In the Chair Pose sequence, which cue best protects the knees?

In the Chair Pose sequence, which cue best protects the knees?

• A. Bend your knees, Draw your tailbone back and down, Reach your arms up by your ears.
• B. Rotate your palms in with your pinkies facing each other.
• C. Sink your hips lower into your chair and shift your weight into your heels, stacking your knees over your ankles.
• D. One more inhale here.

Answer: (C)

Protecting the knees in Chair Pose comes from knee tracking and weight distribution. When you bend deeply, the knee is safest when it stays stacked over the ankle and the weight is carried back toward the heels. This alignment keeps the knee joint supported by the legs’ muscles (glutes and hamstrings) and prevents the knee from pushing forward beyond the toes, which can create unnecessary stress. The cue that focuses on sinking the hips and shifting weight into the heels—so the knees stay over the ankles—directly achieves that protection. It also helps you keep the chest lifted and the arches engaged, maintaining overall balance and knee integrity. The other cues don’t address knee protection as directly. A cue about twisting the wrists doesn’t influence knee alignment, and a breath cue doesn’t guide knee tracking or weight distribution.

Protecting the knees in Chair Pose comes from knee tracking and weight distribution. When you bend deeply, the knee is safest when it stays stacked over the ankle and the weight is carried back toward the heels. This alignment keeps the knee joint supported by the legs’ muscles (glutes and hamstrings) and prevents the knee from pushing forward beyond the toes, which can create unnecessary stress.

The cue that focuses on sinking the hips and shifting weight into the heels—so the knees stay over the ankles—directly achieves that protection. It also helps you keep the chest lifted and the arches engaged, maintaining overall balance and knee integrity.

The other cues don’t address knee protection as directly. A cue about twisting the wrists doesn’t influence knee alignment, and a breath cue doesn’t guide knee tracking or weight distribution.