Detailed description of a beginner’s cross-legged position (2)

 

1  Chapter 1 is a complete description of how to be seated in a beginner’s cross-legged position.  This chapter (2) describes the physical support to be seated on and how to gather your legs, hips and backbone into the best cross-legged position that you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition.

  Being seated in a beneficial cross-legged position is a natural experience.  All of the stages of progress of a beneficial cross-legged position from the beginner’s cross-legged position described in Chapter 1 and here to a developed cross-legged position described in Chapter 4 can be experienced spontaneously without needing to learn a method. Although you might be able to experience a beneficial position spontaneously maintaining the concerns described here can help you to experience a reliably beneficial position.

  While you’re learning how to be seated in a beneficial position you need to devote your attention to maintaining the best position that you can.  Don't combine learning how to be seated in a beneficial position with another concern such as reading or watching a video or conversing with another person, or listening to recorded sound or doing something with your hands. Adding another concern to learning how to be seated in a beneficial position can distract your attention from maintaining the best position that you can.

  To benefit reliably from the position of your body while you remain seated still you need to be seated in a cross-legged position that’s as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition.  Every cross-legged position that's as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition supports and improves your body thoroughly. If the position that you hold still is not the position of your body that's as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition the position might not be beneficial and might become uncomfortable or numb.

  Don’t expect to be able to do something with your body that you read about in this text at the same time that you’re reading the description of how to do it.  You might naturally do some of the actions that you read about while you're reading the text but you need to actually maintain the concerns in the order that they're described in Chapter 1 to reliably experience something with your body that you read about in this text.

  You don’t need to remain seated still for a long time to experience the benefits of an integrated position of your body.  You can practice simple yoga beneficially even when you’re able to continue for as long as only one cycle of inhaling and exhaling your breathing. Even a moment of experiencing an integrated position of your body is beneficial.

 

2  Support your posterior (hips and the ends of your thighs at your hips) in a seated position on a firm cushion or a low stack of folded natural fiber cloth –

  And cross your legs as well as you can cross them comfortably in your present physical condition.  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.  Or you can sit on the rug or mat that supports your ankles and feet if you prefer to be seated on a flat surface.

  Place your knees as close together and as close to the rug or mat beneath them as you can support them firmly and comfortably.  Whether you’re seated on a firm cushion or a stack of folded cloth or seated on the same rug or mat that supports your feet your knees should be as close together and as close to the rug or mat beneath them as you can support them firmly and comfortably.

 

3  Support the ends of both of your shins as near as possible to your knees on the upper sides of your ankles and feet that are supported on the rug or mat beneath them, if you can.

  The end of your shin at your knee that’s supported on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and heel- will be supported firmly and held in place securely.  The upper side of your ankle and foot -between your ankle and heel- is v-shaped and supports your shin firmly and holds your shin in place.

  The end of your shin at your knee that’s supported on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and toes- will be supported equally firmly but held in place less securely.  The upper side of your ankle and foot -between your ankle and toes- is less v-shaped and although it supports your shin equally firmly it holds your shin in place less securely.

  You don’t need to look at your legs to place them in a beneficial cross-legged position although it’s not distracting to look at them briefly.  Don't look at your legs any longer than the few moments that you need to gather them into firm and comfortable positions.

  Don’t look at your appearance in a mirror to maintain a cross-legged position.  If you place or maintain your body in a cross-legged position by observing and adjusting how the outside of your position appears in a mirror that will confuse the motion and rest of energy inside your body. Your breathing won't be free and you won't be able to straighten your backbone as well as you can with a small muscular effort. And the position that you hold still won’t be vital or comfortable.

 

4  You might not be able to support the ends of your shins at your knees on the upper sides of your ankles and feet beneath them.  The joints of your hips are naturally flexible enough for you to sit cross-legged comfortably. They’re stiff now because their natural flexibility has not been exercised because most of the time you need to conform to the conventional position of being seated on a chair with your feet supported on the floor like when you’re standing. Your hips become less flexible as you become older but the flexibility can be restored with good health and careful stretching and strengthening. Practicing simple yoga might be enough remedy.

  It doesn’t matter that you cannot support the ends of your shins at your knees on the upper side of your ankles and feet beneath them.

  If you cannot support the ends of your shins at your knees on the upper sides of your ankles and feet beneath them then you need to support the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees on firm cushions or on wedges of folded natural fiber cloth.  If you don’t support the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees on cushions or wedges of cloth beneath them, but suspend your crossed legs above the level of the rug or mat that you’re sitting on by tightening the muscles or stretching the tendons at the upper sides of your thighs, that will strain the tendons at the upper sides of your thighs and will cause uncomfortable tensions in your abdomen.

  You need to support the ends of your shins as near as possible to your knees firmly during all of the time that you remain seated still to benefit from the position of your body.  Supporting your posterior and the ends of your shins at your knees firmly supports your legs, hips and backbone firmly enough to maintain a beneficial cross-legged position.

  Your legs and hips will move minutely into improved positions and will feel more firm and comfortable while you remain seated still.  In time you will become able to support the ends of your shins at your knees firmly on the upper sides of your ankles and feet beneath them.

  If the support beneath any part of your body is not firm when you remain seated still to benefit from the position of your body it’s possible that you won’t experience any benefit.

 

5  Maintain both of your legs in contact so that the ankle or shin of each leg is pressed with very small pressure on the ankle or shin of your opposite leg during all of the time that you’re seated in a cross-legged position.  Maintaining your legs in contact, one leg touching the other, allows energy to flow between the two sides your body, passing through the point of contact where each leg touches the ankle or shin of the other leg. Maintaining your legs in contact allows you to perceive and adjust the position of each leg to resemble the position of the other leg as much as possible and helps to ensure that the muscles of your legs, hips and backbone remain vital and agile while you remain seated still.

  If you don’t maintain both of your legs joined in contact at your ankles or shins during all of the time that you remain seated still the positions of your legs won’t be reliably beneficial and might become harmful.

 

6  Stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward far enough to press the ends of your thighs at your knees downward.  That causes the muscles beneath your thighs and posterior 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 body upright.

 

  The muscles at the sides and back of your body exert effort or stretch beneficially to support your weight.  That pulls back any excessive inward curve that there might be in your backbone and transfers excessive and confused muscular tensions out from your abdomen and chest to become controllable and beneficial muscular effort at the sides and back of your body. The muscles at the sides and back of your position help to hold your position still and allow your breathing to be more free and thorough than it can be ordinarily.

 

  Curve or lean forward far enough so that when you can contract the muscles of your abdomen inward to exhale the following inhalation can be effortless.  You can verify that the position of your backbone is beneficial by adjusting the angle that you curve or lean forward so that when you contract the muscles of your abdomen to exhale the following inhalation of your breathing to be effortless. This is described in Chapter 1 and described in detail in Chapter 8.

 

  Don’t curve or lean forward so far that the inhalations of your breathing cannot be effortless.  If you curve or lean forward far you’ll exert excessive effort in the muscles that support your position upright, your breathing won’t be free and you won’t be able to stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward nearly effortlessly.

 

7  In addition to curving or leaning forward slightly, curve or lean toward the side far enough to press the end of your shin at 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 is beneficial only 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 beneath them. Don’t curve or lean toward the side when you’re supporting the ends of your shins at your knees on small, firm cushions or on small wedges of cotton towels.

  You need to curve or lean toward the side far enough to press the end of your shin at your knee downward firmly on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and heel- of your opposite leg beneath it, 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 beneath them in a beginner’s cross-legged position.  If you don’t curve or lean toward the side far enough to press the end of your shin at your knee downward firmly on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and heel- of your opposite leg beneath it, your ankle and foot of that leg might rotate in the opposite from the beneficial direction and your knee might twist and sprain.

 

8  Align your shoulders, arms, hands and head with the position of your backbone as well as you can as described in Chapter 1.  Chapter 9 describes in detail how you can place and maintain your shoulders, arms, hands and head in mutually supporting positions.

  The position of each part of your body should be as even or similar as possible to the corresponding part of the other side of your body.  When you maintain beneficial positions of your legs, hips and the lower levels of your body you might possibly experience a beneficial position of the upper levels of your body spontaneously without needing to be concerned with the position of the upper levels of your body. If you don't maintain the physical concerns for beneficial positions of your legs, hips and the lower levels of your body it's possible that the position of any part of the upper levels of your body might not be beneficial.

 

 

9  Rest your forearms, wrists or hands on your knees.  Resting your forearms, wrists or the palms of your hands on your knees are natural and comfortable positions and help to hold your shoulders still. Supporting your forearms, wrists or hands on your knees helps to hold your legs in their positions and to hold your elbows equally distant from the sides of your body when you’re supporting the ends of your shins at your knees on small cushions or wedges of towels and one knee is raised up higher than your other knee.

 

  Or you can support your hands in front of your abdomen.  You can 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 small cushion or folded cloth in front of your abdomen a short distance below the level of your navel, the small finger side of both hands pressed on your abdomen with very small pressure.

 

10  Place and maintain each part of your position in the order that the concerns are described in Chapter 1.  Do every action that’s described as a main concern of simple yoga as well as you can, one action following the other without hesitation. It’s sufficient to place and maintain each part of your position as well as you can.

  You need only one or two minutes to gather all the parts of your body into a beneficial cross-legged position.  You can begin and maintain all the concerns of simple yoga during one or two minutes from the time that you begin to place your body in a position to remain seated still.

  Don’t take longer than one or two minutes to place your legs, hips and backbone in a comfortable position to remain seated still.  If you take much time to place your body in a position to remain seated still that will confuse the motion and rest of energy in your body, your breathing won't be free and you won't be able to straighten your backbone and the position that you hold still won’t be beneficial.

 

11  An experience of simple yoga begins when you have gathered all the parts of your body together to support a beneficial cross-legged position and you’re maintaining the position still.  Continue to maintain each part of your position in place from the time that you placed that part of your position for the duration of that session of remaining seated still.

  If you don’t maintain your position still after you have placed your body in a beneficial position it’s possible that you won’t experience any benefit.

  Don’t hold your position still before you have placed your body in the best position that you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition.  If you hold your body still when you’re not maintaining the concerns that combine to make remaining seated still beneficial you might reinforce craving, aggression or denial to increase your energy or tolerate discomfort and you might not remain alert or still.

  You won’t benefit reliably from the position of your body when you remain seated still when your position is not comfortable.  A beneficial cross-legged position is natural and comfortable. If your cross-legged position is difficult or uncomfortable then some part of the position is mistaken. Maintaining an uncomfortable position still is a common mistake and reason for not continuing to practice yoga.

 

 

12  Maintaining a beneficial cross-legged position and standing your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly combine the positions, muscular effort and rest of your legs, hips and backbone while you remain seated still.  The combined positions of your legs, hips and backbone feel balanced and stable internally when you hold all the parts of the position still.

  You can maintain a beneficial cross-legged position seated upright nearly effortlessly for a relatively long time.  Every cross-legged position that’s as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition supports and improves your body thoroughly.

 

Back to the Top
Energy, effort, tiring and rest (3)