3 great yin poses for knees and ankles

First let me note that these are great yin/passive poses for healthy knees and ankles.  They will help you to open greater range of motion and circulation in these areas, and provide an occasional chiropractic adjustment.  If your knees and ankles are NOT healthy, proceed with great caution and take advantage of the prop suggestions.  If you feel pain, you need to back things waaaaaaaay up and turn these poses into active poses instead of yin poses.  Pain is a sign that these are poses you need muscular support to avoid injury.  Yin poses are meant to provide NO muscular support.  This is one reason that they work so effectively into your joints.

Reclining Hero Pose is a wonderful opener for the ankles, moves deep into the knee joint and, through the backbending aspect, provides and especially effective opener for the lower belly and shoulders.

Reclining Hero Pose sometimes take a little prep with props....

but once you get there, ahhhh :-)

If you need a little more lift, change us your props to accommodate.

Seated Forward Fold

Placing blankets beneath the knees relieves strain on the hamstrings and delicate tissues of the knee joint. In both this and the next pose, you may feel pressure, even popping, in your ankles when you allow them to completely relax.  This release is often needed and can feel great, but remember pain is never needed.

Wide Angle Forward Fold

In a wide angle fold, the blankets under the knees again provide relief from strain in the knees.  Using a bolster to prop your torso helps relieve strain in the inner thighs/medial knee.  Be sure to angle the bolster so you feel just a light stretch to the inner knee area.

Set up your props and ENJOY reclining hero's pose

Reclining Hero's Pose is a wonderful opener for the front of the ankles, the quads and the lower belly. Since its such a great opener, it's also often not terribly comfortable for those that need it most.  Here is an uber-propped version for those of you that need a little help getting there.  You can use these props working with either the yin (passive) version of the pose or the more active version that asks you to squeeze your knees toward one another and point your tail toward your knees.  Either way you choose to do the pose, know that this is not a pose in which you want to approach pain; your knees especially aren't the most stable joints so you want to be gentle with yourself.  If your lower joints are healthy and open, you may choose to eliminate any props you don't find necessary.

There is a little engineering involved in setting up a pose with alot props.  Make sure you have everything you need within arms reach before you start.  And trust me, its all a lot more stable than it looks :-)

In the first photo, you can see most of the props that you may need.

The rolled blanket under the ankles supports your ankles so that they do not have to bend as much under your body weight.

The rolled washcothes behind the knees helps to keep a little more space in the knee joint and reduce pressure there.  When I don't have the rolls, I will often just pull my pantleg up behind my knee for a similar effect.

The block is placed between the feet to support your bottom.  The taller the block, the less pressure on your knees and ankles as you sit back.  This block is the trickiest placement in our set up.  Remember that it may move as you shift your bodyweight, so it can be helpful to place it at an angle in anticipation.

Lastly, stack your bolsters behind you where they will be supporting your back.  Check out the last photo to see and alternate bolster and block placement that will give you a little more height for your back; thus lessing the stress on your quads.

Once you are set up, lean back.  Your weight will help keep everything in place.  Grab a blanket as a pillow if you like and enjoy the opening!