Relieving knee pain doesn't have to be a pain.
Beth loves hiking but lately, she’s noticed that one of her knees is bothering her and the only thing she knows about relieving knee pain is over-the-counter medication. The pain doesn’t seem to be anything serious; she just assumes it’s the normal run-of-the-mill aches and pains you get as you age. But as her knee pain starts happening more and more often, she finds herself having to cut her hikes short.
Understandably frustrated, Beth found herself venting to a friend about her shortened hikes. Her friend told her a similar story about how her knees hurt so bad at one point, she had to give up running, her favorite thing...until she found out about a class called Happy Knees. This class was the key to relieving knee pain for her and she knew Beth could also get relief.
Safe Moves Happy Knees
If you think about it, knees make most of our daily activities possible. We use them for so many movements, and often without even realizing we are using them! We squat, we climb stairs and move from sitting to standing. We run, we jump, we exercise.
Knees are commonly the most stressed joints in the body.
- Climbing Stairs
- Sitting Down
- Standing Up
- Gardening
- Getting Out Of The Car
- Exercising
The fix for relieving knee pain is not as straightforward as you might think.
There are 10 muscles that are working hard for your knee to function normally.
These muscles, starting from the hips and going all the way down to the ankles, can help alleviate the knee’s weight-bearing stresses. But not if you aren’t taking the time to nurture them!
As you can imagine, we often don’t think much about our knees until the pain sets in, and by that point our knees are quite unhappy that they’ve gone unnoticed. And boy are they not afraid to tell us just how unhappy they are.
It would be amazing if we learned early on that we need to take care of our knees *before* we start feeling the pain. This is when the focus of relieving knee pain becomes a huge priority for us.
Beth asked her friend to tell her more about the Happy Knees class. She was surprised to find out that the class is only 20 minutes. Surely she could find 20 minutes somewhere in her day to focus on getting her knees back to being pain-free. Beth’s friend also told her that the class is more of a movement exploration than a workout.
Surely she could find 20 minutes somewhere in her day.
The class begins with ankle mobility. Our ankles need this mobility to navigate over uneven surfaces like a wooded path or uneven pavement.
Safe Moves Happy Knees
Then it takes a closer look at the hip joint and small movements are performed mindfully, helping your body discover the connection between the hips, knees and ankles.
After class, your knees should feel like they got the attention they were craving; the hip and ankle are paying attention and doing their part. Like when an overly stressed person seeks help, your knees will get the support they need and will carry less load alone.
It didn't even feel like exercise.
Eager to get relieve her knees and get back on the hiking trail, Beth started taking 20 minutes between breakfast and work to take the Happy Knees class.
She discovered that her friend was right - it didn’t feel like exercise. In fact, it felt really great to focus on these tiny, precise movements that she never would have thought twice about before, knowing that each one would strengthen the muscles to support her knees.
Beth made sure to attend the class every day, which was easy because it was taking place in her living room. (Take a class in pajamas? Yes, please!)
Soon she experienced a noticeable difference in the amount of knee pain she had been experiencing. After a bit more time, she was back to hiking but still makes sure to attend Happy Knees a few times a week. She’s learned that there’s no way she’s going back to neglecting her knees (or her hips. Or ankles!) again.
