Both your front knee and back knee are at risk in this pose.
As Bob lowered his hips down to deepen the lunge portion of the Extended Side Angle pose and get a good stretch in his hips he noticed some discomfort in his knees.
His yoga teacher told him that his hips are the cause of the pain in his knees and that he needed to protect his knees while he works on stretching and opening his hips.
What is the problem with the knees
The principle victim in this pose is your front knee. The knee of your lunging leg which is in front of you.
There are many problems with your front knee including:
- your knee is moved to the inside
- your knee is too far forward
- your front foot is turned to the side
While your front knee has a lot of problems and it is more visible because it is in front of you, your back knee, the one that is behind you, also has some problems.
Your back knee has these challenges when you enter Extended Side Angle:
- your back foot is pointing out to the side
- your back knee is sagging down
- you are hyper extending your knee
- your foot is not flat to the floor
There are a lot of problems with both of your knees when you do not get the proper alignment.
Why is this a problem
The knee is an unstable joint especially when you attempt to make it move from side to side rather than backward and forward the way it is meant to.
When you cause the knee joint to move side to side or twist it you are putting unequal stresses on either side of the knee. This unequal stress will cause the ligaments and tendons to get overstretched and injured.
The other danger with your knee is hyper extending it. Hyper extension will put pressure on the joint itself. This is only a problem with your back knee, since your front knee is bent at almost a right angle there is no danger of hyper extending it.
There are many times when your knees are at risk in this and other poses.
How to avoid injuring your knee
There are many things you can do to protect your knees from injury. Let’s start with the foundation of Extended Side Angle, your foot
Your Front Foot
Check your front foot compared to your front leg. If the foot is turned to the side then you are creating a twist in the knee joint. When the front foot is pointing straight ahead in the direction that the knee is bending the stresses on the knee will be balanced and the knee joint will be protected.
Once you have the proper foundation established for your front foot, it is time to move on to your back foot.
Your Back Foot
There are two problem areas with your back foot.
- It is not flat to the floor
- It is pointing the wrong way
If your back foot is on its side, the little toe side of your foot is in the air, and you are putting stress on your back knee joint. This action will force your back knee down towards the ground over stretching the outside ligaments and tendons.
You can correct this imbalanced stretching in the knee by moving your back ankle backwards and on top of your foot. This will cause the big toe side of your foot to come flat to the floor.
The second problem with your back foot is the direction it is pointing. If your back foot is parallel to the end of the mat then there is a twisting action happening in your back knee and we need to stop that before you hurt your knee.
To remove this twisting from your back knee, turn your foot slightly towards the front of the mat and your front foot. You have your foot in the correct position when your toes are pointing in the same direction as your knee cap.
Now that you have your feet pointing in the right direction and flat to the floor you need to check their alignment. In Extended Side Angle pose the heel of the front foot is in line with the heel of the back foot. This alignment will help to make sure that the stretching of the knee is balanced.
Now that you have the foundation of the pose established it is time to move on to the knees themselves.
Your Front knee
Bob is having a problem with his front knee as he enters into the Extend Side Angle pose. As he lowers his hips his front knee moves to the inside.
If your knee is bent to the inside the stress on the ligaments and tendons will be unbalanced. Move your knee outwards and bring it above your ankle to restore this balance.
If you knee has gone beyond your ankle and is heading towards your toes then your knee joint is at risk. Move your knee backwards so that it is above your ankle.
These two movements will protect front front knee from injury.
Now that the front knee is taken care of bring your awareness to your back knee.
Your Back Knee
Once you get your back foot in proper alignment you have eliminated most of the problems with your back knee. But there is still a problem left.
Your back knee could be sagging down towards the floor causing unequal stretching in the ligaments and tendons. You can avoid this problem by using your back quadriceps. Lift your kneecap up towards your hips by engaging your back quadriceps. This will strengthen the muscles around your knee joint and remove any sag there may have been in the back knee.
Occasionally the back knee will be bent further back than normal causing it to hyper extend. This movement will put pressure on the knee joint itself. You correct this by first bringing awareness to your back knee and flexing it slightly and then you engage your quadriceps to keep the knee in place.
But my front knee goes beyond my ankle when I lower my hips towards the floor
When this happens it means that your feet are too close to each other. Move your feet further apart by moving your back foot away from your front foot. Try lowering your hips again. Continue increasing the space between your feet until your front knee stays over your ankle.
At the same time you need to make sure you do not introduce the problem of your back foot lifting off of the mat.
When I lower my hips, the side of my back foot lifts off of the mat
You can prevent this from happening by doing two things.
First, press into your back heel as you lower your hips. Keeping weight in your back heel will help to keep your back foot flat to the floor.
Second, stop lowering your hips once the side of your foot starts to lift off of the floor. Lowering your hips any further will cause injury to your back knee.
Summary
Bob will get the most enjoyment out of his yoga practice if he avoids injuring his knees in Extended Side Angle pose.
Protecting his knees by getting his feet in right place is the first step to avoiding injury in this pose. The second step is to make sure that he has his knees in the right place in relation to his feet.
Next Step
Now that you are aware of what needs to be done to protect your knees in this pose, ask your yoga teacher to check out your alignment. They will make sure that you are doing the pose correctly and you are in fact protecting your knees from injury.
Additional Reading
You can find out about protecting your neck and shoulders by reading How to get the right angle in Extended Side Angle
There is a similar risk to your knees in Virabhadrasana. You can find out more in this article How to protect your knees in Warrior I to learn more.
