In this video I will show you how to do yoga with knee injury. I want to give you a yoga
sequence for bad knees because I'm absolutely passionate about keeping knees healthy,
secure and stable. My name is Chi and you're welcome to The Body Conditioner. Here we work in,
not out. If you like that please click the thumbs up and subscribe to the channel because I want to
make more videos for you. So roll onto your back perhaps you have a mat or a carpet we need some
props: We need a golf ball, if you have one or a tennis ball. Make sure you have one or two pillows
and then you lie on your back with your knees bent, your feet flat on the ground and
settle in. It takes a while to get all the fidgeting out of the way to find your comfortable
shape right now and that changes. Notice the back of your head supported on a pillow or a blanket
not just the shoulder blades on the ground, your palms are facing up. Notice the lower
back, the pelvis, the back of the pelvis resting on the ground
and notice your feet in contact with the ground, the big toes,
the little toes and the heels all eight corners of the feet on the ground. And
then you take a tennis ball, let's start with a tennis ball if you have a choice
and move the tennis ball under the buttocks, the left side of the buttocks and
move your left leg closer to the ground. Your right leg is still in the bent position you had it
before with your right foot flat on the ground and begin to lean in, I'm sure you already feel what's
going on if not perhaps you need to move around with the ball a little bit and find the right
position. What I do is I change to the golf ball because on this side I need a little bit more. So
rest your leg here and find the sensitive spot. It is really a sweet pain that you will feel, a sweet
sensation, a sweet stretchy kind of deep tissue massage and that is where you want to remain.
So lean in and spend some time here, release the breath into this area because we really want to
supply it with oxygen. We want to release the tension from the deep buttocks muscles,
we want to release any tightness any pain we want to release any stress from this area of the body.
Release the breath inhalation and exhalation
and then you can slowly undo
and just feel the difference, feel the difference on the left side
and compare it with the right side.
And let's get to the other side I will start right away with a golf ball but
perhaps you want to begin with a tennis ball every side is absolutely different and has
different needs so move your right thigh closer to the ground and lean and spend some time here
and I noticed that on this side the golf ball is a bit too much so that means I switch, I use the
tennis ball now which is much softer and then you lean in and spend some time here as well.
Allow the shoulders to soften the palms are facing up let your forehead soften and spread and let the
corners of your eyes soften and spread, let the corners of the nostrils soften and spread and
let the corners of the lips soften and spread. Soften the jaw relax the tongue inside your mouth
and become aware of the breath, we breathe in and out through the nose
as you inhale perhaps you notice the bulging of the belly or the expansion of your ribcage
and then as you exhale you notice a softening of the belly a softening of the body
you can fully release the breath into the deep buttocks muscles and then slowly get to an end.
Very carefully dismantle the pose,
move the tennis ball or the golf ball or both to the side, keep your knees bent with your feet flat
on the ground for a few moments just to notice the sensation and then you can stretch out both legs.
Notice what that feels like, what a nice
sensation you really want to make sure that you use the full body in contact with the ground and
that you really feel that the back and the buttocks are in the right place.
Let go, sense,
and then with the next exhalation you can bend the knees again and now we need
a block so if you do not have a block, a yoga block then you can use perhaps a hard cover book
and squeeze that in between your thighs. So what I show you here
is I will move my heels now as close to the buttocks as I can to show you what
range of motion there is. But we want to keep the knees and this is super important we want to keep
the knees within the pain-free range and now you can see I have moved my feet further out again
perhaps in your case that is even further out and just squeeze the block towards the midline and
lift one leg after the other as you inhale so inhalation lifting the right foot up,
exhalation take it back down. Inhalation lifting the left foot off the ground and we alternate,
do this a few times inhaling and exhaling, lubricating the knee
and at the same time your hip adductors, your inner thigh muscles are activated, engaged
and you keep softening the jaw. No tension in your facial muscles and at this point you can turn
the palms up and we get to the pelvic tilt. Here I arch my back as I inhale and as I exhale exhale,
I curl the belly in and you notice there is a flat back and this is what we do a few times
alternate. And as you inhale you arch the lower back and as you exhale
you curl the body in, your belly in. At the same time your feet remain flat
on the ground and the only part that moves right now is the pelvis, it is a pelvic tilt,
your legs have something to do the inner thigh muscles are squeezing the block, the brick towards
the midline and your pelvis moves. Meanwhile your shoulders are nicely supported and the
neck is just the continuation of the spinal column that means you simply rest the back of your head
on the pillow or on the blanket. Inhalation arching the back, exhalation curling the belly in
and then you keep a flat back and you lift your feet off the ground we want to keep
the legs in a rectangular shape, 90/90, so thigh bone to the shin bone 90 degrees rectangular and
then thigh bone to the chest 90 degrees turn the palms up or interlock the fingers behind your head
that only works if your shoulders feel comfortable. If they do not feel comfortable then
just move them back out your right arm and your left arm to both sides of the body and just hold,
holding doesn't mean that you suffocate and stop breathing you want to continue
to breathe that is very important you breathe in and out through the nose and you just hold.
Notice the sensation and then we start to tilt again inhalation you arch the lower back,
exhalation you curl the belly in, inhalation arching the lower back and exhalation
curling the belly in. Meanwhile the legs stay stable and there is no movement
now you keep the back flat again and we extend the knees inhalation now lifting the right leg up
exhalation you lower the leg but you want to get back to the rectangular shape right
inhalation and exhalation alternating keeping a flat back. Notice how engaged your abs are
and if you feel you no longer want to keep your hands supporting your head then you can
move them back out so notice what works for you here the emphasis is on keeping the flat back,
activating your lower abdomen and at this point releasing the breath through one leg at a time
absolutely stable with the next exhalation please undo the shape dismantle the poles
and at this point drop your feet on the ground and slide the block to the side notice
the sensation and then as you exhale you can get into a so-called butterfly shape
the right knee pointing to the right and the left knee pointing to the left. Your palms are facing
up and here again make sure that your knees stay in a pain-free position, in a pain-free range,
you want to keep the knees in a comfort zone this is important and if you feel your ankles
feel a bit tight or perhaps you've strained your ankles a lot, you've sprained them a lot
then you can wrap a towel or a blanket around the ankles and help them stay comfortable
and then you move your heels as close to the buttocks as you want, as you comfortably can.
No tightness in the knees, no pain in the knees. So if this for example is too close for you
then you want to move the heels further out and turn the palms up lengthen the back of the neck
tuck the chin under and breathe inhalation taking the breath deep into the belly.
Exhalation releasing the breath into the thighs into the inner thighs releasing the
breath letting go supplying them with oxygen and then you can slowly and carefully undo the shape,
dismantle the pose and move the blanket to the side, we will need it again though.
And then with the next exhalation we do some hip rotation so as you exhale we will start with the
left leg and you just rotate the hip keep the right knee bent for now and feel what that feels
like and then you can stretch out the right leg and notice if that is comfortable for you too.
Choose one variation that works best for you and keep rotating your hip
and then you change the direction but most importantly your head is supported resting
on the ground you tuck the chin under and you guide the breath deep into the hip.
A few more,
and then stretch out the leg
hmm and land here.
Let's get to the right leg and rotate the right hip supply your right hip with oxygen
your palms are still facing up you want to avoid putting pressure into the hands and to the palms
and perhaps your left leg is activated
and engaged. Keep supplying this right leg with oxygen and then change the direction.
Really notice what that feels like here in the hip sometimes you hear a pop sound
at least I do hear it right now guiding the breath and releasing some tension from the hips.
And then as you exhale you can stretch that leg out too and land here again,
the floor gravity is holding you right now
supporting you and notice the sensation that you get here in the legs and the hips.
With the next exhalation slowly and carefully move the thighs closer to the chest and then
you grab your big toes with your index and middle fingers so right index and middle finger
for the right big toe and left index and middle finger for the left big toe
and you separate the thighs. This is called the happy baby pose and you can
hold on to the toes. If that doesn't work you can hold on to your shin bones and you can wiggle the
pelvis from right to left from left to right and just notice your hips, the legs the shoulders
but most importantly, most importantly keeping your chin close to the chest and breathing
regularly with the next exhalation you can slowly and carefully undo.
Keep the knees bent for a few moments and perhaps this is where you want to stay
but if you can get the blanket again or two pillows then you can wrap that up
perhaps you even have a bolster that that would be ideal and then you move this bolster, the blanket,
all the pillows under the knees we want to support the knees this is uh really a nice comfortable
position for the legs especially when the hamstrings are a bit tight. It helps us to relax
the body better and find a comfortable position for your knees you really want to let go you do
not want to hold on to anything because in this final resting pose we can simply let go. The floor
supports you right now, the toes are pointing out, the palms are facing up and you notice the breath.
Get the full benefit of this practice, enjoy! Make sure you come on over to thebodyconditioner.com
because I want to send you more emails on your knees, I want to make sure that you
are alive in your body so that you can be present for the things that you want to do.
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