Detailed
description of a beginner’s cross-legged position (2)
1 This chapter describes how to be seated in the best cross-legged
position that you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition
to benefit from the position of your body. Chapter
1 describes a series of concerns that you can follow to place and maintain your
body in a beneficial position. This chapter describes the support to be seated
on, and how to gather your feet, ankles and legs into a comfortable
cross-legged position.
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 that’s described in this chapter to a
completely developed cross-legged position can be experienced spontaneously,
without learning a method.
At the times when 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, 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.
2 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 in a beginner’s
cross-legged position. The joints of your hips are naturally more flexible
than they are now, but their natural flexibility has been limited by you most
often needing to be seated on a chair. Additionally, as you advance in age your
hips ordinarily become less flexible than they were when you were younger. It
doesn’t matter that the joints of your hips are not flexible enough for you to
be able to support the ends of your shins at your knees directly on the upper
sides of your ankles and feet beneath them, when you’re learning how to be
seated in a beneficial position of your body.
When you seat your
posterior (hips and the ends of your thighs at your hips) on a low, firm cushion,
or sit on the same rug or mat that supports your feet; -
When the joints of your
hips are not flexible enough for you to be able to support the ends of your
shins at your knees directly on -in contact with- the upper sides of your
ankles and feet beneath them, -
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 firmly on cushions or wedges of cloth beneath
them, but you suspend your crossed legs by tightening the muscles or stretching
the tendons at the upper sides of your thighs, that will stretch and strain the
tendons at the upper sides of your thighs and will cause uncomfortable tensions
in your abdomen.
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 can help to
hold your knees more firmly in their positions.
After you have supported
the ends of your shins at your knees on firm cushions or on wedges of folded
cloth, for a while nearly every day for several weeks or months, the joints of your
hips will become more flexible so that when you’re seated cross-legged your
knees will be located progressively farther down nearer to the upper sides of
your ankles and feet beneath them. You will
become able to place your knees closer one to the other, and nearer to the
level of the rug or mat beneath them, than you
were able to maintain them when you began to be seated cross-legged.
In time you will become
able to support the ends of your shins at your knees on the upper sides of your
ankles and feet beneath them. The flexibility of your hips will improve
sooner when you practice yoga often, even for short durations of time.
You will experience the benefits of simple
yoga at every stage of progress of your physical position of yoga.
3 You need to be seated in a position that’s as near to a completely
developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your
present physical condition, to benefit reliably from the position of your body
when you remain seated still. 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.
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. You don't need to
remain seated still for a long time to experience the benefits of an integrated
position of your body. Even a moment of experiencing an integrated position of
your body is beneficial.
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 maintain the concerns in the
order that they're described in chapter 1 to reliably do something with
your body that you read about in this text.
Although you might be able to experience a
beneficial position of your body spontaneously, maintaining the concerns that
are described here can help you to experience a reliably beneficial position.
4 To be seated in a beginner’s cross-legged position, begin by
supporting your posterior (hips and the ends of your thighs at your hips) on a
firm cushion or a low stack of folded natural fiber cloth, or support your
posterior on the same rug or mat that supports your feet, 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.
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.
5 Support the ends of both of your shins as near as possible to your knees
firmly on the upper sides of your ankles and feet that are supported on the rug
or mat beneath them.
The end of your shin at
your knee that’s supported on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and heel-
is supported firmly and is 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 securely.
The end of your shin at your knee that’s
supported on your ankle and foot –between your ankle and toes- is also
supported firmly, but is held in place comparatively less securely.
The upper side of your
ankle and foot -between your ankle and toes- is less v-shaped, and supports
your shin firmly, but holds your shin in place comparatively less securely.
6 Maintain both of your legs in contact, the ankle or shin of each leg
pressed with 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 also
allows you to sense 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 and hips remain sensitive
and agile while you remain seated still in a cross-legged position.
If you don’t maintain both of your legs in
contact during all of the time that you’re seated in a cross-legged position,
the positions of your legs won’t be reliably beneficial and might become
harmful.
7 Support your posterior and both of your feet, ankles and the ends of
your shins at your knees firmly, during all of the time that you remain seated
still to benefit from the position of your body.
If the support beneath
any part of your body is not firm when you remain seated still, it’s possible
that you won’t experience any benefit.
Supporting the ends of your shins at your
knees firmly, supports your legs firmly enough to maintain a beneficial
cross-legged position.
8 Stand your backbone upright and curve or lean forward far enough to
support more of your weight on the ends of your shins at your knees. When
you support more of your weight on the ends of your shins at your knees, your
legs, hips and backbone are combined in mutually supporting
positions that support your body upright more thoroughly than when you’re not standing
your backbone upright and curving or leaning forward slightly. Another benefit
of more of
your weight being supported on the ends of your shins at your knees, is that
the muscles at the back of your body exert more
effort than
they exert ordinarily to support your body upright, and
the muscles at the front of your body rest more than they rest ordinarily when
you’re supporting your body upright, allowing your breathing to be more free
than it is ordinarily. And standing your backbone upright and curved or
leaned forward slightly helps to hold the position of your body still.
Don’t curve or lean forward
too far. Curving or leaning forward far while you remain seated
still is not beneficial. Curving or leaning forward slightly causes the muscles
at the back of every level of your body to exert effort –or stretch beneficially
to support your weight, and helps to stand your backbone upright for a longer time.
Exerting muscular effort at the back of your body 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 back of your body, leaving
your abdomen and chest relatively free from tension.
Curve or lean forward
far enough so that you can exert muscular effort to exhale and inhale
effortlessly. You can verify that the upright
position of your body is
beneficial by adjusting the angle that you curve or
lean forward to allow the inhalations of your breathing
to be effortless, as described in chapter
1 and described in detail in chapter 8.
Standing your backbone upright and curved or leaned
forward slightly helps to balance the positions, muscular effort and rest of
your legs, hips and backbone, and causes the ends of your shins at both of your
ankles to rotate minutely, the upper side forward, lower side backward, and
ensures that the positions of your legs will progress toward a more developed
cross-legged position while you remain seated still.
If you don’t stand your backbone upright
and curved or leaned forward far enough to press both of your shins downward on the upper sides
of your ankles and feet beneath them, then your ankles and shins might not
rotate beneficially, the upper side forward, lower side backward, while you
remain seated still.
9 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.
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. Curving or leaning toward the side is beneficial only when you’re supporting the ends of both of
your shins at your knees on the upper sides of your ankles and feet beneath
them when you’re seated in a beginner’s cross-legged position.
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 at your knees directly 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 your leg
that‘s uppermost might rotate in the opposite from the beneficial direction and
your knee might twist and sprain.
10 Support the palms of your hands on your knees.
You can also support your hands extended over your knees. You can
support your wrist or forearm on your knee that’s elevated higher than your
other knee, to help 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 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 of 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.
11 Align your shoulders, arms, hands and head with the position of your
backbone as well as you can, as described in chapter 1. Chapter 8 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 position of 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.
12 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 as well as you can
with a small muscular effort, and the position that you hold still might not be
beneficial or comfortable.
Don’t look at your feet,
ankles or legs any longer than the few moments that you need to seat your
posterior firmly and to gather your feet, ankles and legs into positions that are
supported firmly and comfortably. You don't need to look at your
feet, ankles or legs to place them into a beneficial cross-legged position, although it's not
distracting to look at them briefly.
You don’t need to look
at the position of your body while you remain seated still.
Don’t look at your
appearance in a mirror when you’re placing your body in a position to remain
seated still, nor while you remain seated still to benefit from the position of
your body. 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 in 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.
You can cover your legs with a cloth, after
you have placed them in the position that you intend to hold still.
A natural fiber cloth between your hands, wrists or forearms and the
upper sides of your thighs and the front of your body does not interfere with
beneficial contact and the motion of energy between those parts of your body. A
large bath towel or small blanket is suitable for covering your legs after you
have placed them in the position that you intend to hold still. Covering your
feet, ankles and legs can help to keep them warm and to increase the beneficial
motion of energy in them and can help them to be flexible and agile.
13 Place and maintain each part of your position in the order that the
concerns are described in chapter 1. It’s
sufficient to place and maintain each part of your position as well as you can.
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 to
tolerate
discomfort, and you might not be able to remain alert or still.
Improve your position as
well as you can whenever you experience discomfort in any part of your body.
When you’re remaining seated still to benefit from the position of your
body, you cannot remedy discomfort
any other way than
by improving your position, or by moving or resting completely. If you
don’t improve your position, or move or rest completely, the discomfort might persist and
increase.
You won’t benefit reliably from the position
of your body while you remain seated still if 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.
14 You can maintain a beneficial cross-legged position seated upright
nearly effortlessly for a relatively long time.
Your legs will move
minutely into improved positions and will feel more firm and comfortable while
you remain seated still. The muscles beneath your thighs
will exert effort to support your position like when you’re standing, the ends
of your thighs at your knees will press downward toward the rug or mat beneath
them, and will move closer one toward the other. The ends of your
shins at your ankles will rotate minutely, the upper side forward, lower side
backward, and your legs will tend to fold inward comfortably.
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. Each more developed position
will be more comfortable and vital than the preceding position.