Knees don’t like pigeon pose?

≤30 min. Try these pigeon alternatives (aka eka pada raja kapotasana) variations. Tight hips require lots of "hip openers", and this is a favorite pose to lengthen the hip flexors. If you have unhappy knees in pigeon here are some standing, balancing, seated and supine poses that will give you greater freedom. A standing variation starts in chair pose to cross one ankle over the opposing knee. In seated pose you can get double the action by crossing the other leg over. This pose is known as also known as agnistambhasana or fire log pose. Lie on your back and simulate the hip opening by crossing one ankle of the knee and bring the knee toward the chest. This posture is also called thread the needle. Benefits include stretches to the gluteals and piriformis muscles, as well as extension of the psoas. Pigeon practice has shown to help urinary disorders, reduce or in some alleviate sciatic pain along with diminished lower back pain and stiffness.