Not Pigeon

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana yoga pose overlaid with No Symbol, red circle and diagonal line

What gets called pigeon pose can harm your knees. Please don’t do it or any variations.

reclined pigeon pose (supta-kapotasana)
Don’t

Also do not do a reclined pigeon pose. It too uses your lower leg as a lever to turn your thigh and hip outward and pushes torque through your knee joints which can harm them.

One size does not fit most. Here are some alternatives.

Seated Cross

black modern dining chair without arms on white background

Sit on a firm chair of standard height, like a dining chair without arms. Sit in the middle away from the back. Have your knees wider than your hips. Have your feet flat on the floor, barefoot or in socks, with your shins vertical.

Pull your shoulder blades back and down then let them just hang. Let your elbows hang down from your shoulders and rest your palms on your thighs.

Rock your pelvis front and back and feel the curve of your back move. Find the tilt of your pelvis that feels good for your back.

Sit this way for a bit.

Cross your legs wide. Put a shin near your ankle on top of your thigh near your knee.

If that isn’t easy, then this position isn’t for you. To avoid injury, please don’t continue with it, and instead try the next pose.

Have your rotated knee out to the side and sit with it for a while. Gentle duration will work. Don’t lean forward. Don’t push anything. Just sit with it for a bit. Then do your other side. Then do both again.

Supine Cross

Get on your back on your mat. Try knees up.

Bring your knees up over your pelvis and cross your thighs near your knees. Keep the back of your pelvis square on your mat throughout the pose and do not twist your back.

Let your shins hang down. Give your feet and legs a wiggle to help them relax and let go. Look at the ceiling.

Rest your hands on top of your knees and support the outside of the joint with your fingers. Feel a gentle pull in the butt of your leg closer to your torso. Linger in that. The position of your other leg can vary and you can put that foot down on your mat.

Then cross your legs the other way. Then do both again.

So much of what I like doing and teaching is talking to our muscles gently and slowly and telling them that it is ok to let go and relax. This does that.