How to Make Creaky, Cranky Knees Feel Happier
Modify your yoga practice and make your knees smile!
By the time you get to 40 or 50, you might notice your body becoming more “vocal.” Your hips, your back, or your knees start to talk to you. At first it might be quiet whispering, but over time, the sound gets louder until they just scream.
While yoga can help your body move and feel better, there might be poses where those screaming body parts protest. In today’s post, I will give you suggestions to make your knees happier in certain poses so that you can practice with kindness toward yourself. Ahimsa for your knees.
“Bad” knees
People often speak of their “bad” knees, or “bad” back. I’d like to suggest a reframe. Your knees don’t hurt because they are bad. They didn’t rob a bank or murder anyone. Hopefully. They hurt. Rather than thinking of them as bad, what if you saw your knees as simply needing a little extra attention, love, and support? I find that helps you manage their care a bit better. They are not a body part to avoid, but one to care for.
Your knees might be cranky for a number of reasons, some being knee issues, and some having nothing to do with the knees. Just because your knees hurt doesn’t mean there is something wrong with them. I find that only 20% of knee pain is actually a knee problem. 80% of the time it’s related to hip dysfunction, quad tightness, ankle/foot dysfunction, or calf tightness.
Knee “problems” cover conditions such as arthritis, tears in the ACL, MCL, menisci, etc. Regardless of why your knees hurt, hopefully the following modifications will help you feel more comfortable in your yoga practice. When in doubt, use props to lessen gravity’s effect on your body.
If placing your knees on the floor is painful, use either a second yoga mat, a blanket, towel, or some kind of cushioning to make the floor softer. Those thick pads that are used for gardening can make wonderful yoga props.
**Please note: If your doctor doesn’t want to you to practice yoga, or if your knees still hurt while trying these modifications, please listen to your body and don’t. If you have “bionic” knees, and these modifications feel okay, then you can do them. Pushing through pain is never the answer.**
Child’s pose/Balasana
Child’s pose is a resting pose that many students love, unless your knees hurt. The deep knee flexion (bending) can cause pain, but there are ways to make it better.
1. Support under your hips
Placing your hips on a block or rolled up towel can take some of the pressure off your knees, as the weight of your pelvis is supported. You can make the support as high as you need to, allowing your body to relax into the pose. You can also leave your hips in the air, placing your forehead on the floor, lessening the bend in your knees.
2. Towel behind the knees
Rolling up a towel and placing it behind your knees creates more space and support. It gives your thighs something to rest on so that you don’t feel strain in the knee joint. Tuck the rolled towel right behind the knee joint then lower your hips into your Child’s pose.
3. Take Child’s pose on your back
If gravity remains an issue, lie down on your back and hug your knees into your chest. This version of Child’s pose takes gravity out of the equation and you can control how much bend you have in your knees. You can hold behind your thighs or the fronts of your shins, depending on what your knees allow.
Standing poses (Warrior, Triangle, Side Angle)
These poses are wonderful for strengthening the knees by way of the quads, but they need to be done correctly so as not to cause harm. In Warrior poses 1 and 2, as well as Side Angle pose, the knee should be facing directly forward with the knee joint stacked over the ankle joint. The hips should be on a diagonal in all of these poses, never flat to the side or to the front as this will cause the knee to turn to the side, thereby straining the knee.
The amount of flexion (bend) of that front knee can vary according to your comfort level. The more weight you put in the back foot, the less weight there is in the front foot, and therefore less pressure on the knee. Ideally you want equal weight on both feet.
In terms of the back leg, rotate the thigh toward the 5th toe so that your knee faces in the same direction as your 2nd and 3rd toes on that foot. Strain in the back knee is often due to not using the glutes or rotators and ignoring the back leg. Press your outer foot into the floor, engage your quads, and make sure the knee faces the center of the foot. You can adjust the position of the back foot to accommodate your thigh/hip rotation.
In Triangle pose, both knees are straight, but you still want to aim the knee toward the center of each foot. Activate the quads on both legs so that you don’t hang into your knee joint. The knees are straight but not “locked.” You should maintain a softness in the back of the knees.
Hip openers
There are many wonderful hip opening poses to stretch the glutes, piriformis, and more, but they can be tough on the knees. If your hips are tight and less mobile, the body compensates by putting the pressure into the next joint, your knees. The good news is that it is possible to modify all hip opening poses.
Pigeon pose/Kapotasana
This pose usually bothers the front knee. Place a block or rolled up towel underneath the front hip to take the pressure off the knee. Make sure both hips face the floor, that you are not aiming your hips to the side. “Square” your hips toward the floor, then place your prop underneath the hip to support you in the proper alignment.
If no amount of propping takes enough pressure off your knees, then remove gravity. Lie on your back and cross your ankle over your knee, creating a #4 with your legs. Hold behind the vertical thigh and draw it toward your shoulder (left knee toward left shoulder). Relax the legs as much as possible, letting the arms do the work.
Stay 5 breaths then repeat on the other side.
Ankle to Knee pose/Agnistambhasana
This pose can also be done on your back, like the Pigeon variation above, or you can be seated on the floor or a block. Instead of stacking one shin over the other, place one shin in front of the other, still lining up the ankles and knees so that the knees are shoulder-distance apart. Place blocks or rolled towels under your knees for support.
Stay 5 breaths then repeat on the other side.
Cow-Face pose/Gomukhasana
If your knees protest when you have your hips on the floor in this pose, place your hips on a block or a “mountain” of blocks. You can also take gravity out of the equation and do this pose on your back. Lie down and cross one knee over the other. You can hold your knees, your thighs, or flex your feet and hold your feet if that’s available to you. Bring your thighs toward your chest while reaching your tailbone toward the floor.
Stay 5 breaths then repeat on the other side.
Squatting pose/Malasana
This pose is wonderful to open the pelvis and lower back, but can be hard on the knees. Sitting on a block or in a chair are excellent modifications to make this pose more doable. Sit on the block or chair and have your feet forward of your hips, turning out your legs about 45 degrees (or less, or more). Press your knees apart while activating your glutes. Feel the arches of your feet lifting.
Stay 5 breaths, then release. I like lifting the hips after into a forward fold with the legs remaining outwardly rotated. It’s a nice stretch for the outer hamstrings.
Chair Yoga
Chairs make wonderful props when practicing yoga, especially if your knees make it difficult to get on and off the floor. Practicing yoga in a chair can take all the pressure off your knees while helping you build strength and improve mobility. All of the poses above can be practiced in a chair in one form or another. I may do a Chair yoga post in the near future.
Here is a short Chair yoga video that I created to give you some ideas:
What poses give your knees a hard time? Feel free to ask in the comments and I can give you modification suggestions.
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