Phase 1 · Mobility and Load Tolerance

Part of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Knee Mobility, Strength and Function

Ten Minutes for a Stiff Knee

The short practice for the days between

Ten minutes, all of it on the floor, no decision to make once you have started. This is the practice for the day after a long walk, for the morning when the knee needs convincing, and for any day the longer session is not going to happen. A joint responds to being moved often. Frequency does more here than length does.

10 min · Level 1

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When it helps

Morning stiffness, a day of sitting, or the day after you asked more of the knee than usual. Ten minutes. A strap for the reclining leg work and a cushion for the seated pose.

Physical effect

Flexion, extension, the hamstrings and one strengthening pose. Four things in ten minutes, none of them loaded.

Function

Keeps the gap between two longer sessions short enough that the joint does not go back to its old range.

Mental effect

The practice you do on the days you did not feel like it is the one that decides whether any of this lasts.

Ten minutes

One pass through what a stiff knee needs, and then two minutes of nothing.

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

One knee at a time towards the chest, hands behind the thigh.

The cheapest possible flexion, and a good read on what today is like.

Learn more about Apanasana

Ananda Balasana

1 min

Happy Baby Pose

Knees wide, hands to the shins or the backs of the thighs, head down.

Happy Baby moves the hip and the knee together while the floor carries everything.

Learn more about Ananda Balasana

Supta Hasta Padangusthasana

1 min 30 sec per side

Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose

Strap around the foot, other foot on the floor, raised leg as straight as is comfortable.

The hamstrings decide how straight your knee gets when you walk. This is the version that costs the joint nothing.

Learn more about Supta Hasta Padangusthasana

Dandasana

1 min

Staff Pose

Sit up on a blanket, legs straight, lift the kneecaps and press the backs of the knees down.

Staff Pose is the quadriceps working with the knee straight. Thirty seconds of this does more than it looks like.

Learn more about Dandasana

Janu Shirsana

1 min per side

Head-to-Knee Forward Bend

One leg straight, the other foot to the inner thigh, cushion under the bent knee.

Head-to-Knee gets the hamstring and the inner thigh at once, which is efficient when you only have ten minutes.

Learn more about Janu Shirsana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

5 lifts, 5 breaths each

Bridge Pose

Feet hip width, lift, hold, lower slowly.

Bridge keeps the strengthening in the routine. Ten minutes of only stretching would be the wrong practice for this problem.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Jathara Parivartanasana

1 min per side

Reclining Belly Twist

Knees to one side, cushion under the top knee.

The twist lets the whole leg go after it has worked.

Learn more about Jathara Parivartanasana

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

Legs long, palms up.

Two minutes is enough for the joint to register that the practice is over.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Mobility and Load Tolerance, the first phase of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Knee Mobility, Strength and Function. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

On the days between your core practices, and afterwards as often as you like. Nothing here is medical advice, and the safety notes in the practice guide apply to this practice as much as to the long one.

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

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