My Least Favorite Pose: Pigeon

I know it’s not very Zen of me to talk negatively about things, but I’m here to tell you that I’m not crazy about pigeon pose!

I know it’s good for me.  And it’s quite obvious when my glutes are screaming the entire time I’m doing it that my body needs it.   But IT HURTS!  I’m not sure why that one yells at me more than others, but it does.

The goal when getting into pigeon pose have your hips and shoulders squared to the front while one leg is bent forward and the other extended back.  If you are an expert at pigeon, you will be able to get that front leg horizontal, i.e. parallel with the front of the mat while the other leg extends back enough for your hips to relax completely to the floor all the while remaining squared.

I have yoga friends who love this pose!  They look forward to it each class and feel cheated when we skip it.   I wish I could step inside their body just long enough to see why it feels so good to them!  Does it hurt them too, but it’s that “hurts so good,” kind of hurt?

I’d say between my three regular instructors, I do pigeon a minimum of four times a week, sometimes more.  So why isn’t it getting easier?

Fyi, today was the first time I played around taking yoga pictures with my cell phone.  I was attempting to do it at the gym before anyone else arrived at the yoga room.  It worked, but I was rushed.  And worst of all:  I had on ZERO make-up!  Zero make-up was all well and good before I hit my 40’s….  Now… well, that’s another story.

Do you like pigeon pose?