One of the most misunderstood principles in Bikram Yoga is "Locking the Knee". It's also an apt metaphor for living the life of a yogi, with determination and balance. It sounds so simple, but to continuously contract the thigh muscles, lock your standing knee and balance evenly on a solid, unwavering leg for even 10 seconds is nearly impossible for most beginning students. But unless you can do this, you can't really do Bikram Yoga. Here's why: If the thigh muscles remain slack, you will create unnecessary compression in the knee joint, eventually causing damage. When you engage the quadriceps femoris muscles, the tendons and ligaments of the knee become active and pull bone away from bone, strengthening and rehabilitating the joint. This is a strong example of why concentration is so important to practicing Hatha Yoga and successfully healing the body.

 

What's more, if you cannot lock the knee, you won't ever find Self-Realization. Struggle instills discipline, so we can begin to control our minds. Suffering breeds compassion. It sounds simplistic, but until you've actually stood on your own leg with your knee safely and powerfully locked like a solid piece of concrete, truly believing that you don't even have a knee, you won't be able to find inner peace, love and happiness. That is why I have to scream at my students to push them toward this goal. I tell my students, "When you die, I will jump up and down on your grave, shouting, 'Lock the damn knee!' "