Going weak in the knees for the love of your life is great but going weak in the middle of a yoga class? Not so much! But the fact of the matter is that most of us deal with the second type of going weak in the knees more often than not and it creates many problems for us. The thing with knee pain is that it can affect you, no matter how old or young you are. You can be 13 or 63 years old and have to deal with knee pain. Ruptured ligaments and torn cartilages are the most common causes of knee pain. Add to that, Arthritis, gout, infections and some other medical conditions can be the cause of knee pain. But we have yoga to the rescue. These yoga poses for knee pain can help with knee pain immensely.
Yoga to Strengthen Knees
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Chair Pose
Also known as Utakatasana, Chair Pose is a yoga asana that helps in strengthening your thigh muscles (the rectus femoris), glutes and hamstrings. For this pose, keep your legs and feet together, and lift your chest. Now sit down as if there’s a chair underneath you and keep your weight on your heels and raise your arms.
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Peaceful Warrior Pose
Also known as Virabhadrasana, Peaceful Warrior Pose is one of the best yoga poses for relieving knee pain as it activates all the glutes, hamstrings and quads. To perform this yoga put your right foot forward with your toes pointing straight. Now turn your left toes 45 degrees to the side and extend out your arms with your palms facing upwards. Now bend your right knee at a 90-degree angle and make sure it’s aligned with your ankle. Now take the left hand on your left leg and bend backward with your right arm overhead while gazing at the ceiling.
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Foam Rolling
If you already are saying, “Ugh! Foam rolling, again? Can we not just do the real stuff?” then we understand your frustrations. However, if you really want to reduce knee pain by yoga then you simply cannot skip foam rolling as it is a sure-shot way of releasing tension from the body. We know it hurts, looks weird, and is time-consuming but it works.
For foam rolling, lie with your face down and place the foam roller under your left leg, right beneath your quad. Now put most of your body weight on your leg and roll it gently. Roll your leg up and down and then sideways, putting the pressure on tighter spots in the muscles. Now switch legs and continue until it no longer feels painful.
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Banana Pose
While talking about yoga for knee pain relief we couldn’t have skipped Bananasana or the Banana Pose. This pose also makes you focus on the breath which helps in relaxing the muscles and the mind and helps in the mental release from knee pain.
For Banana Pose you need to bring your body into a banana-like posture and stretch your torso and legs to one side of the mat. For a deeper stretch, you can cross your ankles and bring together the wrists. Once you are in the position, release the clasped wrists and stay in the pose for 5 minutes.
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Mountain Pose
Last but not least, we have Mountain Pose, also known as Tadasana which is not just another yoga for knees but also pays attention to your alignment, activation and makes your legs feel like they are participating in the asana.
For this yoga pose, keep your feet hip-distance apart and now stretch your fingertips pointing them towards your toes. Take full deep breaths while you are at it and spread your toes and press them into the floor evenly. Now center your weight on your foot and see how you feel lifted up from the inner arch.
We think by now you would have understood how yoga poses help with knee pain and why you should try it. You can indulge in yoga with FITPASS- the largest network of 5,500+ gyms and fitness studious across 39+ cities of India.
