Practice Point #53- Yoga & Knees

I received a question from Siobhan from Ireland. Their question is...

I recently tried surfing a few times and my problem is my knees. I have ‘cranky’ knees and they frequently tell me off in yoga also, there are many poses I have to adapt. Any wisdom to help my knees would be welcome. (I’m in my early 50s and most likely arthritis due to injury and strong family history.)

Knees are a worry. I worry about my knees too. Something about them seems so fragile.

I think it is important to keep them moving. By this I mean don’t hold them in one position for a long time. Arthritic joints need to move.

For arthritic knee students who attend classes with me, I also tell them to move in and out of the standing postures and not hold too long.

The knee joints love space. Use spacers wedged behind the knee for sitting postures.

Don’t forget the knee is connected to the thigh bone.

Are your legs strong?

Are you using the muscle of the legs to support your knees?

Sorry but sometimes one question leads to me asking many more.

Lastly, how are your hips, they are after all connected to the thigh bone.

When we have a problem area we tend to focus on that area as the problem.

I encourage you to shift the blame and look at what else might not be working to help you

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