Knee-safe hip openers

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi all,

First time poster.

I have a question about opening the hips without damaging the knees. I used to do meditation in half lotus a few years ago. I needed a bunch of cushions to prop me up but I managed to hold the position all right. I did this for about two years, stopping about two years ago.

Keeping at this practice with my tight hips left me with a tingle in my right knee which I still feel today. I used to sit with my right leg in front of my left and it’s this knee, my right, which feels the most uncomfortable. I wouldn’t call it pain, but a tingle almost on the verge of pain. It’s not always there but comes whenever I’ve folded my legs for whatever reason. It’s right on my knee-cap. I’m not to clued up with anatomy so I’m not sure what this means but I’m pretty convinced it was caused by my attempts at half lotus.

I’d like to start meditating again but I don’t want to damage my knees. I’m trying to figure out how to sit in any lotus variation without having to worry about my knees. I’ve heard that opening the hips more seems to be the best route to take the twist off of my knees but almost every hip-opening yoga position I’ve tried exacerbates the tingle-pain. I’ve searched and searched for positions that might be safe for knees while still allowing me to open my hips. I read that the ‘Thread the Needle’ or ‘Eye of the Needle’ pose was an effective and knee-safe hip-opener but still gave me discomfort in my knee when I tried it.

Is there any hope? Could you recommend any poses to try that would allow me to open my hips without putting any strain on my knees? And is there anything I can do to undo the knee damage I think I’ve caused during the years of trying to reach half lotus? Might there be any other reason my knee feels uncomfortable when stretching?

Thanks a lot for your time,
Adam

#2

Hello Adam and welcome.

  1. Padmasana (lotus) is not required for meditation. Sit comfortably, whether that is Sukhasana, Vajrasana, Siddhasana, or Virasana is up to your body.

  2. Therapeutic issues like knee pain require contact hours with a teacher for both assessment and protocols to remedy. It simply isn’t possible to (accurately) determine what’s going on with out some seeing and poking around.

  3. Generally speaking, there should be no sharp pain in a joint in asana. Other types of pain may be of less concern (to me). Two years of tingle in the knee is far too long to be casually dismissed.

  4. Some things are painful where they live and other things are painful elsewhere. For example issues in the Sartorius can manifest as pain in the knee rather than in the muscle (belly) itself.

  5. if you are unwilling to let go of the attachment to padmasana note that it is external rotation of the thigh bone (femur) and this can be (gradually) worked on in Baddha Konasana using a folded blanket or pad under the sitting bones to tip the pelvis forward. If there is knee pain please place a block, pads, or folded blanket under the outer knee until there is no (zero) pain in the knee in the pose. Please ask your current teacher to give you the three primary actions in the pose so that the work will be effective.

  6. To “undo” the knee damage one would have to know what has been damaged (see point #2).

Gordon