Nov 2006

Special Feature

Nia and the Knees

Like most people, you may have been educated to keep your knees over your feet when you exercise in order to protect the knees. While the intention of this suggestion is good, its application is limited, at best. So, what do you need to know about the knees and how can they be protected?

Your knee is largest hinged joint in the body. Like the hinges of a door, hinged joints allow you to move forward and backward. With the knee, this means bending and straightening. What supports the knee is what is underneath it, your foot, ankle and two shinbones. Your foot and ankle act as one system to create a foundation that connects you to the earth. This system moves energy from the foot into the ankle, along the shinbones and into the knee joint. The knee joint is designed to move energy along the thighbone into the hip joint, along the spine, and out through the crown of your head. It sounds like a long energy pathway, and it is. Every step you take is energetically absorbed and moved through the length of your body. Mindfulness in how you place your feet and walk will change the entire energy flow of your body.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the knee joint is the most commonly injured joint of the body even though it is amazingly rugged, agile, and stable.¹ Yet, the design of the body makes it possible for you to walk, run, jump, and dance – softly or more athletically – while protecting bones and joints. When the body is used the way it is designed to be used – The Body’s Way — movement and stability are possible.

When it comes to your knees, they function best when they move in a single plane, front or back. The best technique for protecting your knees is to be consciously aware of placing your feet underneath you when stepping or in a stance. Additionally, keeping the knees spring-loaded (a spongy feeling) and not locked (a rigid feeling) makes it possible to use your knee joints for moving your whole body and moving energy through the body. When your knee joints are free to bend and extend without locking, your leg muscles become conditioned, which in turn provides you with more support, mobility, and stability. Remember — muscles move bones, and strong muscles make for more stability in movement.

To avoid movements that your knees don’t like and movements that will injure your knees, pay attention to sensing the inside and outside of your foot and avoid collapsing your knees inward or outward as you walk. When crossing your ankles or turning, always pick up your feet and place them so that your feet, knees, and hipbones face in the same direction.

To relax your knees after a workout, shake your legs rigorously as if shaking your feet and toes off. Throughout the day, wobble your knees and shake your thighs while standing. Use the healing power of touch. Rub your hands together rapidly then take that healing energy and give it to your knees. Rub your knees vigorously with your hands while repeating, “My knees are strong and healthy and are healing through my love and touch.”

¹Joint Health, Mayo Clinic Women’s Heathsource, July 2006

Article contains excerpts from the book, “The Nia Technique”

Gain awareness of your knees. Take the on-line self assessment, Mobility & Stability and download the Educational Handout, The Knees: Your Mobility and Stability.

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