Much as in paschimottanasana, if the focus is too much on getting the head down the resulting action is more spinal (flexion) than pelvic (sacroiliac and hip joints). For this reason, the intention should not be to get the head to the feet but to get the navel to the feet.

The activity of the obturator internus in this pose also activates the muscles of the pelvic floor. This is an opportunity to engage mula bandha, which anchors the base of the pose.

Depending on how close the feet are to the groin, different external rotators will be activated to assist with rotating the legs out and different adductors will be lengthened. Thus, it’s quite valuable to work with different distances from the pelvis. Closer isn’t always better.

Baddha konasana can be challenging for the knees. The supination of the feet (soles toward the ceiling) causes a rotation of the tibia that, combined with flexion, destabilizes the ligamentous support of the knees. If the hips are not very mobile and the legs are pushed into this pose the lower leg torque can travel into the knee joints. One way to protect them is to evert the foot ( press the outer edges into the floor).
This activates the peronels, which, via fascial connections, can stabilize the lateral ligaments of the knees and help to keep them from rotating too much. The result of this will be to direct more of the pose’s action into the hip joints.