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The ASFYT Blog

Yoga anatomy related articles and videos for yoga teachers and movement professionals seeking to learn more about functional anatomy, biomechanics, common injuries and the anatomy of yoga asana.

Keeping the Front Knee Safe in Pigeon

8/18/2013

6 Comments

 
Picture
When coming into pigeon pose, if a student is unable to laterally rotate the thigh at the hip joint sufficiently they may inadvertently overstretch the ligament on the outside of their knee (the LCL) and/or compress the soft tissue on the inside of the knee (the medial meniscus).  In the video below we explore how this might happen, and offer a few suggestions that can remedy the issue.


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This post brought to you by: Jason Ray Brown

6 Comments
Lisa link
10/21/2015 05:48:55 am

Thanks for this video! very clear & informative!

Reply
Jason link
10/21/2015 10:38:48 am

You're welcome, Lisa - thanks for stopping by ;-)

Reply
Andrea Freely
9/22/2016 01:06:31 pm

I really struggle with pigeon. Do you have the front knee directly in front of the hip? Or more lateral?? I feel a better stretch in the outer hip/piriformis by staying upright and NOT folding down. I kind of stopped teaching it cos I'm no longer sure what the right way is - I know there is "no right way" cos of different bodies etc but I don't even know how to cue it anymore. Help!

Reply
Jason link
9/27/2016 07:52:50 am

Hey Andrea - I usually start people off in the Z-sit, and encourage them to make the front leg parallel to the top of the mat. Or I'll have them do sukhasana forward fold and develop flexibility there. In pigeon, I feel that to effectively stretch the piriformis we need to ensure a couple of things: 1) that the thigh is laterally rotated, and 2) that the knee is kept safe. Placing the front leg (tibia) parallel to the top of the mat ensures that lateral rotation. If the foot slides close to the inner thigh, the femur medially rotates and you lose some of the potential stretch on piriformis. But it's not easy for most to place the leg (tibia) parallel to the top of the mat... in which case they could either skip pigeon and do the Z-sit, or they could prop up the pelvis and front thigh over a large bolster, such that the tibia angles downward from the knees to the foot... which lessens the lateral rotation and keeps the knee safe. We go over this quite a bit in the home-study skeletal anatomy course, when we cover the knee. But hope this helps a bit!

Reply
Andrea Freely
10/1/2016 01:05:26 pm

Thank you, that's helpful. I guess I have to register for your online course... I'm not a fan of online, I much prefer "live" trainings...

Arista
9/16/2017 12:30:29 am

Hi Jason, thank you so much for the video which helps me to understand pigeon in detail especially the z sit to help for beginner. But I'm still confused with whether the front feet should be flat or it doesn't matter? Sometimes I feel that front feet flat helps me in reducing the knee pain but what's the anatomy behind it? But sometimes I don't feel the difference. Would you please help for the anatomy with the flat feet to protect knee in?? Thanks a lot!!

Reply



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  • HOME
  • ONLINE STUDY
  • ABOUT US
  • STUDENT RESOURCES
    • The ASFYT Series >
      • ASFYT-1 >
        • Orientation for Home-Study Students
        • S1 Intro to Kinesiology >
          • S1 Quiz
        • S2 Overview of the Skeletal System >
          • S2 Quiz
        • S3 Classification of Joints >
          • S3 Quiz
        • S4 Leg Ankle Foot >
          • S4 Quiz
        • S5 Hip Thigh Knee >
          • S5 Quiz
        • S6 Pelvis >
          • S6 Quiz
        • S7 Shoulder Girdle and Arm >
          • S7 Quiz
        • S8 Elbow Forearm Wrist Hand >
          • S8 Quiz
        • S9 Axial Skeleton (Bones) >
          • S9 Quiz
        • S10 Axial Skeleton (Joints) >
          • S10 Quiz
        • S11 Bone Lab
        • S12 Massage Moves for Yoga Teachers I (Shiatsu-Based)
        • Final Exam (ASFYT-1)
      • ASFYT-2 >
        • M1 Overview of Muscular System >
          • M1 Quiz
        • M2 Muscles of the Leg >
          • M2 Quiz
        • M3 Muscles of the Thigh >
          • M3 Quiz
        • M4 Muscles of the Pelvis >
          • M4 Quiz
        • M5 Muscles of the Shoulder and Arm (Part 1) >
          • M5 Quiz
        • M6 Muscles of the Shoulder and Arm (Part 2) >
          • M6 Quiz
        • M7 Muscles of the Forearm >
          • M7 Quiz
        • M8 Muscles of the Posterior Trunk and Neck >
          • M8 Quiz
        • M9 Muscles of the Anterior Trunk and Neck >
          • M9 Quiz
        • M10 Roles of Muscles >
          • M10 Quiz
        • M11 Neuromuscular System and PNF Stretching
        • M12 Massage Moves for Yoga Teachers (Myofascial-Based)
        • Final Exam (ASFYT-2)
      • ASFYT-3 >
        • K1 Seated Postures
        • K2 Sun Salutation Postures (Part 1)
        • K3 Sun Salutation Postures (Part 2)
        • K4 Side Facing Standing Poses
        • K5 Forward Facing Standing Poses
        • K6 Balancing Postures
        • K7 Prone Backbends
        • K8 Core Strengthening Postures
        • K9 Inversions
        • K10 Supine Backward Bends
        • K11 Hip Openers
        • K12 Seated Forward Bends
    • Short Course (for RYT200)
    • Printing and Saving Quiz Results
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