- Hey everybody, and 
welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

I am Adriene, and 
today we are going to learn

one of my favorite poses:
Pigeon or One-Legged Pigeon.

Super yummy posture, 
I know I say that a lot,

but it really 
is a yummy posture.

Sorry, I can't 
stop saying yummy.

Let's hop on the mat,
and learn Pigeon.

(upbeat music)

Okay so we're going 
to begin on all fours.

And I'm going to 
take my left toes,

extend through my left leg,
take a deep breath in.

Spreading through the toes,

and on an exhale I'm 
going to carve a line

with my left knee all the way up
towards the front of the mat.

You can also 
come into this posture

from Downward Facing Dog,

but today I'm gonna 
take it nice and slow.

I'm gonna take my right toes 
now draw a line straight down

towards the 
bottom edge of my mat.

Now I'm kind of in a half-split
here, One-Legged Pigeon.

From here I'm gonna press 
up and out of my fingertips.

So I'm already beginning to
create a little bit of support

in my spine so I'm not 
just collapsing into my hips

or collapsing into my bones.
No dead weight.

But I'm maintaining that lift in
the heart here, that open chest.

Now, I'm gonna take my attention
to my left heel, my left foot.

I'm going to 
slowly walk my left foot

towards the right edge 
of the mat, nice and slow.

All the time in yoga,
and in life,

but really especially here,

I advise you to go nice 
and slow and be mindful.

So let the pose unfold, 
no dropping into anything here.

Left toes are crawling 
towards the right edge,

and it's here that I maybe 
come into my palms,

and I bring my 
awareness now to the left hip.

I'm not forgetting 
about this right leg, okay?

In my opinion we 
often just kind of forget

about this leg when 
we can really engage

through the top of 
this right foot supporting.

I'm opening up 
through the right hip crease

and then I'm finding 
that external rotation

in the left hip.

So I have two things 
going on in each leg.

I'm breathing, finding 
that lift in the heart.

Now if you're nowhere near this,

I wasn't always able to drop

into this deep 
of a posture here,

so a couple things:

You can stay lifted.

Again that's why 
I'm maintaining this

space in the chest 
and this kind of integrity

from the crown of the 
head to the tip of the tailbone

is important so that 
we're not just dropping in,

straining anything in 
the knee or in those hips.

We can use a 
block here to stay up.

This may be the pose 
for a long time for you,

breathing slowly again, 
releasing into the posture,

letting it unfold 
rather than driving it in.

You can have the 
block at any level.

Sometimes if you don't have
a block you can use the wall.

Just kind of a
little steady support.

I might just stay here.

Breathing, 
softening on the exhale.

Keeping the heart 
lifted on the inhale.

To go a little further, again,
I'm going to bring my awareness

to the front of 
that right hip crease.

Come onto my fingertips here.

I can keep my block 
there for the next step.

I'm gonna want to 
make sure that I don't roll

onto my outer edge of the hips.
So right now I'm letting you see

the opening of 
the right hip crease,

but in a second I'll 
switch and we'll look

at this external 
rotation of the hip.

But for now, I'm trying to stay
centered here, pressing into the

top of that back foot 
for a little stability.

And then I believe, 
(laughs), I believe

I believe!

I'll begin, I don't 
know why I said believe,

I'll begin to slowly 
melt the heart down.

I can just bring 
the palms to the mat,

again, using my arms to support,

or maybe in time 
I come to the forearms.

Voilà!

Maybe in time I come to rest
all the way on the forehead.

Again, in time,
letting the pose unfold,

or use my block or any of 
those steps along the way.

It's nice sometimes,
a little restorative

to rest the forehead.

Couple of extra action points:

We already talked about keeping

that engaging 
quality in the back leg.

Same thing with this foot here.

Keep a little 
bit of a brightness.

My buddy Chris 
Shea always asks me,

"What do you 
mean by brightness?"

I mean the little bit of energy,

a little bit of 
awareness in that left foot.

This will protect the knee,
keep everything engaged.

Often you'll see, especially
with the internet these days,

you'll see people 
with a nice open

leg here, kind of right angle.

That's fabuloso if you're 
very flexible in your hips.

Be mindful of where you're at.

Maybe drawing this heel 
in as close as the groin

to begin and then 
slowly, slowly in time,

again, letting it unfold,
walking it out.

And just seeing where you're at.

Keeping those shoulders drawing
down and away from the ears.

Shoulder blades in and together,

and then finding 
your Pigeon Pose.

I'm gonna press into 
the palms to come up.

I'm going to curl 
my back toes under,

come back to all fours.

I can take a quick 
Downward Dog here if I like.

I just wanna show the other side

by extending the right toes out.

And then carving a 
line with the right knee in.

I'm staying on the 
center line here as I allow

my left toes now to go towards
the back edge of the mat.

And again, breathing 
into that left hip crease,

and then I slowly start 
to inch my right toes out

towards the 
left edge of the mat.

And then each side 
is different of course,

so be mindful of that.

Again, I can use the block here

or the wall for 
a little support.

Keeping the heart 
lifted here, long belly,

shoulder blades in,
together and down.

If this hip starts to 
externally rotate over,

maybe lift up a little bit so we
can start to unfold that space.

So if we're just kind 
of hanging on the hip

we're kind of 
cheating ourselves a little bit

of the stretch, of the opening.

So maybe come up a little bit.

Engage the belly,
navel to spine.

Opening the chest, 
drawing the shoulders down.

We can also take a block 
and bring it to the hip here

for a little support.
Ooh that is great.

Long, smooth, deep breaths.

Or I can keep my 
block here for stability

and use a blankie to 
kind of support here,

lifting the earth up 
to my hip, top my bum.

And then same thing here, 
keeping the chest open,

I can find what 
feels good, ding!

Finding what feels good for
your forehead on the block.

Maybe coming to the 
forearms in due time.

Maybe you're 
rockin' and rollin' today

gonna bring the 
forehead all the way down

and find a mudra.

Just experimenting but 
being mindful no matter what.

Same thing here, 
I press into the palms.

Lift back to all 
fours to come out,

and then send it back,
Extended Child's Pose.

Aww, perfect.

That was One-Legged 
Pigeon or Pigeon Pose.

Great hip opener, 
great heart opener.

I love Pigeon.

It's also the name of 
one of my favorite songs

from one of my 
favorite bands, Tennis.

"Pigeon", it's a good song,
check it out.

If you have any 
questions or comments

please leave it 
below in the comment box.

I love hearing your feedback.

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Thank you so much. 
Enjoy Pigeon, and Namaste.

(upbeat music)