Pigeon pose

[Guest guest]

Sweets

 

Can someone please explain this posture to me? It was recently recommended to

me as a stretch for low back problems, but I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly.

sukhmani

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Sukhmani Kaur:

 

> Can someone please explain this posture to me? It was recently

>recommended to me as a stretch for low back problems, but I'm not

>sure I'm doing it correctly. sukhmani

 

I preface this by noting that some poses have different names in

different yogic paths (e.g. bridge, crow, triangle). I have not run

across pigeon in KY, but in kriya yoga (via Yogananda), pigeon pose

(kapotasan) is like this:

 

Sit on heels, toes and heels together, and separate the knees just

enough to slide the arms through and cover the soles of the feet with

the palms (one hand on top of the other). This should have your

spine parallel with the ground. Holding the breath, lift the head

up, exhale the head back down, inhale, and repeat.

 

Love & blessings,

Sadhant

[Guest guest]

Sadhant's point is made by my reply.

 

The pidgeon pose I know of through Hatha Yoga (Indra Devi method) is very

different:

 

Stage 1: Sitting, bend one leg in so that your foot is toward your groin and

your knee is pointed away from you. Extend the other leg (on the top of the

thigh) straight behind you. (You want to be on both sits bones, so adjust

your bent leg, if need be, to accomplish this. If this is difficult, however,

you can always bring your foot right under the perenium and sit on it, still

keeping the hips square, even if not on the floor. The farther away from your

pubic bone you bring the foot, the deeper the hip stretch.) Place your hands

on the floor, roughly level with the knee, on either side of it. Come up onto

your fingertips, lifting and opening the chest (like the rounded breast of a

bird). Some styles curl the toes of the back leg under at this stage of the

pose.

 

[if you are more agile, the full pose has you bending the back leg so that

your foot comes up toward your head. Then you would reach over your head and

behind you to hold the foot with your hands, tilting your head back to your

feet. I get there by using the same side hand to hold the foot up while I

reach the opposite arm up, then bend the elbow behind my back so my hand

reaches the foot. Then I release the other hand and do the same with it. It

is a fairly deep backbend, as maybe you can tell, and while it sometimes

gives me a great adjustment in my mid back, I don't find it especially

helpful for the lower back, so this probably wasn't what was recommended to

you. On the other hand, since hip flexibility is often linked with low back

relief, the modified version I first described may be what was contemplated

by the recommendation you received. It is much easier and rather gentle.]

 

Stage 2: Flatten the top of the back leg onto the floor. Walk your hands out

in front of you until your forehead also reaches the floor.

 

I don't know that this is the pose you're looking for, but there you have it.

 

Susan

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

thank you, yes the first version does sound like the one that was initially

described to me, but this is much better detail. sukhmani

-

ISueMarcus

Kundaliniyoga

Thursday, July 05, 2001 1:19 AM

Re: Pigeon pose

 

 

Sadhant's point is made by my reply.

 

The pidgeon pose I know of through Hatha Yoga (Indra Devi method) is very

different:

 

Stage 1: Sitting, bend one leg in so that your foot is toward your groin and

your knee is pointed away from you. Extend the other leg (on the top of the

thigh) straight behind you. (You want to be on both sits bones, so adjust

your bent leg, if need be, to accomplish this. If this is difficult, however,

you can always bring your foot right under the perenium and sit on it, still

keeping the hips square, even if not on the floor. The farther away from your

pubic bone you bring the foot, the deeper the hip stretch.) Place your hands

on the floor, roughly level with the knee, on either side of it. Come up onto

your fingertips, lifting and opening the chest (like the rounded breast of a

bird). Some styles curl the toes of the back leg under at this stage of the

pose.

 

[if you are more agile, the full pose has you bending the back leg so that

your foot comes up toward your head. Then you would reach over your head and

behind you to hold the foot with your hands, tilting your head back to your

feet. I get there by using the same side hand to hold the foot up while I

reach the opposite arm up, then bend the elbow behind my back so my hand

reaches the foot. Then I release the other hand and do the same with it. It

is a fairly deep backbend, as maybe you can tell, and while it sometimes

gives me a great adjustment in my mid back, I don't find it especially

helpful for the lower back, so this probably wasn't what was recommended to

you. On the other hand, since hip flexibility is often linked with low back

relief, the modified version I first described may be what was contemplated

by the recommendation you received. It is much easier and rather gentle.]

 

Stage 2: Flatten the top of the back leg onto the floor. Walk your hands out

in front of you until your forehead also reaches the floor.

 

I don't know that this is the pose you're looking for, but there you have it.

 

Susan

 

 

 

 

 

 

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