Thanks for this question, River Slam! If you check out another one of Kickit’s articles from Flat Mat Yoga, the alternative she suggests to the pigeon prep pose is in fact the one you’re likely describing – she calls it Reclined Pigeon. Flat Mat Yoga is my go-to (Kickit and I even teach together at Rollercon!) so I trust her advice and should have consulted her first! I like the pigeon pose and now that I have better hip flexibility than a few years ago, I can do it without feeling discomfort in my knees and ankles (but I always keep my front foot flexed) but for a group of wide-ranging body types, the reclined pigeon is probably a better bet. I have edited the article to provide this update!

People on my team have been sending me this article today: http://flatmatyoga.com/roller-derby-please-stop-with-the-pigeon-pose-obsession/

What’s your take on that?

I always did the pigeon prep stretch focusing on the glutes, and we have another glute stretch as well (lying on your back, put one leg up in the air, the opposite foot on your knee, and pull your straight leg towards you, leaning to that side to deepen the stretch if needed), so we’d still have the one glute stretch if we cut pigeon from our stretching. What do you think?