Many students don’t know how to use the quadriceps femoris in front of their upper thighs when they are straight, especially when they are in Trikonasana triangle
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At this time, they can do such a simple exercise: sit on the floor, stretch their legs in front, put their fingers on the kneecap, feel the kneecap, and then slide a little bit in the direction of their fingers and feet, to the edge of the lower knee, toward the patella The location of the car
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Unfortunately, in the process of yoga practice, it is very common to “abuse” your knees due to improper actions in yoga classrooms
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In fact, the quadriceps femoris and some tendons in the front and side of the knee are connected as a whole, and the quadriceps should have strength In order to ensure the stability of the femur and patella, especially the innermost one of the quadriceps is very important for the stability of the knee when the leg is straight and the leg is zoned
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Let the shins of the legs point straight to the back, parallel to each other; the little toe is as far away from the floor as the big toe
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Quadriceps femoris is very important to support the knee, including the kneecap
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At this time, not only the “two sticks” of your leg are very tight, but also because the knee joint is flexing at this time, there is more space between the bones on the inside of the knee This will increase the pressure on the inside of the knee, and at the same time, the bones on the outside of the knee will compress each other, and the soft tissue on the surface of the bone will be damaged, which will lay a long-term hidden danger for arthritis
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Therefore, in triangle Trikonasana, the practitioner needs to rotate the hip and thigh to ensure the alignment of femur, leg and foot
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This kind of knee injury caused by improper alignment not only occurs in the process of yoga practice, but also in daily life, such as walking up and down stairs Move
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The joint of the two sticks is not hinged with each other, but tied together by a pile of belts and ropes (tendons and ligaments)
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When your finger is under the kneecap, under the finger is the tendon attached by the quadriceps, which covers the thigh bone, the knee calvaria and the calf bone
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At this time, pay attention to the right knee may be habitually buckle, such a habit will cause knee pain in the long run
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Click “the road of Ashtanga Yoga” above to subscribe! If you’ve experienced knee pain during yoga practice, or have had chronic knee pain, such as arthritis, you’ll know how frustrating knee problems can be and how limited it is to people’s physical ability
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For example, if you sit in Virasana, if your toes are eight open and point to the outside, instead of pointing to the back, you are abusing your knees (B in the figure below) – your feet and legs rotate outward, while your thighs rotate inward
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In this process, we can also use some targeted small exercises to cultivate the habit of the body: one strategy is that we can use some simple small exercises to adjust the body before we walk on the yoga mat to complete the complex yoga posture, when we are mature After learning the feeling of knee alignment, we can bring this habit into our daily practice and experience it in more complex movements
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You can try to rotate the kneecap, which should not rotate
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But you can try to relax the quadriceps, and you will find that the kneecap can rotate a little
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The knee is very delicate and sensitive; this is because it is a shallow and unstable joint; imagine: you have two sticks, one on top of the other; this is your thighbone (femur) and calf bone (tibia)
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So in the flexion of the warrior virabhadrasna, as in the straight leg trikonasasa, it is necessary to rotate the hip and thigh to make the knee in order
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Although it is true that hero sitting requires a little internal rotation of the thigh and a little rotation of the knee when the knee is completely closed; and boys and girls will also have differences because of different pelvic structures, if the feet open too much, it will still bring knee injury in the long run
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The knee joint is called “hinge joint”, which is similar to the hinge connecting the door frame and the door
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It can help you train your body muscles to hold your legs in a proper position, so as to avoid repetitive knee injury caused by bad habits
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In the triangle Trikonasana, the direction of the kneecap of the front leg should be in the middle of the foot
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At this time, Virasana can help with his hand
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If the knee joint is bent laterally, the pressure is not generally large
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When you use your quadriceps properly, your kneecap should be stable, which means that your knee is stable
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In the first exercise, we lean against the wall so that the back heel is about one foot away from the wall; then we squat slowly along the wall; during the whole process of knee flexion, make sure that the kneecap is just above the center line of the foot
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That’s why in the warrior Virabhadrasana, Especially in soldier 2, the teacher will often remind you that the knee should point straight ahead, because many people habitually “abuse” the knee in practice, that is, the kneecap bone points to the big toe and the inside of the big toe
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If the sitting bone can’t touch the ground or has any discomfort, it’s better to pad a brick, folded blanket or book under the buttocks.
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In the second exercise, put your left arm on the back of a chair and put a yoga brick under your right foot
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Triangle chestnuts are what we cook when our legs are straight, and when our knees are bent, our knees will bear pressure due to improper alignment
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Any twisting or bending in an inappropriate direction will bring great pressure on the soft tissue of these bones
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But as a habit of day after day, repeated month after month, or even repeated year after year, the accumulated small “disorder” habit will bring pain and long-term joint problems on a certain day
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At this time, you can try to tighten the quadriceps at the front of the thigh
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Then sit back in the middle of your heels
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On the other hand, another version of this story is to consciously take care of the alignment of bones and joints with clear awareness in the process of Yoga postural practice
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The simplest indicator of improper alignment is to look at the relative position of the foot and kneecap (patella) – the foot points to the direction of rotation of the lower leg and tibia, while the kneecap points to the direction of rotation of the thigh
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It can only open and close in one direction (of course, it is not absolute)
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We need a mirror to do these two exercises in front of the mirror
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Long term adherence to these simple ordinal adjustment exercises, and then maintain this habit in formal exercises, can help practitioners strengthen the quadriceps femoris in the long-term practice process
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If the direction of the kneecap is the same as that of the big toe, or even on the inside of the big toe, you will know that the “two sticks” of your leg are a little twisted
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Long time repetitive yoga practice can become a wonderful healing tool, which can bring practitioners a strong and healthy knee joint
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A lot of daily “knee abuse” is not a big deal in a single exercise on that day, and it will not bring any discomfort immediately
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Now I’ll introduce two such simple exercises
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When you step back with your left foot, make sure your right knee is always above the middle of your right foot
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As yoga practitioners, we can develop distinct awareness, and try to make knees in the process of practice
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This exercise is very simple but very effective
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Many students may experience the pressure on their knees caused by sitting in a three-dimensional position
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With this feeling, go back to the triangle, put your right leg in front of you, put your right finger on the kneecap, and try to see if it can rotate
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