In Half Pigeon, flex your front ankle to protect your knee.

Initially I was going to do one general post on the use of the word protect in yoga classes, but I figured there’s more value in speaking to specifics rather than generalizing for the whole practice.

Early on in my teaching days I would tell students to flex - more specifically dorsiflex - the ankle of their front leg in order to protect the knee of the front leg.

Was this a cue that could harm a student? Definitely no.

Could some students benefit from this cue? Absolutely yes.

I am actually someone who benefits from dorsiflexion in the front ankle in Half Pigeon due to knee sensitivity. It just feels better in my body. But is the action of flexing my ankle protecting my knee? No. No it is not.

Protect is a curious word in yoga spaces.

I wear a helmet when riding my bike to protect my noggin. I click on my seatbelt in the car to protect me in case of a car crash. I definitely should have worn knee pads to protect my knees that one day I tripped on the sidewalk in my neighborhood while roller skating.

In life we take precautions and make choices to protect us from potentially harmful scenarios. Our yoga practice doesn’t have to be a scary situation where our body is always at the brink of shattering into a million pieces.

By no means do I think everyone is free from harm and injury in a yoga practice. Most of my own injuries are from my years of practicing yoga! But the choices I make in my yoga practice should be determined by my experience in the shapes and not determined by alarmist language like protect.

Now, going back to Half Pigeon.

There’s plenty of yoga practices that invite students to relax the front ankle. Sleeping Swan is Yin Yoga’s version of Half Pigeon and the shape involves zero engagement of the legs which means the front ankle is relaxed. The knees of the Yin Yoga practitioners that I know seem to be doing okay.

Personally, when I teach Half Pigeon, I typically encourage students to engage their front leg by dorsiflexing the front ankle, pressing the front shin slightly down, and hugging the inner hips towards each other. I’m not encouraging students to engage the muscles of their legs to protect their body. I teach the shape this way because my approach to teaching almost always involves specific physical engagements throughout the body as a tool to keep the mind focused.

Next time you find yourself in Half Pigeon, rather than going on autopilot, play with how you set up your front ankle and consider what feels best for you in that moment.