breathing |
| While
you are setting up the pose, breathe however you like. |
 |
Once
you are in your opening position, take a slow breath or two
to settle into place. Let your weight drop with your breath out. |
 |
Breathing
in - elongate your spine spine. Breathing out - fully drop your
weight down onto your leg,
Each breath
out - allow your weight to drop more fully toward the floor.
|
|
| The
Optional Hold |
| Each
breath in - feel your body opening up, your spine elongating. |
Each
breath out - feel the weight in your body sinking more and more
your hips dropping downward, your legs spreading apart. |
|
| Sleeping
Pigeon |
|
Preparing
to move into Sleeping Pigeon - breathe in, elongating your
spine. |
|
Breathe out - stretching your body forward and down. |
|
Still
breathing out - settle into place. |
| The
Hold |
|
| Each
breath in - feel your body opening up, especially noticing the
sides and back of your chest opening. |
Each
breath out - feel the weight in your body sinking more and more
onto your leg, your shoulders dropping, your sacrum stretching and
letting go, your hips sinking. |
| Optional
Extension |
|
Breathe
in - moving into the extension Breathe out - allowing your
weight to sink. |
| Each
breath in - reach your arms farther, but without lifting your
body. |
Each
breath out - feel your body sinking, but don't allow your arms
to drop |
|
|
Release
the pose by breathing in and sitting up.
Breathe out
as you settle into Resting Sage.
Breathe in and out as your muscles release the Pigeon and
before you continue on to the other leg.
|
|
Great
Combinations
Pigeon
moving directly into Sleeping
Pigeon; repeat at least
twice on each side, alternating sides; then Seated
Twist, at least twice to each side, alternating
sides. Together these will give a thorough release for your hip girdle
and sacrum. Best Breathing Themes for this combination include
the Red Level Breathing Themes, (1, 2 & 3) and several of the Green
Level Ones: 14, 15A, 15, and 15B. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Main
Benefits: |
Loosens
outer hip, sacrum, lower back, hip rotators, inner thighs, knees,
groin ligaments. |
| Body
Parts Used by This Posture: |
Lower
Back, Sacrum, Inner Hip, Glutes, Hip Rotators |
| Combines Well
with: |
Pigeon, Seated
Twists, Puppy, Resting Sage, Sage 1, Sage 2 |
| Compensating
Pose (Follow Up with a Brief Repetition of): |
Resting Sage |
| Build
Up to This Pose / Warm Up to This Pose with: |
Abdominal
Lifts 1 & 2; Seated Back Bends; Bow Poses; Chest Expansion 1,
2 & 3; Chest Expansion - Leg Extensions; Hip Openers such as Happy
Baby, Dead Bug & Butterfly poses; Frog & Jumping Frog; Lower
Back Stretches such as Back Stretch, Leg Stretch, Leg Fold, Child
Pose, Spider 2, & 3, Downward Dog & Puppy; Outer hip stretches
such as Simple Side Bend, Twists, Leg Overs; Sun Salutations; Moon
Salutations |
| Warms
You Up for / Builds You Up for: |
Lunges,
demanding Back Bends such as Camel & Wheel; demanding Forward
Bends such as Plow, Standing Leg Stretch 3; advanced twists such as
Twisted Side Stretch & Twisted Triangle. |
| Good for These
Practice Goals: |
General flexibility
and also flexibility specifically of: Hip Rotators, Upper Back, Upper
Chest, Spine, Middle Back, Lower Back, Sacrum, Outer Hips, Glutes,
Groin, Inner Thigh, Hamstrings, Quads, Knees, Ankles, Feet; Sports
in general and specifically: Running, Biking, Swimming, Martial Arts;
General Fitness; General Yoga Practice; Better Sleep; Improving Personal
Posture; Clearing Cleansing & Energizing of the Root, Belly, Solar
Plexus & Heart Chakras; Chanting from the Root, Belly or Solar Plexus. |
| Recommended
for These Health Conditions: |
Arthritis in
spine; chronic hip injury or lower back injury; breathing issues
such as astham, bronchitis, pneumonia, lung surgery; menopause &
pre-menopause;menstruating (having your period) at the moment of
doing your routine; pronation of feet or hips; sciatic, scoliosis,
spondylitis, sleeping difficulties, hyperactivity, attention deficit,
mind racing.
|
| Avoid Under
these Health Conditions: |
Arthritis
in hips; osteoporosis in knees or hips; diverticulitis, femoral, hiatial
or umbilical hernia; fresh hip injury or surgery in hip, lower back
or knee; pins in upper, middle or lower back; pins in knee or ankle
region; high blood pressure (untreated); pregnancy - last half; prolapsed
intestines or uterus. |
| Best
Breathing Theme Matches: |
Works
very well with Breathing Themes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6b, 7b, 15a, 15, 15b,
16a, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 22b |
| Best for Flexibility
or Strength: |
Flexibility |
| Best if Movement
Oriented or Static: |
Static |
| Traditional
Pose Type: |
Forward Bend |
| Energy Center
Used: |
Root, Belly,
Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat (somewhat) |
|
|
|
|
|
Postures by Body Area 
