Iyengar yoga for knee health

Our knees are more than just hinges between thigh and shin, they’re essential pillars in our every movement, silent workhorses bearing weight, absorbing impact, and enabling both strength and flexibility. Yet so often, we take them for granted until stiffness, strain, or pain insist we pay attention. Drawing on wisdom from Iyengar Yoga, we begin to see how the journey to healthy knees is one of alignment, mindfulness, and steady care.

Nurturing Your Knees with Iyengar Yoga

One of the key principles in Iyengar Yoga is the importance of lifting the kneecaps and making them centred. This seemingly small action plays a significant role in protecting the knees and preventing overstretching of the hamstrings, promoting stability, balance, and a safe practice.

As Jo Lovell points out in Nurturing Your Knees: A Journey to Healing Through Iyengar Yoga, understanding how our knees move how they align with hips and ankles, how they bear our weight, how much flexibility (or lack thereof) and strength surrounds them is the first step toward healing. 

The Yogic Approach to Knee Care

Mr Iyengar regarded the condition of one’s legs as a symbol of vitality and youthfulness, much more so than the face!

Iyengar Yoga doesn’t just treat symptoms—it addresses alignment, balance, and structural awareness. Working with props, sequences, and modifications allows practitioners to:

• Protect overstressed joints during recovery

• Build strength in supporting muscles

• Restore mobility gradually and safely

• Cultivate awareness of alignment to prevent injury

With patience, consistency, and the wisdom of Iyengar Yoga, we can learn not only to heal knees in difficulty, but to support them for a lifetime of movement