Unfortunately, yoga knee soreness is a fairly typical occurrence. In addition, persons with sensitive knees frequently struggle in yoga classes, even though it can be an excellent tool for recovering from knee injuries. We are providing you with advice and changes in this thorough blog on keeping your students' knees safe while practicing yoga and preventing knee pain.

The practice of Pole yoga has been taken out of its cultural setting and placed in the West, where this conversation starts. Most practitioners overlooked that for a long time; sitting on the floor was the norm in India.

Consider women crouching to prepare meals, laborers squatting to construct objects, and the conventional toilet, which needs you to squat. Therefore, compared to persons from the West, Indians' hips and knees are significantly more flexible. Many classical Pole yoga postures typically have lotus modifications since it was thought they could be performed simply.

We rarely kneel for anything in the West since we are accustomed to sitting on chairs. So, when yoga was introduced to the West, it unluckily resulted in hurt knees. It doesn't follow that none of us can ever master Lotus. It simply implies that not everyone should do it, and even if you can do so safely, it can take some time before you can achieve a Full Lotus Pose.

Knee anatomy 101

The ankle joint below and the knee above significantly impact one another (hip joint). The majority of the time, when a knee injury develops, the dysfunction in one or both of the surrounding joints is the direct or indirect cause of the damage.

Similar to the ankle, the knee needs to be sturdy because it bears a lot of the weight of our bodies. Additionally, it needs to be adaptable enough to handle changes made to the ankle and foot.

One of the knee ligaments, or the menisci, is typically the source of knee problems and injuries. An outline of the knee's anatomy is given below:

Ligaments of the knee

Ligaments, which permit and prevent movement, can move when relaxed. They impede movement when they are taut. The ligaments are tense and restrict motion when the knee is extended. There is more mobility potential when the knee is bent.

When the knee is bent, the majority of knee injuries occur! 

And in Pole yoga, the majority of knee injuries occur when a flexed knee is rotated (forcefully).

Read More:- Polga - Advanced Pole Yoga 

How to prevent knee pain in yoga

Get to know about the Pole yoga Knee Injuries and Prevention Methods:

In yoga, there are two guidelines to follow to avoid knee pain and strain:

  • Having a fundamental knowledge of how joints are intended to move.
  • Recognizing the difference between pain and stress or discomfort.

A hinge joint is the knee joint. The knee can thus open and close just like a door, according to this. The knee joint's anatomical capabilities include flexion and extension but have minimal medial and lateral rotation. The knee must be bent for this rotation to take place. If the knee is not flexed, the hip joint rotates instead.

Now, we talk much about the practicality of yoga practice instead of an artistic approach in our yoga teacher training classes. Each yoga position has certain muscle groups we want to emphasize. Stress might seem like stretching, but it can also feel like a contraction or activation. We employ the traffic light as a tool to determine the proper level of stress.

Red denotes persistent pain or excruciating suffering. Green denotes no discomfort, whereas orange denotes discomfort that can be easily managed. We should constantly strive to be in the orange zone. Our practice will be efficient and secure if we stay in the orange zone of discomfort.

1. Increase hip-joint mobility

As was noted at the beginning of this essay, the knees are frequently required to make up for the instability or lack of mobility in the nearby joints. This is particularly true for the hip joint in yoga. The knees are in tremendous danger in poses that call for internal or external hip rotation if the yoga practitioner is unaware of this or chooses to ignore it.

So, the first step in protecting your knees is gradually increasing hip joint mobility. Stretching for this group should primarily target the muscles that prevent external rotation, such as the glutes and the six deep lateral rotators. Womb Pose is a fantastic posture for gradually increasing external rotation in the hip joint. This stance is incredibly effective and low risk because you aren't using your body weight.

2. Increase awareness of your feet to prevent knee pain

Although it allows for some slight rotation, the knee joint mainly serves as a hinge joint. Our knees are at grave risk if we force this motion. As a result, we must pay attention to any knee-related pain or discomfort. However, occasionally, especially when our bodies are warm, we feel more range of motion than is good for us. To try and stabilize their knee joint, We usually tell my pupils to flex or "float" the foot of the leg in external hip rotation.

The Womb Pose and Fire Log Pose are two examples of such a pose. My observations show that flexing the foot automatically engages the leg and positions the joints in a more secure anatomical posture. This makes it easier for the portion to move as a single unit from the hip. As a result, the likelihood of an unnecessary rotational strain on the knee joint is reduced.

3. To avoid knee pain, elevate your pelvis or your knees

The function of the knee and hip joint is closely related. To prevent knee pain in yoga injuries, lifting the pelvis about the knees can increase our perceived range of motion. For instance, in Pigeon Pose, using a cushion or block underneath the front buttock dramatically reduces the possibility of forcing that knee into an unnatural rotation.

However, raising the knees above the level of the pelvis can also assist us in protecting our knees. We avoid forcing our knees down while we fold our upper body forward by safely externally rotating our hips, which keeps the knee where we brought it.

5. Improve alignment through balancing

The positioning of the foot has a significant impact on the knee. When the ligaments on both sides of the knees are equally strong, the kneecap slides freely, and the cartilage under the patella doesn't wear out.

The muscles in the feet that maintain a healthy arch and proper weight distribution through your feet can be trained by adopting balancing postures with a straight standing leg.

The functional alignment of the knees is trained in balancing poses with bent knees, including the Eagle Pose, which guards the knees against further damage.

Conclusion

We have heard numerous students who have knee pain laud yoga and yoga treatment throughout the years. Yoga can be practiced in various ways, but the benefits can only be realized in a way that can permanently stabilize the knee joints. By employing some of these tactics, we can send the pain packing or close the door before it ever tries to enter our lives. We often take the hardworking knee for granted until it starts to complain to us with pain.