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5 Best Yoga Poses for Knee Pain
Knee pain is the number two type of chronic pain, second only to back pain, and is
estimated to affect nearly 20 million people in the United States alone. Oftentimes
the issue isn’t with the knee itself, but with the muscles surrounding it (i.e.
quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, hip adductors and, IT band.
Yoga is known to be extremely beneficial to those who suffer from weakness or pain
in their knees – due to a ligament injury or simply from sitting at a desk all day. If
done with proper alignment and instruction, practicing yoga regularly can not only
prevent knee damage but also repair current injuries.
Here are five different yoga poses that can help stretch and strengthen the muscles
surrounding the knees. These asanas can prevent tight muscles from making joint
pain worse and provide needed stability.
Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)
When striving to alleviate knee pain, it’s important to pay close attention to your
quadriceps and hamstrings. By strengthening these areas, your knees—along with
your pelvic and core muscles are brought back into balance.
Bridge Pose is a great way to strengthen these power centers and safely gain
flexibility in your IT band (the thick tendon that connects the pelvis to the knee,
stabilizing the hips and knees).
Directions:
1) Lie down on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor.
2) Place your arms by your sides with your palms down and walk your heels back
toward your fingertips so that your ankles are under your knees.
3) Press into your palms and the four corners of your feet and inhale as you lift
your hips off the ground. Make sure to engage your glutes and core to protect
your knees!
4) Pulsate through this gentle pose, following the guide of your breath or simply
hold for several breath cycles and release.
Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
Mountain pose is an excellent posture for knee pain relief as it helps us track our
knees evenly and teaches us how to isometrically engage leg muscles. Additionally,
it’s the foundation of all standing asanas and makes a great starting position, resting
pose, or tool to improve your posture. Now, pay attention, because there’s a lot more
to this seemingly simple pose than meets the eye!
Directions:
1) Start by standing upright with your feet slightly apart. Engage your lower
abdominals (your core) and stretch your fingers toward the ground. Roll your
shoulders down, open your chest, and take deep, full breaths.
2) Release your shoulder blades down our back your back. Lift the crown of your
head toward the ceiling and widen your collarbone.
3) Spread through your toes and stabilize through the four corners of your feet.
Tuck your pelvis and lengthen your tailbone toward the floor.
4) Make sure your weight is centered in the arch of your foot and lift your inner
ankles to engage the inner arches. Turn your upper thighs slightly inward
without buckling the knees.
5) Engage your quadriceps as you energetically lift the kneecaps without
hardening your lower belly. Slightly bend the knees, if you feel that you’re
locking them.
6) Balance the crown of your head directly over the center of your pelvis with the
bottom of your chin parallel to the floor, throat soft and tongue on the floor of
your mouth.
7) Enjoy an easy breath as your whole body is actively engaged.
Chair Pose (Utkatasana)
Chair pose activates your entire body. Enter this pose by balancing your weight
into your hip sockets. Performing this asana can help to take the stress out of
your knees while aligning your hips and strengthening your inner thighs and
calves.
Directions:
1) Stand in Tadasana with your chest lifted, crown of the head rising upward.
Sit back and down (as if you’re sitting in a chair).
2) Keep your weight balanced thought the four corners of your feet as you
sweep your arms straight up, parallel with your ears. Make sure to keep your
knees stacked over your shins and that you can see your toes in front of your
knees.
3) Hold for several breath cycles and release.
Warrior I (Virabhadrasa 1)
The Warrior poses can build a great deal of strength and assist in alignment
when it comes to protecting and healing knee joints. When done right, these
postures strengthen our inner quad muscles which are typically weak and under-
utilized. Warrior I is performed to train those muscles to awaken, strengthen, and
get to work.
Directions:
1) Step your right foot all the way back. Find heel to arch alignment as your
back heel comes down to the floor at an angle. Allow your leg will begin to
engage and fully ignite.
2) Point your front toes forward and bend your front knee. Make sure you
can see your toes in front of your knee. Grounding through the 4 corners
of your left foot, stack your knee over your ankle and coax your front knee
to the left.
3) Raise your arms to the sky, open your chest, and keep your cervical spine
and shoulders relaxed, and your core engaged.
4) Hold for several breath cycles and repeat of the other side.
Warrior II (Virabhadrasa 2)
Warrior II, like Warrior I, is safe pose to do when you have knee issues. It
specifically helps to stretch, strengthen, and stabilize the knee along with
strengthening your outer gluteal muscles, inner thighs, and quadriceps.
Directions:
1) Start by standing sideways on your mat with your legs at least three
feet apart. Turn the toes on your front foot out 90 degrees and
find heel to arch alignment with your front heel and back foot.
2) Bend your front knee until it’s directly over your ankle. Use your leg
muscles to keep tracking the knee to make sure it doesn’t roll
inwards.
3) Stretch your arms away from you, open your chest, and relax your scapula
down your back. Check-in to make sure you can see your toes over the top
of your knee. If your toes disappear, simply pull your knee back towards
your body and realign your knee over your ankle.
4) Gaze over your front fingertips and enjoy several breath sets before
switching sides.
If you struggle with knee pain, you might want to consider adding props to support
your yoga practice. Start with the mat- look for something cushiony with substantial
grip, like the Luxe Platinum from AshtaLuxe. Yoga blocks can provide balance and
grounding in challenging poses and allow you to sink deeper into knee stretches. And
you might want to consider adding a yoga knee pad on top of your mat. The Patella
Pad by AshtaLuxe is thin and flexible, made of a cushiony high-density material that
doesn’t bottom out. It’s really an amazing way to cushion your knees during yoga so
you don’t feel the pressure from a hard floor. Visit the AshtaLuxe website to learn
more about these new products for people who struggle with knee pain. We’d be
honored to help you improve your practice without pain!
Namaste, yogis.