Yoga as Therapeutic Exercise: A Practical Guide for Manual Therapists

9. Basic exercises for the knees9. Basic exercises for the knees 9. Basic exercises for the knees9. Basic exercises for the knees

Variation: transferring the action into

standing

Stand with your feet close together. Combine tilting

your pelvis backwards with stretching your knees,

3–5 times. Slightly ease away from the full stretching

of the knees when you release the backwards tilt of

your pelvis in between. You can control the move-

ment with your hands on your hips.

Exercise 9.7: Deep knee bend

Aims: balance of stability and mobility of the knees.

1. Stand facing a wall or a column with both feet
   parallel and one foot width apart; the toes are
   almost touching the wall or the column.
   2. Slightly bend your right knee, and move the left
   foot two foot lengths backwards (Figure 6.186).
   3. Keeping your trunk upright, slowly bend your
   knees, with the rear heel lifting off the floor;
   your right knee stays precisely in the plane
   of the right foot. The right kneecap and the
   right toes are facing exactly forwards. The
   left knee is moving close to the right inner
   ankle. The wall or column helps to control
   the angle of the right knee (Figure 6.187).
   4. Maintaining the precise alignment straighten
   both knees.
   5. Perform points 3 and 4 5–10 times, each
   movement for the length of one breath.

Figure 6.186 Figure 6.187