I like birds OK… I admire the little hummingbirds that flit and feast from the feeder at our window and I will always stare in awe when I see one of the lovely birds of prey and the herons… well, their long legs dangling, gangly, from their otherwise graceful bodies always make me smile.
That said, there is one bird that drives me a little crazy… The Pigeon!
It could be said, I suppose, that Pigeon is probably the posture from which I can achieve my greatest growth and expansion, both physically and spiritually.
And I get that. Really… but damn, it hurts. I breathe. I adjust. And I breathe some more. Like I said, I endure. Despite my willingness to expand my yogic horizons through this posture, my hips are not as amenable. They continue to resist.
So, the trick is to respect the perspective of my tight hips, but slowly, gently ease them into opening just a little further each time. It means managing my own expectations, of course. I don’t get to tell them what to do.
It’s yet another exercise in surrender… for both of us.
Pigeon is a posture I would just as soon avoid, in favour of others I prefer (hello, Child’s Pose!) but I don’t.
I don’t let either of us off the hook!
For the low-down on how to get your pigeon on, here’s a lovely variation.
