I’ve read countless threads everywhere where people ask how to do lotus pose, and I’ve started doing some hip exercises as well, which all help a great deal. But when I finally am loose in my hips and knees, I still have pain in my ankles and when in full lotus, where the legs cross eachother.
I have attached a picture where I’ve drawn where the pain resides.
Do you have any tips on stretches and exercises I can do to get rid of these pains. Or am I simply doing something wrong?
Thanks
Yes, it is! 
Or you probably wouldn’t be feeling this pain. How far can you externally rotate your hips? If it isn’t at least 60 degrees, you may not be ready for full lotus. If your hips don’t have the required range of motion, there will be pain in the ankles and knees. Unfortunately, knees are often the victim of lotus pose. My father had meniscus surgery because he attempted lotus too soon.
For some people, full lotus takes years of preparatory work. Please be gentle and patient with yourself. Lotus is intended to be a meditation or pranayama pose. It cannot fulfill its purpose when it causes this much pain. Yoga poses should never be painful, especially not in the joints.
Of course, my reply may be entirely off the mark. So please tell us some about yourself (age, gender, health, fitness) and your current yoga practice (style, years of practice). Others will surely help you with preparatory poses and more advice. Have you asked your teacher? It’s much easier to help when the student is right in front of you.
Moltar,
Yes. Your body is telling you…no need to be doing lotus at this point. Maybe never. Good news is, it’s really not necessary. But I like your drawings.
siva
Try first Siddhasana and later more.
This is one of two poses in which students of yoga injure themselves in asana most frequently. So extreme care should be used both in determining one’s intention for the pose and one’s readiness. An error or misjudgment with either can steer things off course very quickly.
Also be aware that it is the opening in the hips that precludes one from “opening” the knees. The specific purpose OF opening the hip complex is to AVOID opening the knees (for this pose). Presuming however, you have in fact created enough opening in the hips, then one might look to see if one is inverting or supinating the foot. In padmasana the foot does not invert (nor evert) but remains in the anatomical position.
From what I’ve seen over the past decade it is most rare that pain in this pose occurs for those with appropriately open hips (external rotation and adduction). And I believe feedback on such things has already been offered up.
Finally, there’s no powerful reason to stuff one’s consciousness into this pose or that pose. If sitting in meditation is the next phase, that can be available to the student without padmasana.
gordon
Can anyone explain what does it mean to rotate the hips externally? Is it really the hip that rotates or the leg at the hip joint? I’m really not familiar with this part of the anatomy, so I would appreciate any light on the subject.
Yes, the terminology is confusing! The hip is the joint. The movement is external rotation (turn-out, lateral rotation). So, in short, hip external rotation.
What really happens is that the upper leg (femur) rotates externally in the hip joint.
Sit with your legs stretched in front of you. Turn your little toe towards the floor by [I]turning your entire leg[/I]. This is external rotation from the hip, or hip external rotation.
…or lateral rotation, as opposed to medial rotation.
Thanks, Willem. U2IA
ok, thanks for all your inputs. I guess with more hip rotation, I’ll be able to have my ankles in a natural position.
I don’t do yoga, I only medidate, and I find it ridiculous of people to always tell everyone that lotus isn’t necessary. Now I sit in burmese position, and if I’ve stretched beforehand, it hurts quite much after 40 min. And it’s not the optimal position since I have to do some effort to keep my back straight. That’s the point, the meditation has no effect if the spine is not straight, and sitting in a chair, it takes a lot of effort to keep it that way, and sitting like that longer than 40 min is impossible really. So it’s not so hard to understand why one would want to be able to sit in lotus, as that pose automatically keeps the spine straight.
Moltar,
It's true! Padmasana is an advanced pose and not necessary. That is, you don't have to go so far as to put your feet up on the thighs. Meditation is not about the pose. It's more important to be comfortable.
Muktasana will serve you very well. A very functional pose for sitting and meditation, you put one foot in front of the other. You can do Muktasana your entire life and it's ok.
You will have a reason to practice Padmasana when you start to gain control of the lower bandhas, but that is so far down the road for most everyone. If it's not comfortable, don't do it.
hari om,
siva
Generally speaking, the spine is never straight. A straight spine will not bear body weight in a bipedal or standing position.
Further, a neutral spine, one where the three inherent curves are preserved, is not an “automatic” from Padmasana. It is quite possible to flex/extend the lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine while in Padmasana.
And finally, even if a neutral spine were an automatic by-product of padmasana, a neutral spine for meditation at the expense of knee damage does not seem to be all that fruitful a meditation and certainly would be up for debate as to whether it was “peaceful”.
Meditation can be achieved by a practitioner in several positions. That is the overarching principle and why “others” say Padmasana is not necessary for meditation to occur. Just because you or I ache at the 45 minute mark when meditating in Virasana or Vajrasana or Sukhasana does not necessarily mean Padmasana is the only answer.
Everyone has to “do some effort” to maintain their sitting.