Yoga Basics: Pigeon Pose + A lil’ rant.

Ah, pigeon pose. I love pigeon pose. I’m not entirely sure why it’s called pigeon pose, but the Sanskrit Eka Pada Rajakapotasana is best translated as one leg king pigeon. Hmm… Anyway, it’s a wonderful pose for hip and groin opening and eventually chest opening.

Begin in a table top position with your shoulders directly over your hands and your hips directly over your knees. Remember, it’s always important to keep your core engaged so draw your belly button into your spine. You are not “sucking in,” you should be able to breathe.

Now, draw your right knee into your chest and slide your right foot up next to your left wrist. The outside of your right shin should now be resting on the floor.

Curl your back toes under and slide your left hip back, creating some space between your legs.

You want to try as best as you can to keep your hips square to the top of your mat. If you have tight hips (me! me!) you can gently move your knee at an angle just outside of your hip. 

Take a look over your left shoulder. Your left leg should extend out from the hip, it should not be dangling out to the side. Is your core still engaged? Ok, good. Now you want to create length in your spine by slightly scooping your tailbone under and stretching up from your tailbone through the crown of your head.

Mini adjustments in this pose will make a humongous difference. You may want to continuously draw your left leg back, creating a greater stretch in your groin. You may want to move your weight slightly over to the right to really get into that hip. You may want to extend out from your hips and bring your forearms to the ground, or even your forehead! It’s up to you!  

Now, it’s completely fine if you want to chill out here. For some chest opening and quadricept stretching you can bend your left leg and reach around with your left hand for your foot. Be careful not to drop completely into your right hip. You want to keep a buoyancy in the hips and really work on your core strength. Core strength. Remember that.

And if you’re feeling super saucy and can maintain your balance without the support of the floor, you can reach your right arm back and grasp your foot with both hands.

If you’re feeling super-duper saucy, you can wiggle your foot into your inner arm, reach back with your right hand, clasp your hands behind your head, and lift your sternum to the sky. Yes, super-duper sauciness going on right there. I guess this might resemble more of a pigeon?

When you’re ready to switch sides, carefully draw the left knee up off the floor and extend it back into Downward Facing Dog. Ahh, that should feel good and your opposite hip should feel very jealous, so switch em’ up! You can either come into the other side from Downward Facing Dog, or you can drop your knees back to a table top position and go from there.

Now for a reflection on my personal yoga experience lately:

I have been trying to attend classes at my local studio 4-5 times per week as part of my teacher training. I have the opportunity to take classes with several different instructors, all with their own unique styles. Exposure to each one helps me in developing my own voice as an instructor. Most of the instructors at my yoga studio are largely influenced by Eastern thought, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism. Although the studio does not advocate any particular religion, or even a Yogi for that matter, the general idea is that each person defines their own truth. At times the studio owner will read a poem by Rumi or maybe even a nice little St. Catherine proverb, but she always prefaces with an instruction to place your own idea of God into the context of the text.

This is wrong. So Wrong. There is only one God and only one Truth: Jesus. I do my best to keep my mind focused on that but in the midst of all the OMMMMing and pretty thoughts of light and energy I cannot help but feel incredibly sad for the people in my studio. They seem so close to the Truth, but at the same time they are so far away. You cannot be halfway “enlightened” when it comes to the God of the universe. I also feel conflicted at times. I do not want there to be any question as to Who my motivation is for my yoga practice. I practice yoga as a spiritual discipline in order to bring glory to God through my heart, soul, mind and strength. No lie, I love the physical and mental benefits, but ultimately I’m using my body in a way that God created me to use it, and thus I bring Him joy. It’s a win-win, especially with Holy Yoga!

Phew. Glad I got that off my chest. Next up on the Domestic Affections agenda: Bathroom built-in and Office fun! Oh, and we will get a few more Start to Finish posts up; kitchen and master bedroom on the way!