Hi can you recommend any asanas or practices for knees, I have been practicing for a few years and am unable to kneel without the help of at least four blocks. Thank you
Hi,
A little more information would be useful. What exactly is preventing you from kneeling? Unless you have damaged you knee it won’t be the knee preventing you from kneeling. Tight quads, inflexible ankles?
I’m not sure but I started to think it was my quads and was sitting in heroes pose for a few weeks with blocks however after decreasing the number of blocks I started to have pain around my knees so stopped the practice
Many many years ago I belonged to a gym that encouraged me to get into heros pose as an opening stretch. I could do it quite easily, and used to enjoy it. About 4 months later they removed it from their exercise list as many people were tearing a bucket handle tear into their knee cartilege.
Does it feel like you have a ball stuck behind your knees? I destroyed both of my knees [not via yoga] and for many years I was unable to bend my knees. The cartilege use to knot behind my knee joint, the more I knelt the more the torn ligament balled and acted as a leverage pulling my knee joint apart. This was very painful and resulted in my knee jumping in out while walking. I used to step on the train and collapse to the path, it never ceased to amaze me how many people used to step right over me. It might be worth getting an X-ray done or speaking with someone about it.Remember, that the first Yama is non-violence and this includes towards yourself. Make sure that your knee joint is sound before working the pose.
I’m still confused as to the issue in the original post. What problem with the knees? How is it manifesting? Does it hurt constantly or only when doing this thing or that thing? Is there swelling? Is the pain dull or sharp, in the back or front, inside or outside? A robust description is warranted for a therapeutic answer. Conjecture requires no information at all.
Until that information emerges I would be irresponsible to recommend something for a problem yet identified.
I will however mention something about Virasana. And I’d like to correlate it to Padmasana. Both poses are ones students think they can “get into” without any problem. But the issue is not getting “into” the pose but rather getting into it with integrity and safety.
A student who sits in Padmasana without the requisite opening in their hips is very likely to sustain knee injuries (over time). A student who sits in Virasana in such a way that the medial condyles of the femurs are not the same distance from the floor, that student should take height to levelize the condyles in the horizontal plane or they too are likely to sustain knee injuries over time.
It is not the pose. It is the doing of the pose incorrectly with no regard for safety. Students who have pre-existing knee injuries OR sharp pain sitting in Virasana should NOT stay in the pose but should come out and sit in Sukhasana (or another comfortable seated posture).
The Half Spinal Twist Pose (Ardha-matsyendra-asana):
1Sit on the floor with the legs together and extended straight out in front. Keep the back straight, shoulders level and head straight. Place the hands, palms down, flat on top of the thighs then inhale deeply.2Exhale and bend the knees drawing the feet toward the torso.3Place the soles of the feet together, clasp the hands over the feet interlocking the fingers pulling the feet closer and placing the heels against the perineum. The outer edge and small toe of each foot should touch the floor.4Lower the knees to the floor and keep the back straight. Use the elbows to press down on the thighs if necessary to bring the calves and knees to the floor. Hold the posture breathing gently through the nostrils.5Release the posture and sit with the legs extended out and hands on the thighs.
Actually those are instructions for Baddha Konasana not Ardha Matsyendrasana.
This is the third time I am leaving a reply here. Just as in my previous replies, I am going to have to speak highly of ‘YogaDo’ of which I can’t speak more highly of.
It is the most special Yoga I have ever found. I remember one class we were kneeling down on our feet and then inbetween our feet. But the teacher taught us really unusual neck and head stuff before, which he kept telling us have a special relationship with our knees and hamstrings.
At the end of the class an old lady in her early 80’s who suffers arthiritis was able to sit between her feet for the first time she can remember. She was amazed, others in the class had their jaws dropping to the floor in amazement too as we barely did much with the legs and focused mainly on the neck. Since that class she says she does not experience the knee pain when getting out of a chair that she used to suffer from.
I sat in the posture more comfortably than ever.
In the same class some new comers to the class were able to touch their toes for the first time, finding length in their hamstrings (without having done any leg stretches). Also I came out of the class as if I had just been meditating deeply undisturbed while feeling lighter and more free.
I would suggest taking up YogaDo as it seems to have a more all round understanding of mind/body than the more popular forms of Yoga which I have previously practiced for over ten years.
Join the catholic church, all the kneeling really build good stong knees. 
I’ve never heard about YogaDo, and no website.
Where can one find information?
Pandara has a good point. Or even better, join a mosque. You see people of all ages coming together kneeling into a child like posture and sitting up many times over as they carry out prayers. It’s a very ancient movement practiced world over and of great benefit physicaly.
hi Suryadaya. So many people have been asking me about it. The few teachers of it have kept YogaDo small. However after much pestering from myself and many YogaDo clients/students, some who are teachers. They are finally starting to commercialize it. So there should be upcoming newsletters,teacher training courses, and hopefuly books and dvds. It is truly in another league from the popular styles of Yoga. Let me know when you are in england and I can give you details of the classes I go to in North London.
LOVE
Hi all I found this forum by googling for yogado. I go to a class in Camden Town, London, UK and the teacher there Daniel teaches yogado. I’ve tried to find information on line before but this is the first time I’ve found something relevant. The classes I go to are rather overbooked at the moment and a bit crowded at times, that’s the only problem with it IMO. I’m not an expert on yoga, I’ve tried a few different types, mostly hatha yoga, but my main love is martial arts. I train in bagua (yin style) and I find yogado a useful adjunct. In my experience the yogado classes focus on micro-movements (is that the right term?) and paths of inter-connectedness between areas of the body that you might not think are usually connected. There is also a focus on the mechanics of the body and how small movements in one part will cause movement somewhere else. In some ways the teachings are quite similar to the stuff I learn in bagua only usually done in less strenuous ways than in bagua training*. I don’t get so many bruises either. I’m not sure that everyone would like it. I have a friend who does ashtanga yoga and she prefers that, but then she’s very enthusiastic about physical exertion generally. I train in bagua all day on Saturday and by Sunday I want to chill out a bit. It does seem to me that the yogado classes provide interesting and novel ways of accelerating flexibility. It may be that there are other schools of yoga that do this that I don’t know about, as I said, I’m not an expert. I’d be interested to know if there are any other classes than the Sunday afternoon and Tuesday and Thursday evenings as they are all great but often very overbooked and busy, with stressed people waiting outside in the hope that someone will cancel and they can get into the class. Do you know of other classes vibes? * edited to say… of course the bagua training and yogado are completely different. One is predominantly a martial system and the other a health system but I find them complimentary and that the theories underpinning the systems (or what I know of them - I’ve only been training in bagua for less than a year so am very far from being adept or knowledgable) resonates. Also the stuff about pathways / meridians seems very similar to me, as a non-expert.
Wow! Atlast I have met someone else here into YogaDo. I have been going to Daniels classes at Swiss Cottage centre. He now teaches 3 in a row on a monday. If I can escape work I go to all 3 but normally I just have time for 1 or 2 classes.I am also a Yoga teacher. He has transformed my approach so much. I can understand why you have been combining it with martial arts. Loads of people here at swiss have been raving about his Yoga. The pilates he teaches is incredible. He says it’s not exactly pilates but something that will improve your pilates and yourself - and it sure does!!! Unfortuantely there are many unhappy customers at swiss who sometimes can’t get in as he is often fully booked. He needs a massive studio. Hope you keep improving in martial arts and Yoga and am sure you will.
LOVE
vibes can you please either post of PM me details of the 3 in a row classes I used to do 2 in a row (yoga and pilates based) but its a bit of a trek for me to get to swiss cottage for just 2 hours so I haven’t been for a while. If I can pre book the 3 classes in advance I’ll definitely make the effort to get there ta
Swiss Cottage 6.15pm onwards. I hope I can go this monday!