Standing Pigeon Pose is a great yoga pose for travelers to relieve pain and stiffness and stretch tight muscles.

Traveling can take a toll on the body, causing stiffness and pain in joints and muscles due to lack of movement and lubrication. If you’re traveling for the holidays, doing a few yoga stretches throughout your journey can make a world of difference. There are lots of yoga poses that can be done standing up, and require no equipment, so you can do them anywhere – in your hotel room, in the airport, standing in line, etc.

Standing Pigeon Pose (Tada Kapotasana) is a great pose for travelers, stretching the legs, hips, and back, working the knee and hip joints, and even providing a gentle stretch for muscles and ligaments in the arms and shoulders. This beginner-to-intermediate pose also helps to improve balance, and strengthens the legs, back, and core muscles.

If you have trouble balancing, you can rest one or both hands against a wall or countertop for stability. If you are unable to do this pose due to knee or hip injuries, try Tree Pose instead. Below are the basic instructions for the pose, according to LifeLongYogaPractice.com.

How to Do Standing Pigeon Pose:

1. Stand tall, shifting your weight into one leg as you cross the opposite ankle over your standing leg’s thigh.
2. Lower your hips back and down until you find a natural stopping point. This could feel like a stretch in the bent leg’s glutes or inner thigh, or like work in the standing leg’s foot or hip. Make sure your standing leg’s knee points straight forward over your toes.
3. Keep your spine long and use your arms for balance. Hands can be in prayer position, out to the sides, or stretched out in front.
4. Hold the pose for 5–15 breaths, and repeat on the other side.