When drawing my left leg up to the chair for meditation, I feel a pull in the inner knee. When I am all settled, the discomfort goes away. Is this OK? I suspect the sartorius is balking at the stretch but know you always caution us about inner knee. When I finish and unfold, the discomfort is in the outer knee. Must be the decade!!
The sartorius muscle is contracted fully in sitting positions especially lotus. It is not a stretch! This is especially true the more erect you are and the closer your knees are. The inner knee (between the knee cap and the hamstring, sartorius, and gracilis tendons) is one of two areas I recommend to never have a reaction from yoga postures (the other being the sacrum). A reaction in the outer knee following sitting poses indicates an imbalance between antagonists. In this case the strength of the Sartorius as contrasted with the stretch of the tensor fascia lata is not equal. As a result discomfort in the outer knee. Don?t know which decade it is.
Thank you - this is a nice way to communicate even though I’m embarrassed that, after all this time, I got “stretch” wrong. Shame on me!! I seem to have helped it by placing a pillow under that knee. Actually, it still poses another question. Isn’t one more apt to “feel” a stretch rather than feeling discomfort in strengthening a muscle? I mean, I know a muscle can get shaky after working or being held for a long time, but it doesn’t seem to feel the way my knee feels which is more like a pull. Is it that the work the sartorius is doing is pulling on the tendon too much? Do you have any suggestion on how to improve the situation?
Yes, one is more likely to feel stretch as that is a pitta response. Strength being a kapha is more dull unless the muscle tone has been fully developed “pumped up”. As far as changing it, yes the tendon and muscle belly of sartorius is activated. To limit that one can roll the tendon outward at the medial posterior knee. This can often relieve soreness for a longer period. It is likely to continue to react until resting length is balanced to its antagonist.