Pigeon Toes

[Anonymous]

When we do pigeon toes posture, do we twist legs and hips inward?

The natural tendence with the pigeon toes for me would be to twist the hips outward to counteract the misalignment created by the feet. If I do twist the hips outward, that put a twisting pressure on my knees that I don’t think is good. On the other hand, if I align my knees with the feet, that will require to turn hips outward, open up buttocks to some degree, and sort of sqeeze the area around the pubic bone.

So how do we fight misalignments while in the pigen toes position?

[Anonymous]

Take my thoughts with a grain of salt, but for me i get worried about the knees when i notice even slight tension in the lower body. At which time i notice ligament action around the knees. If i can really soften the lower body, especially down through the knees into the feet and the whole foot itself, it seems to kind of ooze into the floor and it doesn’t feel unnatural.
Patrick

[Anonymous]

Hey guys-

I think you’re on the right track. Igor, this is close:

Quote:

On the other hand, if I align my knees with the feet, that will require to turn hips outward, open up buttocks to some degree, and sort of sqeeze the area around the pubic bone.

Eventually the front and back will hollow like the inside and outside of a big bowl and you’ll feel less “squeeze” and more space.

The goal of the pigeon-toed posture really isn’t about the toes, it’s about opening the hips and pelvis and connecting that through the legs. Aim to keep the feet and knees aligned and feel all the rotation coming for the hip joint (where the thigh bone comes into the socket). Now, as you guys have already hinted at, the amount of rotation might be pretty limited due to postural habits, so you can’t rush it. Eventually though, this posture helps you open up the hips and spine.

Does that make sense?

Dan

[Anonymous]

Yes that does make sense, thank you very much Dan. Especially feeling the rotation, i had initially thought that was a bad thing. I also wasn’t aware that the emphasis was on opening the spine. I knew the spine was important in dropping through for root, but i wasn’t aware that this exercise opened it specifically, i had thought the emphasis was on the openeing of the ankles and knees. Thank you for clearing this up for us, you guys make a world of difference when posting for us.
Patrick

[Anonymous]

Hey Patrick-

No problem!

Let me clarify a little bit. Initially you want to get the leg alignments solid, meaning knees and feet aligned and clean ball and socket movement to create rotation. This is stage one, where you focus on bones and joints. Good joint movement is limited by how loose or tight the tissues (muscles, ligaments, etc) are. If you work within your limits, eventually the tissues open up — in this case the pelvis first, like Igor described, and then eventually, you’ll feel that make a connection to the spine.

Ba Gua, and this posture in particular, takes a very direct approach to winding/twisting tissue, and so the big caveat is that you have to work within the alignments.

Hope that helps!
D

[Anonymous]

“Initially you want to get the leg alignments solid, meaning knees and feet aligned and clean ball and socket movement to create rotation. This is stage one”

So as a beginner we should spend considerable time on relaxing into alignment before we head into stage two – twisting?

Or are we supposed to actively twist in the beginning, gently of course, from the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Hey Rich-

I like to make the distinction between active and passive twisting. Sometimes Bruce will refer to the passive version as “tissue turning” instead of twisting. Here’s what I mean: if you turn your palm from up to down, did the tissue turn? Of course! So, if you are focusing on rotating the legs the way you do in the pigeon-toed posture, will the thigh tissue turn? Yup. Do you want to really crank on it to make that happen? Nope.

So, like you said, go easy at first. Just getting into a more wrapped posture will create a lot of tissue turn. If you’re really invested in a long-term practice, starting easy with the turning will ensure that you don’t have to work out the excess tension later and it will keep your back healthy and open.

Hope that helps!
Dan

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