Hello everyone. I am very new to yoga. I became interested in yoga and meditation to help with my music performance, as I am a classical guitar player. When I am in a half-lotus position, a tendon behind my knee on my right leg seems to “pop” out of place. When I don’t put it back in right, it REALLY hurts. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem in beginning yoga, or if they have any suggestions. Am I going into things too fast? Feedback would be much appreciated.
Lotus and half lotus position are both challenging postures and definitely need to be entered slowly and with care if they are to be done correctly. Often when students go into these poses without proper guidance the stretch happens in the knee and ankle and not in the hip where it should originate from. In order to enter into half lotus correctly without any pain these simple steps should help.
From Danasana bend your knee, bringing your heel towards your buttocks. Now that your knee is fully bent it is in a very safe position. Keeping your knee bent, allow it to open away from the midline to the side, externally opening your pelvis. Now the stretch has moved into your hip where it should stay. Engage your ankle by drawing your toes back towards your calf. Keeping your knee fully bent bring your ankle onto your upper thigh as close into your groin crease as possible. If your knee rises up off the floor and you feel pressure on the outside of the joint support your knee and upper thigh with a block until your hip opens over time and it softens down to the ground.
Keep in mind that even though yoga stretches our bodies we also need strength and support in order to support our joint. Once tendons and ligaments are stretched they do not re-bound back like muscles. Always keep your muscles strong, engaged and moving in towards your bones to help provide this support.
“Very new” to yoga?
Okay. Understood. And why exactly have you selected Ardha Padmasana as a pose to incorporate into your practice? And while we’re at the fact finding…describe the pose you are referring to please so we have some common frame of reference.
Are you sitting upright with one leg straight out in front of you and the other leg bent with that foot resting on the front of the opposite hip? And it’s the tendon of the bent leg that you are having issue with? But just on the right side, not the left?
This sort of asana, for those with little or no opening in their hips ( a compendium of muscles rather than just one), goes right into the knee joints. You may try the pose with a support (block) under the bent knee. If you are still feeling this pose in the knee AT ALL then it’s best to set this pose aside in favor of a safer series of hip openers.
Connective tissue is not to be triffled with.