Beginner, stretching questions for meditation

Mindfulness Meditation
#1

Hi guys,

I’ve played football for about 10 years. Now I’ve started meditation and I can’t reach the floor yet with my knees in the birmese position. I’m trying to make my body more flexible so that I can sit birmese properly and after maybe lotus.

If you type in youtube: Getting to lotus (padmasana), this video recommends the wide angle forward bend for flexing to lotus.

This is recommended for getting into the lotus position. Will it also be effective for getting my knees on the floor?

Any stretches you’d recommend? And how long should I stretch? I can hold the wide angle forward bend for at least 30 minutes. There is some pain but it’s OK. Because my legs aren’t very flexible I can’t put my hands flat on the floor like the woman in the video at 2:30. My back is a bit bent. But I don’t have pain afterwards. Is it very important to keep a straight back?

I currently have a lot of free time. I could do the wide angle forward bend like maybe even 2 hours each day, spread out. Is this advisable? Should I switch it up with other poses?

Is it good to do stretches before meditation? I’m going to participate in some meditation retreats. Will it be easier if I do stretches?

I don’t have experience with stretches. I don’t know how far I can go, what is productive and what isn’t. Therefore your help would be much appreciated!:stuck_out_tongue:

#2

Hi Chris,

Sukhasana or “easy pose” can be modified for meditation using foam pads, folded blankets, or the like under the outer knee on each side of the pose. Beginners should be comfortable in their sitting practice so as to not add a blockage to an already blockage-filled path.

In the meantime this pose and padmasana require external rotation and abduction. Baddha Konasana will be helpful here as will the entire beginner’s hip opening series. The later of which you will be hard-pressed to find a teacher who knows, it, practices it, understands it, and can convey it.

Since that is the case consider this posebut with the top ankle bone PAST the opposite thigh, not inside it. If that is not anatomically accessible do the pose supine with the bottom leg straight and only the top crossed over. Be aware, it is the actions that the student does in a pose that make it something, not the position(s) themselves. Ergo laying here and there for 30 minutes with no engagement is not only not helping, it is actually facilitating poor alignment and connective tissue risk.

Nine breaths please, each side. Three reps. Twice per day. Please consider disregarding the video as it is not for beginners when they cannot maintain a neutral spine and come forward from the hips, keep the quadriceps contracted throughout, and maintain the kneecaps pointing to the ceiling.

gordon

#3

Hi Gordon,

Thank you for your reply!
I will no longer do that stretch.

What do you mean by it is the actions? I’ve heard that for getting to birmese if you can’t reach the floor yet with your knees then you just have to be patient and sit, the knees will drop in time. No particular action there.
From: mro.org/zmm/teachings/meditation.php
"The knees should also rest on the floor, though sometimes it takes a bit of exercise to be able to get the legs to drop that far. After awhile the muscles will loosen up and the knees will begin to drop. To help that happen, sit on the front third of the zafu, shifting your body forward a little bit. "

I’m just looking to get there faster through stretches. Is this possible or is it better to just sit more :p?

You speak of the beginner hip opening series. Are these OK? : ehow.com/videos-on_7699_yoga-hip-opening-poses-beginners.html

I think I misunderstand your explanation with the picture you posted. I get as far as this woman in this video at 0:53. ehow.com/video_4944991_yoga-fire-log-pose.html

Thank you for your time.

#4

Chris,

In Yoga (and many other things, if not all other things) “wait & hope” is not a very effective protocol for growth. Patience, however is absolutely required when it is conjoined with action, effort, doing, or ardor ([I]tapas[/I]).

Every modality has it’s particular answer to questions such as yours. Zazen has the answer you’re citing. However I’m a yoga teacher and my reply is different as it is a reply FOR yoga.

If a student has the power, focus, and wisdom to simply let go of the physiological obstructions, then that is wonderful and that student can do that. This is a heightened level of “allowing” which also mandates a heightened level of self-awareness. Most students need decades of proper work to cultivate such a thing. If you have it then yes you can simply sit and do that work and your knees will “drop”. Otherwise my friend there are actions to lengthen the muscles, release the stories you’ve written to them, and let go, without snapping back to your all-too-familiar pattern(s).

As for the video, I don’t care to comment on the work of other teachers. There are three poses there that I would feel comfortable with for beginners; 5, 9, and 10.

On the second video question…
Do the first part if you are able. If you are not, lie down on your back and cross one leg over the other thigh and work the openings bilaterally (one side) instead of unilaterally UNTIL you are open enough to do the pose sitting erect.

#5

Pawanmuktasana Series 1,2 & 3.

It means wind-releasing because these movemetns because they are not really asanas ,per se, help towards freeeing up energetic obstructions mainly in the hips and legs etc.

Ideally Find a teacher who can go through them with you because there would be a bit of alearning curve over time if you tried to learn just with instructional aids like I did…You will find it outlined in the very start of the BSY Publication titled ‘Asana,Mudra,Bandha,Pranayama’ I think it’s called.There are now even u-tube videos that could also compliment a teaacher too and that boook i mention…Phone up teachers and just ask them if they are familar with this movement Series and possibly request a one-to one if you are able to afford it.

Mukunda who is associated in some way with one of the sub-forums here offers an almost identical thing/series he calls ‘joint-loosening series’ I think in his ‘Structural Yoga Therapy’ book I think it’s called.

These movements should assist you towards developing a solid rock or seat for meditation.Don’t worry about trying to get into lotus or risk damaging your knees through trying to get into a perfect seated pose. That is not the point.The main thing is you are comfortable and can relax so you can concentrate/focus and/or just let go as a prelude for meditation proper.Steady & comfortable seat.

This is a killer or effective movement series for helping open up stiff legs and hips and even shoulders,neck,arms etc get help too.IThey are not strictly or technically speaking asanas.All an asana is a steady seat that facilitates or helps makes meditation easier because the body is comfrortable and we can forget about it more etc.It might seem like you’re working with muscles but deeper down you are actually working with neurology and energies.

Practices done over time with with greater consistency yeild greatest results.Remember to listen to what your body or subtle bodies are telling you.If you do do a few surya namskara or sunsaluations that can end up stoking pingala too much leaving one feeling more irritable than relaxed than before ,then be sure to fit in or finish with savasana/corpse/relaxation pose ( a must or more or less essential at the end of any asana practice) before assuming any kind of seat for sitting meditation.

As long as your are comfrortable ,that is all that matters;You can even meditatie in a chair or, i daresay it ,standing up or walking but for your purposes sitting cross-legged and trying to still or let-go the body/mind is quite satisfactory and great if you can do it.

The asanas you mention sound fine but I would avoid lotus unless you can get into already and this should be fairly obvious. By all meanns try it but never force. Forcing is bad in asana or any yoga. Take relaxed patient attitude.