Method of Simple Yoga

How you can be seated in a comfortable cross-legged position

  This text describes how you can combine natural positions of your legs, hips and backbone, small muscular effort and rest to be seated in a beginner’s cross-legged position.  This is enough information for you to begin and progress in simple yoga without personal help from an instructor.

  Intend to be the best person that you can be when you’re practicing yoga.  Intend that all of your thoughts and experience will be positive, beneficial, when you remain seated still to benefit from the position of your body.

  Allow your breathing to be free and thorough.  Your breathing will become as free as it can be in your present physical condition and will gradually become more thorough. An elastic waistband or stretch fabric hinders free and thorough breathing and straightening your backbone when you remain seated still.

  Straighten your backbone as well as you can with a small muscular effort.  Straighten your entire spine including the lower levels and all the vertebrae of your neck. Straightening as well as you can is sufficient. You need to straighten your backbone, whether spontaneously without thinking about it, or by thinking about it and then straightening to maintain a reliably beneficial position while you remain seated still. The weight or proportions of your body don't interfere with maintaining a beneficial position.

  To be seated in a beginner’s cross-legged position, support your posterior on a firm cushion or a low stack of folded cloth and cross your legs as well as you can cross them comfortably in your present physical condition.  Place your knees as close together and as close to the rug or mat as you can support them firmly and comfortably. Any fabric pressed in the fold of your knees interferes with healthful circulation. Your hips should be elevated higher than your knees when you can. That helps to energize your position.

  Support the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees firmly on the upper side of your ankles and feet that are supported on the rug or mat beneath them.  When you cannot support the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees on the upper side of your ankles and feet beneath them support the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees on small, firm cushions or small wedges of cotton towels. Supporting the ends of your shins at your knees firmly supports your knees firmly enough to experience the integrating potential of your cross-legged position. If the support beneath your body is not firm it's possible that you won't experience any benefit.

  Stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward far enough to press the ends of your thighs at your knees downward firmly.  This causes the muscles beneath your thighs and hips and at the sides and back of your body to exert more effort than they exert ordinarily to support your position upright and allows the muscles at the front of your body to rest more than they rest ordinarily when you support your position upright.

  To verify that the upright position of your backbone is beneficial, contract the muscles of your abdomen to exhale then relax the muscles of your abdomen so the following inhalation can be effortless.  If you curve forward too far, or if you don’t curve forward far enough the following inhalation won’t be effortless. When you become tired your breathing will become difficult. Then you should rest.

  Curve or lean also toward the side far enough to press the end of your shin as near as possible to your knee downward firmly on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and heel- of your opposite leg beneath it.  Curving or leaning toward the side far enough to press your knee downward firmly makes the asymmetrical positions of your legs in a beginner’s cross-legged position feel like they’re symmetrical. As your cross-legged position becomes more symmetrical you won’t need to curve toward one side.

  A strong tripod inside your body formed by your legs, hips and backbone based on the supports beneath your posterior and the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees supports your backbone on three firm bases.  Each more developed cross-legged position gathers your ankles together slightly nearer to your hips and abdomen and supports slightly more of your weight beneath the ends of your shins progressively nearer to your knees developing a pyramidal structure of the combined positions, muscular effort and rest of your legs, hips and backbone that supports your backbone progressively more thoroughly.

  Align your shoulders, arms, hands and head with the position of your backbone as well as you can.  Expand your ribs upward and outward slightly. Don't lift your chest too high. That could curve your backbone inward. Lift the outer ends of your shoulders up a short distance, move them back and let them fall downward from that place and hold them even one with the other with a small muscular effort. Don't lean on your arms nor lean back. Those postures cause an inward curve in your backbone and cause tensions in your abdomen and chest.

  Extend your elbows outward from your sides.  Hold your arms and hands in similar positions with your palms covering your knees. Or rest your hands one on the other, palms upward, supporting your wrists and hands on your thighs or on the folds of your clothing or on a cushion or folded cloth in front of your abdomen a small distance below the level of your navel, the small finger side of both hands pressed on your abdomen with very small pressure.

  Straighten and curve your neck forward slightly.  Lift your head slightly to relieve any excessive pressure between your head and the vertebrae supporting it. These actions help to pull back any excessive curve forward and remove excessive tensions from your neck. Your eyes can be open, relaxed, looking forward and downward or closed.

  It’s sufficient to place and maintain each part of your position as well as you can.  Add each part of the position without hesitation then maintain that part of your position still. All the parts of the position are mutually supporting. Don't concentrate on a difficulty of your physical position any longer than you need to remedy it.

  A beneficial cross-legged position improves gradually to enable a more developed cross-legged position.  When you practice simple yoga for a least a few minutes nearly every day for several months you will become able to gather your legs and hips into a more developed cross-legged position supporting first one and then both ankles comfortably on the shin or thigh of your opposite leg beneath them.

  When you have placed your body in the best position that you can maintain comfortably maintain the position still.  You experience the benefits of simple yoga when you remain still. Don’t remain still if you feel uncomfortable. When you become tired rest for a while. When you have sufficient energy you can begin again.

 

A friend can help to verify some features of your position of yoga

  You can ask a friend to observe the position of your body while you remain seated still.  The friend needs to be confident that you will maintain the best position that you can. You need to be confident that the friend will evaluate the important features of your physical position and will suggest what parts of your position to improve for your position to be more beneficial as they see it. Another person can perceive only the external appearance of your position. Another person cannot perceive your energy, muscular effort or tiring nor if your breathing is free.

  The friend can observe these features of your position in the order that they’re listed here during the first few minutes of a session of you remaining still:

  1  You should be seated on a firm support. Your hips should be level and elevated higher than your knees when you can. When you’re seated in a beginner’s cross-legged position the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees should be supported on the upper sides of your ankles and feet that are supported on the rug or mat beneath them. Or the ends of your shins at your knees should be supported on small, firm cushions or wedges of towels.

  2  Your backbone should be standing upright and curved or leaned forward far enough to press your knees downward firmly. Someone who’s observing your position cannot know how far you should curve or lean forward but they can tell if it appears that you’re not leaning forward far enough or leaning forward too far.

  3  When you’re supporting the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees on the upper sides of your ankles and feet, curve or lean also toward the side far enough to press your shin downward firmly on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and heel- of your opposite leg beneath it.

  4  The outer ends of your shoulders should be lifted up a little, then moved back, then relaxed and allowed to fall downward and held even one with the other at that level. Your elbows should be equally distant from the sides of your body.

  5  Your neck should be curved forward slightly and your head should be lifted slightly.

  6  Adjust your position as suggested by the friend and maintain the improved position still.

  Don’t be seated still because another person suggested it nor to influence another person.  Don't rely on help from another person to maintain a beneficial position of your body because that will distract your attention from the main concerns of the method and you won't be able to maintain a beneficial position.

  The text that you have read describes the method.  Maintaining the best position that you can develops understanding, strength and flexibility that improve your position. Every practice is relaxing and vital.

Methodofsimpleyoga.com  © August 20, 2025

 

 

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