The Pigeon (Yoga Stretch)

Technique:

• Begin in a table top position. Exhale; slide your right knee forward so that the femur (thigh bone) and knee are directly in front of its hip socket. Comfortably align the right heel over towards the left hip without letting the knee slide to the side

• Check the back leg and make sure you are on the top of the knee and thigh, your foot is laying flat and the leg is in line with its own hip socket

• Inhale and begin to draw your torso upright. Draw your attention to the pelvis and notice if your ASIS (anterior superior iliac spine), aka knobbly points on the front of the pelvis, are dropping forward and your lower back is crushed

• Activate your pelvic floor to adjust the pelvis from a largely forward tilted position to a more upright position, this will take the load out of the lower back and also direct the stretch more fully across the front inner groin

• Remain here for ten slow steady breaths, directing the release into the area of concern. Remember to keep the shoulders relaxed and the abdomen active and the outside of the left hip (back legs hip) moving forward, and at the same time feeling the hip of the front leg moving back

How Often?

30-50 secs per side, twice daily