yoga: state of the practice: knees

It’s been three months that I’ve been doing the primary series five or six times a week and wow, I’m impressed with how much has changed in my body in such a short time. It occurred to me that it would be easy to forget where I started—and that it might be cool to document some of the journey. Not a before/after—because what would the after be? When I was dead? The before might look better in that case, ha. But maybe periodically taking a snapshot could be cool. Speaking of snapshots, maybe I need some photos. Then I could look back and laugh at my early efforts, as well as swell with pride at my accomplishments…and other egoic and decidedly non-yogic things to do with my time.

Yeah!

So here we go. (For you non-yoga people, sorry, this will probably be a bit jargony for a minute.)

When I started, I was doing just the Surys, that is, the Sun Salutes, Surya Namaskar A and B. Five of each and it just about killed me. I did that for several weeks.

Then I added the standing postures. Yep, all of them at once. What the heck. I actually did pretty well with these. Sury B is deadly—I found if I could get through that, I was going to be fine all the way through to the Viras, Warrior I and II. No bind in Ardha Baddha, but no big surprise there. So, after a month or so, I started adding poses from the sitting asanas.

I remember the first time I watched Kino’s Primary, just watched, with Sophie (who loved all the handstands), and thought, this woman is insane. I’m insane. I’ll never do any of that. Just last week I worked through the entire disk, pulling out my Swenson variations on many of those bad boys, but hey, I did the whole thing, start to finish. I was pretty pleased with myself on that one. So first change, I can make through to the end without throwing up! Success!

But, aside from that, the big change in three months has been my knees.

My knees couldn’t take any pressure when I started. The Ardha Baddha Padmas—forget it. And don’t even think about any of those half-lotus crazy Mari’s. (Although I have no trouble binding in them. Weird.) And obviously none of the full lotus poses, either. But even the simple Janu A made my knees scream. My knee would ache, and the ache would last for days, and I would think, maybe this ashtanga stuff isn’t for me.

But Swenson has a variation for all of us, and I took full advantage of them. And now I find that my knees DO NOT HURT in Janu Sirsasana. (I’m doing A, three times, forget B, and C might as well be ‘now shove your foot up your ass and smile.’ Wait a minute, thats Janu B, isn’t it? Okay, not your whole foot.) Wow! That whole ‘sealing the knee’ that Gregor talks about was nonsense to me until very recently when I could finally flex my knee joint tightly enough to point my heel vaguely at the same-side groin, and poof, I get it! The knee does feel secure that way. Now I love these poses because I’m finally feeling them where I’m supposed to—in my hip joints. Yeah!

And holy cow, watch me put my foot up on the opposite leg now for a loose (very loose) half lotus. With no knee pain!

Three months!

Yesterday, as we were heading out to take a walk, Sophie asked if I could run back and get her gloves and I did. Running isn’t something I do a lot of—it was completely removed from the ‘viable option’ list for quite a while after that last pregnancy made me feel like my organs were going to fall out if I so much as hopped. But here I was, running, and feeling pretty good about it, too, when I realized, Bang!, my knees were not clicking. They were not feeling unstable and weak. There were happy cushions of cartilage in there, doing their happy cartilage job, and dang if it didn’t feel all right! Going up the stairs, they still felt solid. Wow. And these are knees that have clicked and hurt for years after much too much crazy dancing on cement in my twenties. These are knees that can go out from under me with no warning if I’m not careful. These knees have not aged well, poor babies.

But here they were, like pilgrims returned from a trip to the fountain of youth. I have not been specifically working on strengthening my knees in yoga. I have been specifically working on not hurting them, though. One tiny twinge from either of them and I am out of a pose like a shot, because a twinge in a pose can mean days of pain, as I have learned. But just backing off, finding easier, and even easier, variations, until nothing hurts my knees ever, and they are thriving.

I’m guessing it’s a combination of increased strength and alignment from the standing poses, and increased synovial fluid baths from the compression and release of poses like the half-virasana forward bend, but whatever it is, I’m taking it.

Yoga works.

And for fun, here is a funny, useful little video on blooming your very own lotus from the people at Yoga Garden.