Papayapple Posted March 31, 2017 is anybody suffering from crossing their legs either at the knees or at the ankles? As Im typing Im struggling not to do it and keep both my feet flat on the ground recently i realized this habit has been totally screwing my leg tendons. my knees and ankles get twisted in this position and this has been causing similar pain to when I tried sitting in lotus posture. It is also bad for your posture in general so I decided I need to quit it. Has anybody know why my legs keep needing to cross? Its odd but I also get this while laying down. Preventing me from sleeping on my back. I suspect theres something wrong with my pelvis. maybe there's something I could do? Or perhaps it is just purely a mental habit? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Papayapple Posted April 1, 2017 Well.... You will only get problems in the knees (from full lotus) if your legs are overly tight or if (when crossed) the feet aren't close to the hips. If you have begun to sit in full lotus, it is a rather strong posture that can open up channels. When it does that, it will have usually had a stronger effect than anything you have done. For that reason, the energy flows will tend to re-draw you into the posture so that the flow circuits can be made and things can continue to open. My own experience was rather peculiar. I would get the similar pains but I would just sit in the posture with the knowledge that (over time) the energy would fix any problems caused by the posture. This was pretty much how things went. There were small-quick fix things that I could do to lessen the pains while I was transitioning (squats and stretches). But this was just my experience and it is probably bad advice. I'd say work with strengthening and flexibility but keep the leg crossing to a minimum unless you are okay with the effects that it will have. OK thanks A&P but in this case I'm talking about sitting in a chair at the desk(not meditating) or at a bus stop. Any kind of crosslegged position is off limits for me now. Actually it is fairly easy to control after few weeks of reminding myself about it. But it's only one of many postural pathologies I have. For example I tend to stand on straight legs, knees actually bending in another direction(backwords). I have to keep consciously bending them forward to avoid pressure on the joints. And yet it is still so uncomfortable for me to stand like that. And to have both feet parallel facing forward. It's really a drag! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastian Posted April 1, 2017 This leg crossing issue is real unfortunately. At the meridian level, it blocks the circulation of Qi along the bladder meridian if you do this at the knees. Substitute it with this This is how my own Master sit when they feel the need to cross. It's a little bit annoying at first, but you get used to it quickly. Hope this helps ! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gendao Posted April 1, 2017 You will only get problems in the knees (from full lotus) if your legs are overly tight or if (when crossed) the feet aren't close to the hips. But this was just my experience and it is probably bad advice. I'd say work with strengthening and flexibility but keep the leg crossing to a minimum unless you are okay with the effects that it will have. I'll second with this. When I was much stiffer before, sitting cross-legged was too uncomfortable. But now since I've become more flexible, I find it a much more comfortable, passive stretch in itself... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted April 1, 2017 http://zenmontpellier.net/eng/lotus/lotuseng.html stretch, stretch, stretch breath, breath, breath eat, work, sleep do again 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
