Health Diary: King Pigeon Pose (Kapotasana)

King Pigeon Pose Yoga- The name kapotasana is derieved from sanskrit words 'kapota' which means pigeon and 'asana' which means a position. Kapotasana is an advanced yoga pose which requires intense back, shoulder and thigh flexibility. It is done by going into a backbend with knees on the ground. King Pigeon Pose yoga rejuvenates the body and makes your mind peaceful. It is a extreme backbend yoga exercise which is good only for advanced yoga practitioners.

Step by Step Procedure to do King Pigeon Pose Yoga-

Don't try this pose if you are suffering from hypertension, insomnia, migraine or any kind of back problem. If you have any problem please consult your physician before you follow the instructions.

As this is an advanced pose, one needs to stretch his/her body properly to do this pose without causing any injury.

First Step - You have to kneel upright with knees. Your knees should be slightly narrower than your hips width. Your head, shoulder and hips should be aligned in a line over your knees. Now press down with your hands against your pelvis.

Second Step - Take one inhalation, stick your chin with your chest and try to lean your shoulders and head back as distant as you can. You have to careful here and during this process don’t try to push your hips forward. Now align your shoulders with your back and then try to lift up your chest. After lifted the chest, now you have to release your head back, gradually.

Third Step - Before making an arch you have to put your palm in front of your chest in a specific position that is called Anjali Mudra. Now take your hands towards your overhead on the floor. To make balance, try to bring your hips as forward as you can. Make your thighs perpendicular to the floor, as much as you can. Now you have to place your palm on the floor and make sure that your fingers pointing toward your feet, after that make your head lower towards the floor as well.

Fourth Step - In this step you have to press downwards on the floor with your palm and try to lift your head and move your hips upwards with opening of your front groins as much as you can. Lift the pelvis as much as you can. After that, try to spread and extend your upper spine. Now crawl with your hands towards your feet. Meanwhile try to lower your forearms towards the floor and try to grip your ankles if possible. Try to put your elbows closer to each other. Now try to extend your neck and try to place your forehead on the floor.

Fifth Step - Try to make a deep inhalation to expand your chest as much as you can. After that, exhale thoroughly and softly. Now press your forearms and shins against the floor, as much as you can. Try to expand your tailbone towards to your knees and try to lift your chest in the opposite direction.

Sixth Step - Now you have to hold this position for next thirty seconds and try to expand your chest with each inhale and try to relax the abdomen with each exhale. After that, you can release your hand’s grip and crawl with your hands away from the feet. Now push your body upright with one inhalation. Take some breaths and relax in Child’s Pose.

Three Ways of King Pigeon Pose-

King Pigeon Pose or Kapotasana is wonderful posture to give strong stability and mobility to your body. You have to aware during this yoga practice to avoid any injury. You have to secure, aware and fluid all together during King Pigeon Pose. A term used here that is “Stable Fluidity”. If you can not stable with your core and legs, you might be toppled over; if you can’t maintain fluidity in your spine and your hips, there is risk to hurt yourself.

Kapotasana is all about the balancing of your mind and body. Here, three creative variations of this yoga practice inspired by Iyengar, help you to move comfortably into the stretch and access this posture with its benefits.

Now take a folding chair, blanket and strap to start this fantastic practice!

Note – Before starting this practice, make sure that your body is properly warmed up. With use of strap, you can expand your hip flexors and it will give some more spread to the angle of motion in your upper back and shoulders. With this one legged standing posture you can provide stability to the pelvic region and your hips. If you want to give some warm up to your spine, you can do one of these aasans from these three, which are Bhujangasan, UrdhvaMukha Swanasan and Urdhva Dhanurasan.

King Pigeon Pose or Kapotasana with a Strap-

You have to start with step forward from kneeling position and come into a deep lunging position. Now you have to contract your both sides of pelvis towards your core and now lift your lower part of the abdomen and try to make balance in this pose. Now you have to bend the back and put the loop of the strap in your left foot. Grip the end of this strap belt with your both hands. After that press the top of your left foot on the floor and lift your both hands upward. Now take some breaths here.
Start to bend the back leg, but take care that you have to resist continuously that foot which is into the strap during the bend of your arms, start crawl with your hands down to the strap and try to draw your foot towards your head. Now take a pause and realize your breathing. Keep try to resist with your back foot into the strap.
Try to take your hands to your foot as close as you can. With your chest lift up and inhale. After that take your head back when you exhale. Try to keep your body in this pose for almost 20-30 seconds, as you can. Maintain your body balance and keep observing your breathing.
Now, slowly-slowly release the strap when you come up and out of this pose. After that repeat the same thing with the other half of your body.

One Legged Kapotasana or King Pigeon Pose-

One legged Kapotasana or King Pigeon Pose is a deep backbend practice of Yoga in that yogi puffs his/her chest and making a resemblance of a pigeon.

Step by Step Instructions to do One Legged Kapotasana or King Pigeon Pose-

First Step- Put your knees just below your hips and try to make your hands little bit ahead of your shoulders. Shift your right knee with sliding forward to the back of your right wrist; in the mean time try to angle the right shin below the torso and place your right foot in front of your left knee. Make your right shin in a rest position. After that slowly-slowly slide your left leg back, straight your knee and put the front of your thigh on to the floor. Now place your right heel in front of the left hip.

Second Step- Make slightly angled right with your right knee then turn and look back at your left leg. With this activity your body will straight from the hip and rotated little bit inwardly, that is why midline presses against from the floor. Now exhale and stretch your arms.

Third Step- Now you have to slide your hands back towards your front shin and try to push your finger to the floor. After that, try to lift your torso away from your thigh. Extend your lower part of the back with the help of tailbone forward and down. In the mean time, you have to lift pubis towards navel. Now try to rotate left hip point towards the right heel.

Fourth Step- Now in this step there is most important role of your body balance. Try to remain your body in that upright position of your pelvis without taking any support of hands on the floor and put your hands on the top rim of the pelvis. Now push strongly down. After that, try to lift the lower rim of your rib cage against this strong pressure. Now drop the head back. Lift the chest and push the top part of sternum and straight up towards the sky.

Fifth Step- Try to hold your body in this position for one minute. After that, put your hands back on the floor and slide your left knee, carefully, in forward direction. Exhale and lift the body back into the position of Adho Mukha Swanasana. In this position take some breaths, drop your knees with exhalation. Same process repeat with other leg and other half of body for same period of time.

Benefits of King Pigeon Pose or Kapotasana-

Many people start yoga to get some relief from their tight hips. King Pigeon Pose is one of the best yoga practice to open hips and your pelvic region. Kapotasana is very helpful to find relief in the back pain too. You can release your stress, trauma, anxiety and fear with the help of this yoga.

There are so much more advantages of practicing Pigeon Pose Yoga which are as follows-

Physical benefits:

Help to open the hip joints.
Helpful to lengthen the hip flexor
With the help of this yoga your piriformis and gluteals muscles stretches.
Helpful in disorders related to urinary track.
It can stimulate the internal organs.
With this yoga you can increase flexibility in your hips.
It can improve your posture, alignment of your body.
Helpful to remove lower back pain.
Stretches arm, spine, shoulders and thighs.
Strengthens the muscles and joints of legs.
Improves the digestive system.
Reduce blood pressure.
Activates nervous system.

Sentimental benefits-

In this busy and fast life style, stress, fear, anxiety and trauma is natural. All these feelings make your hips stiff and tight.

King Pigeon Pose Yoga removes these negative feeling and negative energy and open your hips joints.