Yoga For Knee Pain Relief

What Are The Benefits Of Yoga For Knee Pain

Here are some of the most important benefits of yoga asanas for knee pain:

• Yoga poses for knee pain are low-impact exercises that donât pressurize your knees. This helps in curing knee pain effectively.

• Yoga for knee pain for seniors helps in making your knee muscles more flexible. This helps in reducing the painful symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

• Yoga for knee pain helps in recovering faster from injuries or if you have just undergone surgery.

• The 11 yoga poses for knee pain relief help in making your knee muscles and joints flexible. This improves your balance and coordination, which prevents future injuries.

• Asanas for knee pain improve blood circulation to your knee muscles. This nourishes your muscles with nutrients and oxygen, enhancing their strength in the long run.

• Yoga for knee pain helps in improving your range of motion. This enhances your agility and helps you lead an active life.

• Yoga for arthritis and knee pain is a simple way to better your knee health. It doesnât require investment in special equipment or yoga studio memberships. These asanas can be done practically anywhere.

The Benefits Of Yoga For Bad Knees

If you struggle with knee pain, yoga may offer relief. A regular exercise routine can help maintain good strength and mobility in the knees, which are crucial for walking and other daily activities, but choosing the right kind of exercise can be tricky. Many common exercises, such as running and aerobics, are high-impact exercises , which can put pressure on the knees and worsen knee pain.

Yoga is a low-impact exercise, which means it increases heart rate while minimizing the amount of stress on the joints. It’s good for people with knee pain because it can reduce chronic pain while improving mobility, physical fitness, and overall quality of life. Understanding which poses to practice can ensure that you enjoy the maximum benefits of a regular yoga practice.

Jessica Olah / Verywell

Poses To Move From Knee Strain To Gain

Please warm up first with three to five Core Sun Salutations, and remember to breathe slowly and deeply through your nose for the entirety of the practice.

1. High Lunge

When youre in Down Dog, as you step one foot forward toward a lunge preparation, you want to hit two points of alignment right away:

• Your foot should step to the same thumb , not to center between your hands.
• When you come up, this will bring your knee wider, pointing directly forward from your hip joint rather than buckling the knee in toward center, moving it off of the hip line. Youll bring the weight on your knee joint into balance.
• Your toes and fingertips should be in the same line, so your foot is all the way up, not lagging back behind your hands.

When you come up, this will ensure that with a bent front leg, your knee will hover over your heel or back toward your body more, but not jut out over your foot, causing pressure over the front of your knee.

Applies to: Any standing pose where you step forward with a bent front knee such as Warrior I and II, Side Angle, Reverse Warrior, Chair Pose, Eagle Pose.

2. Warrior I

Bring your awareness to your back leg in this pose. One rule of knee health to observe: Your toes, knee and center of the hip should all be facing the same angle.

Applies to: Any anchored-foot standing pose like Warrior I, II, Side Angle, Triangle, Reverse Triangle , Parsvottanasana, Malasana.

3. Triangle Pose

4. Pigeon Pose

1) Flexing your foot

Recommended Reading: Is It Good To Do Yoga After Workout

Best Yoga Poses For Knee Pain Relief

Relieving knee pain is a long-run game. It wont go away overnight, nor will yoga magically fix years of knee abuse. Thats right- you can abuse your knees with a sedentary lifestyle, running on concrete, neglecting your leg muscle building, or lack of flexibility. These yoga poses help you start awakening the knee-support-system we talked about above.

Virabhadrasana I And Ii

Duration: Start with 30 seconds of 4 sets and work your way up.

Method: Spread your arms in a T-pose and widen your feet. Your foot needs to roughly align with the point where your wrists are. Now, keeping your torso straight, turn your left foot 30 degrees and your right leg 90 degrees out. Bend your knee slowly, making sure it does not go beyond your ankle and toes. Try to bring your thigh parallel to the floor so that your leg is perpendicular to the floor. Turn your head towards your right fingertips and look beyond them. This is warrior pose II. For the first iteration of this asana, bring your hands slowly above your head in a prayer formation and hold the position as you normally would.

A common mistake to be careful of is to make sure the knee is not turning left or right, and is sitting straight above your toes. This misalignment can easily worsen the situation if not paid attention to.

Also Check: How To Do Handstand Yoga

Massage Therapy For Knee Pain

Massage therapy, as well as heat treatment, is good in overcoming knee injuries and making your knee strong and flexible. Massage with ayurvedic herbal oil followed by application of moderate heath with heat bag make the movement of joints easier and simpler. The significance of Yog asana increases when it is practiced after heat and massage treatment. Steam baths and sunbath are also effective in strengthening your knees and joints.

Best Yoga Poses To Help With Knee Pain

If youre in a yoga studio, be sure to let your teacher know about any injuries or concerns before class starts, says Steven Cheng, a certified yoga instructor.

And remember: If a pose doesnt feel good, causes pain, or gives you a sharp sensation in the patella , adjust it or dont do it, Miller says.

Also Check: Midline Yoga Fort Collins

Start With A Qualified Yoga Instructor

No matter what type of yoga you decide to try, youre encouraged to begin with a qualified instructor. Save the yoga videos for later, when youre more confident with your yoga practice. If possible, find an instructor who has experience working with people with chronic conditions like arthritis. This may require a call to the studio ahead of time.

Before class starts, tell the instructor about which joints are affected by arthritis or injuries. He or she should be able to show you ways to modify poses before or during class.

See Ways to Get Exercise When You Have Arthritis

If it hurts, stopYoga stretches muscles, and stretching can feel uncomfortable. Joint pain, however, is a sign of a possible injury and should be avoided. Dont do a pose if it causes pain, even if it seems like everyone else in the class can do it.

Yoga Stretching Exercises For Knee Pain

There are many Yoga exercises, which are helpful in controlling knee pain. Knee pain control through Yoga under the supervision of Yoga experts shows positive results. Baba Ramdev Knee pain yoga module is also effective. One can see his module on Youtube. BKS Iyengar yoga therapy for knee pain arthritis is always beneficial. Here is the list of Yoga poses to prevent knee pain and knee injuries.

You May Like: Amrit Siddhi Yoga

Bridge Pose Setu Bandhasana

• Step 1: Lie on your back on your yoga mat. Bend the knees, bring the feet towards the glutes, parallel and hips distance apart.
• Step 2: Keep the arms on either side of the torso, and press the palms into the mat. Inhale and lift the spine upwards, using the stability of the feet, hands and shoulders.
• Step 3: Engage the quadriceps, and keep the legs parallel to each other. Lift the glutes until the quadriceps are almost parallel to the floor. Lift the back and hips as far as is comfortable, until the chin meets the chest, draw the shoulder blades together to open the frontline of the body.
• Step 4: Focus on deepening the breath, along with keeping the weight evenly distributed throughout the feet. Once in the posture do not turn the head side to side, to protect the neck.

Variation: If you feel this is uncomfortable on the neck, you can lay on a folded blanket keep the top of the blanket in line with the shoulders so that the neck is free from compression. To deepen the bridge pose you can clasp the hands behind the back, which helps to open the chest further.

Benefits: Bridge pose is great for spinal mobility, balance and strengthening the legs and shoulders.

Should I Do Yoga If My Knee Hurts

When your knees hurt with every step, you may stop moving. After all, if movement hurts, you should avoid it, right?

Not necessarily.

While its always crucial to talk to your doctor before beginning any new type of exercise, safe movement is typically incredibly beneficial for sore joints, including the knees. Regular exercises increase the lubrication in the joint, strengthen and lengthen tendons, and improve range of motion.

In the case of acute injury, its best to follow any of your doctors instructions for a period of rest. There are times when complete inactivity is necessary to give your body time to rest and restore itself. Once you get the all-clear, yoga poses for knee joint pain can be gradually added, making modifications as needed to keep you safe.

If the cause of your knee pain is arthritis, yoga can be practiced with a qualified teacher to the level thats feels good to you. For severe pain, chair yoga is a great place to start .

Don’t Miss: Exercises On Yoga Ball To Induce Labor

Keep Your Knees Safe During Yoga

If you want to practice yoga but have knee pain, using props to support your body is a wonderful option. Props are useful in yoga since they can be used to alter poses and make them more accessible and comfortable if you have knee discomfort.

Thicker Yoga Mat or cushion: Avoid placing your knee directly on the floor. Use a good quality yoga mat. Thicker yoga mats give more cushion between you and the floor, which is advantageous when your knees are on the ground.

Blankets: Yoga blankets is a great way to add cushion to your practice and make poses more comfortable. For example, in Veerasana ,You can place a blanket underneath you buttock to reduce discomfort at knee

Blankets: Blocks are an excellent addition to any yoga practice because they allow you to experiment with positions without going too far.

Yoga can stretch out the stiff muscles that support and surround the knees. Make sure you’re paying attention to your breaths as you complete positions. Staying focused on the workout and avoiding overstretching or overdoing any of the poses can be accomplished by synchronising your breath with your movement.

Check out the our video on Yutube. If you subscibe to our youtube channel, you can watch more videos and attend one live class for free. For further details kindly CONTACT US

How Do I Know If Yoga Is Safe For My Knee

For any yoga pose, if it hurts your knee, dont do it. Or change the way that you do it.

If you want to try a yoga pose that you know hurts your knee, then work into it slowly and carefully making sure that you can brace yourself or back out of the pose easily if you do experience pain.

If you move slowly and smoothly while doing yoga for knee pain, you can listen for early warnings that you are moving into a painful position. You can then make adjustments to see if that helps. Or simply stop where you are.

While some knee problems may be due to poor neuromuscular programming, others may be tissue problems that need time to heal. In this case, if your intuition tells you that you should leave a pose out, then leave it out.

You May Like: Yoga Instructor Certification Columbus Ohio

Warrior 1 Virabhadrasana 1

• Step 1: Stand at the front of your Yoga mat, exhale and drop the left leg back. Keep the toes of the right foot pointed forward towards the front of the Yoga mat, turn the left foot outwards slightly, roughly to a 45-degree angle. Keep a little space in between the heels, so they are not inline this helps to square off the hips. Keep the left leg straight, with a small micro-bend in the left knee.
• Step 2:Bend into the right knee so that the knee is directly over the ankle, and square off the hips so that they are parallel to the short side of the Yoga mat. Draw the right hip backward.
• Step 3: Keep the torso vertical, inhale and raise the arms overhead. Draw the shoulder blades together to open the chest, keep space between the ears and the shoulders. Gaze up toward the thumbs.
• Step 4: Draw the lower belly in towards the spine, and breathe deeply. Keep the breath flowing, and focus on pressing through both feet equally, along with engaging the leg muscles, especially those around the knee. Repeat on the other side by starting with the right leg back first, hold each side for an even amount of time.

Variations: You can keep the palms together or open overhead. The traditional alignment is to have the heels in line, however, it helps women to keep space in between the heels to allow the hips to square.

If this is uncomfortable on the back knee, then try raising up onto the ball of the foot, which could alleviate pain in the knee.

Gentle Yoga For Knee Pain Poses

Always talk to your doctor before starting yoga, and if you are taking a class, let your yoga teacher know about your knee pain beforehand. They can help with modifications when needed.

As always, if you experience sharp, stabbing pain or cannot catch your breath, back out of the pose and take a break. Consider taking a gentler modification if you try it again.

Here are nine yoga poses for knee pain, from least to most intense.

Also Check: Calories Burned In 1 Hour Of Yoga

Sphinx Pose Quad Stretch

This pose stretches tight hip flexors and quadriceps, relieving tension on the knees.

Balances Muscles Around The Knee

When all the muscles are not active, the muscles are not balanced. And even under average stress, the knee will fail to receive the required support from the muscles. This lack of balance is a primary cause behind ligament and cartilage injuries of the knee. Yoga establishes effective muscle balance, not only of your knee but your entire body.

Every time there is a knee injury, there is a certain bit of nerve damage happening. And every time there is nerve damage you lose a bit of control over your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This loss of control further increases the chance of a second injury. Balancing postures of Yoga are excellent at reviving the damaged nerves and giving you back control over your knee.

Don’t Miss: Hot Yoga Outfits

A Basic Approach To Dealing With Knee Pain

A key understanding required for dealing with knee pain is that the knee is designed to rotate. You could think of knee rotation as rotation of the shin relative to the femur.

The amount of rotation is small but it is important and it is controllable. There are muscles that drive this rotation and that help to stabilize the knee in both rotated and unrotated positions.

The shin also rotates relative to the foot and ankle. This isnt a pure rotation. It accompanies changes in foot posture. For example:

• When you rotate your shins inwards , you should find that your inner arch collapses or flattens.

• When you rotate your shins outwards, you should find that your inner arch lifts.

Rotation of the shin relative to the knee and relative to the foot allows the foot to adapt to variations in terrain and variations in standing position. For example, it allows us to squat with our feet in different positions and at different distances apart. And it allows us to move our knees outwards or inwards while squatting.

The hip joint also rotates, and just as importantly, there are muscles that work between the hip bone and the lower leg to help control shin rotation. And so you could think of the shin as being able to rotate relative to the foot, relative to the knee and relative to the hip bone!

With knee, ankle and hip all having the ability to rotate to some degree, a large part of dealing with knee pain is controlling rotation at all three joints.

Benefits Of Yoga For Knees

Studies have shown that repetitive, high-impact exercises like soccer and weightlifting can make knee pain worse. These activities are hard on the joints and can increase the risk of joint injury and osteoarthritis, which causes pain, stiffness, and restricted joint movement later in life.

In contrast, research has shown that yoga is helpful for the joints in the elderly and in people with conditions that cause chronic knee pain. Yoga can improve mobility, walking speed, and posture in older adults. It also has a positive impact on the flexibility of the knee flexorsthe muscles that help the knees bend and extend.

Yoga has been proven to reduce pain and stiffness in people who experience chronic knee pain, such as in the case of muscular dystrophy and rheumatoid arthritis. Yoga can be especially therapeutic for people with knee osteoarthritis, resulting in less pain and better mobility in this population. Regular yoga practice can therefore help those with arthritis become more active and experience improved quality of life.

Recommended Reading: What Size Yoga Ball To Sit On At Work