I had knee surgery for a torn meniscus in 2011.  The meniscus was shredded and jammed into the joint and had to be cut out and fully removed instead of being repaired.  1 week after surgery, our yoga studio had a special event of 108 Sun Salutations. I went.

I asked my body what it COULD do, and I did those movements.

The ones I could not I simply modified by laying on my back and doing something different—that my body COULD do.  

It was incredibly empowering to rediscover that

I wasn’t broken,

I was recovering and doing what worked for my body.  I realized right then, how much tension and fear my body was holding after surgery. I was afraid to move and re-injure my knee or feel more pain.  When I instead slowly moved into each pose, checking on how my knee was responding, I was ASTONISHED at how much movement I had available in the rest of my body and hadn’t been accessing out of fear from the surgery.  

Then I understood how stasis (lack of movement) could really be the basis of all complications.

By continuing to move, I allowed more healing, strength, circulation and joy into my body and felt better.

The endorphins that the movement created flowed into my sweet knee actually AIDING the recovery process!  How cool is that?

Suggestions:

If you are JUST starting out and have been ill or injured, honestly, just 3 minutes of movement is a great start!  Sometimes, it just even getting up and walking from the bed to the next room. That’s okay—just do what you can!