I have been practicing for 8 years now and my ankle hurts whenever i sit in Lotus. I did sprain my Ankle when i was a kid and i did it again recently not knowing how . Doctor gave me injection and some medication for inflammation, and it heal in a day or two.
Question is ,how do i fix this pain for good? I tried ignoring the pain thinking that the more i strengthen it, it will heal one day. However, it is not HELPING.
Any tips? Thanks
Cassandra,
My advice is switching to other sitting posture: swastikasana for example is easy, stable and comfortable.
Padmasana is beautiful to watch, but to me that only gods use it for extended periods of time. 
There should never be sharp pain in a joint in asana, ever. In muscle, yes there should be some discomfort or “pain” but in a joint, not ever. Additionally ligaments cannot be strengthened. Again, muscle can be strengthened but ligaments and tendons cannot.
If the aforementioned injection into the joint was cortisone that particular substance blocks pain receptors. It does not remove the pain. It merely prevents you from feeling it. That means the healing has not occurred AND it is incredibly easy to do recurring damage since there is no feedback to prevent it.
Very few things heal in two days. If the ankle “healed” in two days then you are blessed to have a super functional immune system. It is possible of course but it is not “common”.
As for padmasana, if it is painful then a response would be covered in the second chapter; 46th sutra of Patanjali’s work - sthira sukham asanam. The pose should be comfortable. Panoramix above offers direct guidance for following this; find a comfortable posture for the meditation practice and avoid padmasana.
In the meantime understand that most knee and ankle issues are physically tied to the hips. If you are not doing the Beginner’s Hip Opening Series then I suggest doing so twice a day. If you’ve already assessed and know your hips in the six of eight required movements then you may focus your attention on the ones that are more challenging for your body.
Thanks for the advise .
As I am practicing astanga with a teacher from India , I suffer a lot in series 1 , especially Marichyasana .
I’m sorry to hear that.
Hi Cass, you should not be suffering in any asana…see Gordon’s earlier post.
If the suffering is the pain in your ankle during Marichyasana B & D the variations with one leg in half lotus. Then please stop doing these until your ankle is fully healed and your hips are open/flexible enough for half lotus without any pressure on your ankle or knee.
If it is something else that is hurting you must speak to your teacher about it. If he/she cannot give you alternative asanas to do instead or a series of asanas to do to overcome the problem…you need a different teacher.
Never push/force yourself in any asana. Take it slow. If you cannot breathe fully, easily and slowly in any asana you have probably gone too far. Challenge and encourage yourself, yes…but never force and a teacher should not be using brute strength to shove you into any assna.
As Gordon suggested start a basic hip opening series, once the hips are open/flexible enough then work on lotus and asanas involving half lotus again.
If the whole of primary series is causing you suffering maybe you should look for another form of yoga or a different teacher.
Good luck.
Hi Yogacambodia:
Thank u for the guidance . I am not sure if his teaching is just the old traditional way. He helped me to get into pose every time . He is from India and probably that is how they train ? I am taking everyone advise here to work on hip openers
Another thing is probably my tummy is huge with lots of fat and causing me difficulty in twisting too ? I googled and checked on what kind of food should I take to avoid stiff body and how would it affect my practice . Don’t seem to find any answer on google . Does anyone know this ?
Cass