People with knee pain find it hard to climb steps, follow sports, and sometimes even walk moderate distances. While medications and therapy can help to a certain extent, yoga too can prevent joint deterioration and help regain strength and flexibility. For minor knee pain, regular yoga practice can also drive away from the problem on its own!

In this blog, Ekattva Yogshala will share the most effective yoga poses to soothe knee pain and aid recovery. These yoga asanas are specifically targeted to either soothe or strengthen the knee joint.

Let’s get started!

Reclined Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana)

• Lie down on the ground while avoiding forcing your lumbar spine to flat. 
• Keep your knees and toes pointed straight to the ceiling.
• Guide the foot away from your head if you can’t straighten your legs.
• Keep your grounded leg at work by pointing your knee and toes above.
• Bring down the yoga strap to your football. 
• Stretch the strap from the back of your knee up towards the heel.
• Get the strap to the heel, push up through the inner heel and move the ball of your foot up, towards the ceiling.
• Don’t have a strap? Use your hand to pull the foot towards the chest as much as your flexibility allows you.
• Repeat this on both sides and multiples times.

Supta Padangusthasana pose is highly beneficial for knee pain relief. It also strengthens your hamstrings and hip flexors.

Half Lord of the Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

• Sit down on the yoga mat cross-legged.
• Use your hands or the elbow crux elbow to hold the knee into the chest.
• Stay in this yoga asana for ten breaths and repeat on the other side.

It’s a restorative twist, so keep it gentle. This yoga pose for knees needs 50-70% of your capacity. Ardha Matsyendrasana helps reduce the symptoms of sciatica. Practicing this knee yoga pose also aids in eliminating pain from your lower back and mid-thighs.

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Warrior I and Warrior II (Virabhadrasana 1 and 2)

• Get into the Virbhadra stance as shown in the image.
• Bend your knee to a 90-degree angle keeping weight centered in heels.
• Your inner heels and big toe are to be kept grounded. 
• During this stance, maintain a lift in the inner arch of your foot.
• Drop the outer hip down as you lift the inner arch, knee, and thigh up. 
• Try to keep the body in alignment during this.
• Stay in each yoga stance for at least ten breaths.
• Repeat the pose on the other side.

The Warrior poses can help you with supported strength and alignment if you are suffering from knee pain. When done right, these postures will strengthen our inner quad muscles too. Virabhadra I and II practice can give your knees the strength to tackle the possibility of pain due to an injury, age or diseases.

This pose is a great way to both strengthen and soothe knee pain.

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana) 

• Place a yoga block between your upper thighs.
• Pay attention to the block, squeeze it here, and awaken your inner thighs.
• Begin to lift into Bridge Pose keeping lumbar spine remained curved.
• Energize your core center, continue to squeeze the block for 10 breaths.
• Repeat several times

Now, it’s time to bring your attention to the inner thighs and hamstrings. These are your power centers to help alleviate knee pain. When you consistently strengthen these areas, your knees, pelvis, and muscles are brought back into balance and knee pain starts to disappear. 

Mountain Pose and Chair Pose (Tadasana + Utkatasana)

• For both the poses, bring your feet hip-width distance apart, and place the yoga block between inner thighs. 
• If you don’t have a block, do the same action and activate your thighs as if you’re squeezing a block between them.
• Fire up your legs, activate your inner thighs, quads, and hamstrings to pursue this knee pain asana.
• Hold Tadasana for five breaths and then transit into Utkatasana for five more.
• Repeat 3-5 times and keep squeezing the block throughout the transition.

When in Mountain Pose stance, focus your attention on alignment and activation, involving your legs in. As your legs remain active during this yoga pose for knee pain, the overall agility of your hamstring muscles also improve.

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When done under proper guidance with the right technique, above asanas for knee pain can help you get relief in chronic joint problems. If you are also suffering from knee pain, performing the above asanas can help you avoid further problems that arise due to weakened knee joints.

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