Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One Legged King Pigeon)
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Yoga Techniques and Fitness
Overview
In this lesson, we explore Eka Pada Rajakapotasana and its variations, including the common Sleeping Swan forward fold and the four versions presented in Light on Yoga.
Objective
Understand how different leg positions create distinct hip opening patterns and how to adapt the pose for both deep hip stretching and expressive backbending.
What You'll Get
You'll walk away with a solid grasp of pigeon pose as both a hip stretch and a backbend. We cover what each variation targets in the body, how the different leg placements affect the hips, and what students commonly experience emotionally when working with deep hip opening. You'll learn how to guide beginners into the pose safely and how to choose between the forward-folding variation and the full backbend based on what your students need.
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
Sleeping Swan
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
aa-KAH pah-DAH rah-JAH-cop-poh-TAHS-anna
“eka” = one
“pada” = foot
“raja” = king
“kapota” = pigeon
One Legged King Pigeon Pose
Sleeping Swan
The common variation of extending back leg and folding forward is called “Sleeping Swan” in Yin Yoga
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