A controversial article just came through my email messages! Apparently, an Indian orthopedic physician claims that doing yoga may be harmful for the knees! Wow - that seems strange to me because I have found the opposite to be true. A month ago I was in IKEA buying a bureau for my son. Pipsqueak that I am, I tried to lift the heavy boxes containing the bureau's parts. Being short has its definite disadvantages including not being able to get leverage on boxes from certain heights. I tried to lift one box and put it into the shopping cart. No success and the box slid and I think it must have hit my left knee and thigh - although I don't recall that. (I soon found someone to help me with the boxes).
A few days later, I noticed that my left knee had a slight pain and while taking a shower, I discovered a huge, yellow-green bruise on my thigh. It must have been from the box hitting my leg at IKEA! Long story short, for several weeks my left knee felt out of whack and stiff and I had a slight pain when going down steps. However, whenever I did yoga, it seems to help alleviate the pain - as did my jumping on the mini-trampoline. It took 3 weeks for the pain to go away - and all along, though, I felt that yoga was helping to accelerate the healing. And, just the other day, a colleague at work told me that yoga has helped her overcome some knee problems she had been experiencing.
So, the idea of yoga being "dangerous" for one's knees is difficult for me to swallow. Now the article did say that the Indian physician mentioned "extreme stretching" in yoga can lead to knee problems. Also mentioned was the people in large yoga classes may not get the individual attention they need and be doing certain poses incorrectly leading to knee issues.
All I can conclude is that if you do the kind of gentle yoga poses I practice, take baby steps to learn them, enter and exit poses slowly, and always listen to your body, yoga is going to benefit your knees as much as it helps all the other parts of your body inside and out. As well, if you have any concerns, limit your practice to the simplest and gentlest yoga poses. You don't have to impress anyone (including yourself) by doing the most advanced pretzel poses to gain energy, flexibility, and serenity.
Yours for gentle yet powerful yoga,
Laura Venecia Rodriguez
Awaken the Wisdom Within Communications
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