About 4 months ago I began to have difficulty sitting cross legged. Knees just wouldn’t go down easily and after sitting for awhile difficult to bring knees together. I have never been able to sit in full lotus but have been able to sit in half lotus without problems. The other day it was painful to sit on the floor even on a cushion. Any ideas? Thanks.
It is very common for students to lack ROM in hip external rotation which is necessary for cross legged comfortable sitting. To tone these muscles several motions are helpful, see my Joint Freeing Series #5 in which you sit with legs open and lift one hip while turning the ankles downward and inward with the great toe to internal hip rotation then swing the leg to meet the other. Reverse the motion outward by turing the toes outward little toes down to swing the legs open. This last motion tones the muscles you need firm. you can look up external hip rotator muscles pg. 139 and toning asanas in the chart in my book pg. 254.
The more variations you do while feeling the tone in the outer gluteals the quicker the muscles will tone. Another variation is to lay on belly with the akles crossed knees wide apart. lift one knee at a time while lowering the ankles. definitely use your arms to help do this difficult motion. namaste mukundaI have been doing the JFS #5. After completing the exercise on the left side I feel pain down the back of my left leg…sciatica pain. This pain only lasts a few hours but it happens every time. Also, I am then unable to do forward bends or anything that would stretch my hamstrings. Any thoughts?
It is interesting that on Monday morning when sitting down to begin my practice I sat in half lotus without problem and/or pain.
thanks for your quick reply.
Cathy
When there is acute sciatica all forward bends should be avoided. This includes dog pose, stick pose, as well as other obvious bending of spinal column. So as an alternate to JFS #5 i would sugest you do #7 with the leg motions of #5. this will give internal and external hip rotations. the latter are especially beneficial in sciatica. we want to tone the external hip rotators to free up the nerve and also help stabilize the sacroiliac joint.
The fact that you are free of pain on monday shows that resting often is a treatment needed for sciatica. being a vata imbalance, deep relaxation by yoga nidra or just being away from the stressors of life can relieve this complaint. blessings. mukunda