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 condense 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.