Should This Feel Good?
This will be the last you’ll hear out of me about Pigeon Pose.
Okay, I can’t promise absolutely the last. But, the last for quite some time.
One thing Pigeon has going for it that’s not talked about as much as its hip opening benefits, is the effect it has on our emotional being.
In many ancient and modern traditions, the hips are thought to be a repository for stress and anxiety.
So, it’s no wonder Pigeon Pose is recommended as an emotional release as well as a hip release.
But, if the pose causes physical stress and discomfort, you’re never going to get the deeper, emotional release.
There are lots of ways to ease stress and worry. Diaphragmatic breath work is a particularly great one. Here are two of our favorites:
Belly Breathing
Lie on your back with your knees bent or with a pillow under them.
Place your hands on your belly.
Breathe into your belly and feel your hands rise and fall with your breath.
Try to bring the breath all the way from the top of the rib cage down into the belly.
Repeat. Many times.
Wavy Gravy
Lie on your back. Knees bent or place a pillow under them.
Place your right hand on your belly, left hand on your upper ribcage, just below your collar bones
Take a breath into your belly, feeling your belly rise into your right hand
Exhale through your mouth and feel your belly recede from your right hand
Take 5 breaths like this.
On the next inhale, breathe into your belly and hold it.
Without exhaling, move the breath up to the top of the ribcage, feeling top of the ribcage rise into the left hand as the belly recedes from the right hand
Then, move the breath back down to the bell, feeling the top of the ribcage recede from the left hand and the belly rise into the right hand
Exhale through the mouth
Repeat 7-8x
Try these and let us know what you think. Click here to let us know feedback.
Remember, not every exercise is for every body. Be kind to your body.
Wishing you happy hips!