In short: Kapotasana is a very deep kneeling backbend. From standing on the knees you arch all the way back until the elbows rest on the floor behind the feet, the hands hold the heels or ankles and the head comes down toward or onto the soles of the feet. The chest puffs out like a pigeon’s, which gives the pose its name. It is an advanced pose of the Ashtanga intermediate series and of Light on Yoga, and it should be learned only with an experienced teacher.
This page explains the name, how the pose is built, the precautions and the long path of preparation. It is not a self-teaching guide: the instructions describe the pose so you can recognise it and understand what a teacher will ask of you.
The name, and why it is not “pigeon pose”
Kapotāsana comes from kapota, dove or pigeon. Iyengar says the expanded chest looks like that of a pouter pigeon. In English it is sometimes called pigeon backbend or kneeling pigeon. It is a different posture from the hip-opening pigeon pose of most classes and from One-Legged King Pigeon (Eka Pāda Rājakapotāsana), which is why this page keeps the Sanskrit name in its address. Light on Yoga also has a full Rājakapotāsana, the king pigeon, built from a prone position, which is a different pose again.
How the pose is built
Light on Yoga gives two techniques. The one for beginners starts lying back in reclining hero: the hands are placed by the ears and you press up through the arms onto the knees, then bend the elbows to the floor, walk the hands to the heels and place the crown of the head on the soles. The advanced technique starts kneeling, thighs vertical, and bends back with the arms over the head to grip the heels, then lowers the elbows and rests the head on the feet, catching the ankles. Iyengar asks for up to about a minute; breathing is fast and laboured.
In the Ashtanga intermediate series the pose comes after camel and little thunderbolt, in two forms: in Kapotāsana A the hands hold the heels and the elbows rest on the floor; in B the arms stay straight with the hands on the floor. AshtangaYoga.info warns against two common errors: taking the arms overhead too early on the way down, which overloads the lumbar spine, and bending the elbows too soon, which compresses the body. Its advice is to keep the hands on the floor with straight arms and walk them toward the feet while the pelvis keeps moving up and forward. The hold is five breaths.
Precautions in plain words
Kapotasana takes the spine, shoulders, hip flexors and neck to the end of their range. Do not attempt it without a teacher, without a reliable wheel and camel, or with any back, neck, knee or shoulder injury. Avoid it in pregnancy, with high blood pressure, heart conditions or eye pressure problems, and when tired. Expect fast, laboured breathing; if it becomes panicky or you feel dizzy, come out with control. Pain in the lower back means the bend is collapsing there rather than spreading through the upper back: come up and work on preparation.
Preparation and what comes next
Preparation takes months or years: camel, reclining hero, bow, wheel with straight arms, little thunderbolt and deep hip-flexor stretches such as a low lunge. Iyengar considers Kapotasana essential before the more difficult backbends, together with two-legged inverted staff. In Ashtanga it is followed by Supta Vajrasana. Afterwards, rest in child’s pose.
Where it is taught
Kapotasana is a key pose of the Ashtanga intermediate series and appears in Light on Yoga (Iyengar). Advanced vinyasa classes sometimes include it with a teacher’s guidance.
