I will always be an advocate for the Figure-4 stretch or 90/90 pose if you find that the pigeon pose doesn’t work for you, but the floating pigeon is one of the best exercises for tight hips and glutes that I have tried in a while.
Unlike the sleeping pigeon pose, where you fold over your front leg, the floating pigeon posture is more active as you sit tall, engage your core and glutes, and allow your hands to float away from the mat, either in front of you or overhead.
What is the ‘floating pigeon’ stretch?
Floating pigeon pose targets the hips, glutes and deep piriformis muscle within the gluteal muscles. Floating pigeon, in particular, helps you stretch out the muscles that get tight from sitting, like your groin and lower back.
Unlike other forms of pigeon, you’ll sit upright and focus on a tall spine and engaged core as you float your hands to your hips, in front of you, or overhead. It’s not to be mistaken for flying pigeon pose, which is a very challenging arm balance.
My yoga instructor tells me that lifting your arms away from the mat can help you to check if your alignment is correct, as you’re aiming to balance unsupported with your glutes and core active and spine tall.
If your back hip is overly turned out and your hips aren’t square, you’ll lean or fall to one side. Equally, if your front butt cheek is far from pressing into the mat, you might place a block or cushion beneath you to help square your hips.
The key to pigeon pose in all its forms is to focus on alignment, opening the hips and stretching the gluteal muscles, so use any props that allow you to do it properly rather than compromising. You simply want your bodyweight to act like gravity, drawing your hips down to the mat.
That said, pigeon might be contraindicated for some people, even though it offers a deep release for lower-body tension and a temporary boost in flexibility. If you have knee or hip injuries or are pregnant, I wouldn’t recommend this pose, especially without speaking with a relevant medical professional or yoga teacher first.
How to perform ‘floating pigeon’ pose
- Start on all fours with your shoulders stacked over your wrists
- Position your right knee behind your right wrist and your right ankle behind your left wrist on the mat
- Extend your left leg behind you, resting on the thigh with toes untucked. Square your hips and sit upright. Position a cushion or block beneath your butt if you need
- Place your fingertips close to your hips, and sit tall with your shoulders pulled back and down
- Slowly lift your hands to your hips, out in front of you, or overhead for a gentle backbend
- Hold the stretch and breathe expansively toward your stomach
- Slowly bring your hands down to the mat, sit your hips to one side, and gently swing your legs around to release the stretch
- Repeat on the other side.
For less intensity, draw your front heel closer to your body; for more intensity, see if you can create a right angle with your front leg so that your shin is parallel to the front of the mat.
You can practice holding this stretch while focusing on your breath. I would start with 10 seconds and build from there. Ensure you squeeze your glutes and engage your core throughout.
Tips for ‘floating pigeon’ pose
Avoid dumping your weight into one side of your body or turning your hips to one side. If you find you’re resting on the inner or outer back leg, re-square your hips and use blocks for support beneath your front glute or hands, or both.
Focus on alignment before intensity. Maybe practice lifting one hand at first, followed by the other. Start with your hands on your hips, then you might be able to extend them in front or overhead for a backbend.
I cannot stress enough how important engagement is during this movement to protect your pelvis and spine. Lightly squeeze your glutes and engage your core muscles while breathing expansively rather than into your chest.
Here’s what happened when I tried ‘floating pigeon’
The floating pigeon stretch offers a deep release, which can feel uncomfortable, so it’s crucial to come back to your breathing and notice where you’re holding tension most. I really struggle with this, so my advice is to focus on a counting method: in for four, hold for four, out for four.
Breathing will help you relax. As you hold the stretch, your nervous system will do its job as a conversation happens between the brain and muscle spindles, which should gradually communicate that your muscles can relax, deepening the stretch.
For that reason, even if your hands are down on the mat, I would try to stay here for at least 10-15 seconds minimum.
A lot of the resistance I initially felt during this deep stretch is the body’s protection method (the stretch reflex system), which inhibits overstretching by recognizing sudden or strong movement or action. It’s a way of preventing injury, so we need it.
Stay calm and use a long, relaxing inhale and exhale to help settle your mind and body and relax your muscles and joints. That said, any knee, back, or hip pain should be avoided. I would recommend checking out the figure-4 stretch or 90/90 pose instead, which offers very similar benefits.
As you inhale, lift tall through your spine, and just experiment with how much time you want to spend in the pose before switching sides.
I felt incredible after adding floating pigeon to my nightly routine for one week; my hips and back felt strong and mobile, and my glutes carried less tension than usual. I also found it deeply relaxing, which makes sense, as hip openers are used to release stored emotion in yoga, which is thought to sit in your hips.
My right side is much tighter than my left, so where my right hip and glute stayed lifted, I popped a block beneath my hip, stretching my fingertips toward the ceiling as far as I could. I didn’t need to do this on my left side.
This better supported my pelvis and spine, and it kept my hips square. Over just one week, I noticed a huge difference in my ability on my right side, which is quite a short time for big results.
This variation on pigeon pose gets a big tick from me, so how did you fare?
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