Practice

Folding the knee and rotating the leg causes a pain in the inner knee when sitting. This has been going on for some months now. There was no obvious injury and anyway it happens on both sides. The pain is intensified if there is any forward flexion with the leg in this position.

I have been patient hoping that this would give any injury a chance to heal but there has been no improvement. The problem isn't going away so I must look at the problem and understand it.

In the prone pigeon I find that moving the body weight towards the folded knee changes the relationship between the upper and lower leg taking away the discomfort (while intensifying the stretch in the hip!). Noting the tendency for the weight to go over the straight leg when I fold a leg into janu sirsasana I try the same action. Shifting the weight back to a more even distribution between right and left relieves the pain somewhat but not entirely. I play with pressing the foot of the bent leg into the opposite thigh and find relief.

The problem is not so great in cross-legged sukhasana. The weight is fairly even in this position. Any discomfort is felt in the knee with the most acute angle (the inner leg) and can be eased by pressing the feet away.

Half lotus is the ultimate test! This pose is a big challenge for me especially the left leg. Even here shifting the weight and pressing out through the foot of the bent leg makes a big difference.