Knee Press Both Legs

How to do Knee Press Both Legs

1. 1Lie flat on your back with your legs extended and your arms resting alongside your torso.
2. 2Bend both knees on an exhalation and draw your thighs upward toward your belly and chest.
3. 3Clasp your hands around your shins just below the kneecaps, or hold the backs of your thighs.
4. 4Relax your shoulders and draw your shoulder blades flat and broad against the floor.
5. 5Lengthen the back of your neck by lightly tucking your chin toward your sternum.
6. 6Maintain a heavy, rooted tailbone rather than curling your lower pelvis completely off the floor.
7. 7Hold for five to eight slow breaths, optionally adding a gentle side-to-side rocking motion across the sacrum.
8. 8Release your grip smoothly and lower your feet back to the mat on an exhale.

Benefits

• Gently stretches and decompresses the lumbar spine and lower back muscles.
• Releases tension across the gluteal muscles and outer hips.
• Provides gentle intra-abdominal compression that can stimulate sluggish digestion.
• Lengthens the cervical and thoracic spine by encouraging a neutral back position.
• Activates the parasympathetic nervous system through slow, grounded breathing.

Common mistakes and cues

• Lifting the head

  Keep the back of your skull resting flat on the floor to prevent unnecessary strain in your neck.

• Curling the tailbone excessively

  Anchor the base of your pelvis toward the mat so the stretch stays focused across the lumbar spine.

• Hunching the shoulders

  Slide your shoulder blades down and away from your ears instead of tensing your upper body to hold your legs.

• Compressing the knee joints

  Hold the backs of your thighs rather than your shins if you feel pinching or pressure in your knees.

• Holding the breath

  Breathe continuously into your belly rather than bracing your abdomen rigidly against your thighs.

Modifications and props

• Using a strap

  Loop a yoga strap around your shins or hamstrings if reaching your legs causes your neck and shoulders to lift.

• Holding the hamstrings

  Place your hands behind your knees to reduce acute flexion and relieve pressure on sensitive knee joints.

• Widening the knees

  Separate your knees wider than your torso toward your armpits to create space for your belly or relieve hip impingement.

• Head support

  Rest your head on a folded blanket if your cervical spine extends and your chin tilts upward toward the ceiling.

Cautions

• Acute knee injuries

  Avoid pulling firmly on the front of your shins if you have current meniscus or ligament issues in the knees.

• Late pregnancy

  Take the knees wide toward the ribs or switch to side-lying variations to avoid compressing the abdomen.

• Recent abdominal surgery

  Avoid deep hip flexion until fully cleared to protect healing abdominal tissues from excess intra-abdominal pressure.

If you are working with an injury, pregnancy or a medical condition, check with a qualified professional before practising this pose.

Practise this for

Classes that teach this pose

Upcoming Hatha classes where this shape shows up.

Teachers and studios for this practice

Related poses