Phase 3 · Functional Capacity

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

Fifteen Minutes to Keep Your Knee Working

The practice that outlives the twelve weeks

This is the most important practice in the program, and it is the shortest. The trial this program is modelled on ran for twelve weeks and worked. Twelve weeks after it finished, the improvement was gone. Not because the participants got worse at yoga, but because the programme ended and nothing took its place. So this one is built to be kept: a balance, a hinge, a squat, a step, and the back of the leg, in fifteen minutes, twice a week, indefinitely.

15 min · Level 2

← Back to the full program

When it helps

A third day during the last four weeks, and then twice a week for as long as you want the knee to stay where you got it. Fifteen minutes, standing, a wall within reach.

Physical effect

One pass through each pattern the program built: balance on one leg, the hinge, the squat, the step, and the posterior chain.

Function

Short enough to survive a normal week. That is not a compromise, it is the design requirement, and it is the one the research says decides everything.

Mental effect

Knowing you have a fifteen minute answer is most of what stops a knee from running your decisions.

Fifteen minutes standing

Everything the twelve weeks built, in the shortest form it still works in.

Tadasana

30 sec

Mountain Pose

Feet hip width, five slow breaths, weight even.

Thirty seconds to notice whether you have started favouring one leg again. It creeps back.

Learn more about Tadasana

Ardha Uttanasana

45 sec

Half Standing Forward Bend

Hands to the shins, back long, knees soft.

The hinge. Folding from the hip is what keeps load off the knee every day.

Learn more about Ardha Uttanasana

Virabhadrasana II

45 sec per side

Warrior II

Front knee over the ankle, only as deep as it tracks well.

Warrior II keeps the alignment habit alive, which is the safety rule of this whole program.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Vrkasana

45 sec per side

Tree Pose

Foot to the ankle or the calf, wall nearby.

Tree Pose keeps the single leg balance. It is the first thing to go and the least noticed.

Learn more about Vrkasana

Utkatasana

2 sets of 8 breaths

Chair Pose

Hips back, only as low as you can stand up from.

Chair is standing up out of a chair. Keep this one and you keep the stairs.

Learn more about Utkatasana

Malasana

1 min

Garland Pose

Heels supported if needed.

The squat holds the bottom of the range. Lose it and the floor gets further away every year.

Learn more about Malasana

Anjaneyasana

45 sec per side

High Lunge

Back heel lifted, front knee over the ankle.

The lunge is the most demanding pose here and it comes last, on purpose.

Learn more about Anjaneyasana

Shalabhasana

2 sets of 6 breaths

Locust Pose

Chest and legs lifting a small amount.

Locust for the back of the leg, in the shortest useful dose.

Learn more about Shalabhasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

2 sets of 8 breaths

Bridge Pose

Lift, hold, lower slowly.

Bridge for the hips, which carry what the knee otherwise would.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

Knees in, hands behind the thighs.

Back to the middle of the range.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

Legs long, palms up.

Two minutes at the end is what separates a practice from a set of exercises.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 3 · Weeks 9 to 12

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Functional Capacity, the third 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

Twice a week, from week thirteen onwards, without an end date. If the knee flares, drop back to the ten minute floor practice for a week and then return here. If you stop for a month, start again with the gentle sequence rather than here.

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

View profile

Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

Open the Asana Lab

Make it yours

Keep this practice in your library, print it for the mat, or build your own sequence from all 108 asanas.

Create a free account

All sequences

← Back to overview