Where did yoga come from? What is its essence and, most importantly, how to master one of the main asanas - how to sit in the lotus position? We will answer these and other questions below. Practicing yoga, a person masters a variety of asanas, that is, improving health. But this is not all that yoga can give. First of all, this is a special way to achieve unity with the Higher Mind. According to one version, yoga was given to people by Shiva, one of the supreme gods, who is also considered the main yogi. Through exercise, a person can become more perfect, as Hindus believe.

Whether yoga was really given to people by Shiva, whether it was born from his spontaneous dance at a wedding, or whether it was transmitted by the descendants of Atlantis and Lemuria, is not known for certain. But the fact that this is the oldest system of healing and self-improvement is beyond doubt. This is also confirmed by archaeological finds. So, on many bas-reliefs and stone tablets, scientists found images of people in asanas. Documentary evidence of yoga was first found in the Rig Veda. It describes for the first time the relationship between man and nature and the need to achieve harmony between them. Then the victorious procession of yoga continued through the writing of the Upanishads. The theme of life cycles and the fundamental questions of life and death, the place of man in the world were also raised there. But the flowering of yoga was due to Patanaji, who wrote the famous yoga sutras. But, despite the antiquity of the system, year after year, yoga practitioners are faced with the question of how to sit in the lotus position. After all, what seems so easy, in practice, not everyone can do it.

How to sit down correctly and what does it depend on?

This asana requires some practice. Hindus believe that the lotus position is obtained from the first time by people who are pure in soul. In other words, your success depends on the state of energy. But not everything rests on high matters. Much more often, problems lie in the innate characteristics of the body or in the absence of stretch marks. Sometimes the structure of the hip joint is such that it seems impossible to sit in the lotus position, but in practice there is not a single person who would not cope with this task, albeit with some delay. In order to prepare the ligaments and tendons for mastering the main yoga exercise, you need to spend some time.

Not everyone manages to feel comfortable and relaxed in the lotus position. Over time, the ligaments will become more elastic, and the feeling of tension and discomfort will pass. The lotus position, correctly performed, has a beneficial effect on the physical, mental and energy state of a person.

How to sit in the lotus position without discomfort?

As mentioned above, the most important thing is stretching and preparatory exercises. The better the tendons and ligaments are stretched and warmed up, the lower the risk of injury, the easier it is to perform the exercise. By the way, yoga practitioners are mistaken when they claim that they "stretch the muscles." Muscle basically incapable of stretching. All exercises are aimed at increasing joint mobility and tendon elasticity. Consider the most effective preparatory exercises. They will also help you understand what the lotus position looks like. Photos will give you an idea of ​​the exercises.

Exercise number 1. Bends to the outstretched leg

Sit on the floor and stretch one leg forward, and bend the other and put it on your thigh. Grasp the toe of the straight leg with both hands and, gently springing, begin to bend over, trying to touch the leg not with your forehead, but with your stomach and chest. It will be, to put it mildly, unpleasant.

But here it is important to observe the golden mean, not to overdo it and not give yourself excessive indulgences. Follow the rule that kung fu fighters follow in training: do a little more of what you can. But yoga wouldn't be yoga if it were that simple. This system does not provide for victory over oneself through pain. More precisely, yoga teaches how to sit in the lotus position without forcing yourself. It's all about breathing. As you lean towards your leg, do long breath within eight seconds. Stay in this position. Then, as you straighten up, exhale for 4 counts. Repeat the exercise on the other leg, and then bend over to the two extended legs.

Exercise number 2. Leg on hip

This exercise is similar to the previous one, but it works out other ligaments. Starting position - sitting on the floor, but left leg is placed on the thigh of the right, and the knee is slightly attracted to itself with the hands.

Exercise number 3. Work with an inclination

Its name is "Butterfly". To perform, sit on the floor, bend your legs and pull the joined feet towards you. Grasp them with your hands and lean forward a little. At first it will seem that it is impossible to do the exercise, but over time, the tension will disappear, it will become easier.

Exercise number 4. Butterfly with hands

This exercise is a modification of the previous one. It prepares the hip joints for the correct position in padmasana. It practically does not cause discomfort, you can do it while watching TV. The starting position is the same. But instead of bending forward with your hands, you need to put pressure on your knees, bringing them closer to the floor. Then grab your feet and rhythmically lower your knees to the floor with muscle strength. In the process of doing the exercise, you "skip" the painful moment, as a result, doing it is completely painless.

Exercise number 5. Ankle stretch

Answering the question about how to sit in the lotus position, it should be noted that not only the ligaments of the pelvis, but also the ankle are involved in this asana. That's why next exercise aimed specifically at the development of this group. It is performed as follows. Sit on a chair and put your feet under it so that your toes are pressed to the floor. Then, with light springy movements, press your leg to the floor 10 times to feel the tension in the ligaments. Another version of the exercise is shown in the photo. The leg with which the work is being done is placed on the thigh of the bent second leg.

Exercise number 6. Asana trial

A month later regular classes You can try to sit in the lotus position. To do this, bend your right leg and place it with your foot up on the thigh of your left leg. Do the same with the other leg. According to the description, it may not be clear to everyone how to sit in the lotus position. The photos will help you get oriented. If it is still very difficult to sit in padmasana, try a half-lotus first. In this asana, one leg rests on the thigh of the other, and the other is positioned as in normal sitting. Another version of the simplified lotus is to simply cross your legs "in Turkish".

Exercise number 7. Belly touching the floor

Sitting on the floor, spread your legs as wide as possible. Stretch first to one leg, then to the other. Finally, lean forward and touch the floor with your belly, keeping your legs straight. Most likely, the exercise will not work right away, since it requires high level preparation and stretching. Even if you sit down on there is no guarantee that you will succeed.

The main difficulty is to ensure that the socks are pointing up when tilted. It depends on the position of the hip joint during the exercise. If you succeeded, then you practically understood how to sit in the lotus position.

Exercise number 8. Working with energy

This exercise is more energetic than physical. Relax as much as possible and imagine that a stream of golden light is pouring on you from the Cosmos, filling every cell of the body. Now imagine doing, for example, padmasana. Mentally feel the movement of each muscle, each joint. Then slowly open your eyes and go to sleep.

Regular performance of this exercise, combined with daily practice and warm-up, helps to quickly sit in the lotus position. Its effectiveness is based on the assertion of classical yoga that our consciousness is a bridge connecting the physical world and the spiritual world. Therefore, it can control our physical body. No matter how fantastic it may seem, the capabilities of the human brain have not yet been fully explored. In addition, a group of volunteers who, in addition to training, mentally continued to work on themselves, showed better results than the second group of athletes who took part in one of the studies of American scientists.

Exercise number 9. Working with a chair

Starting position - sitting on the floor with outstretched legs or on a chair. The second option is even better. Place the foot of the right foot on the left thigh and with the strength of the muscles try to put the knee bent leg so that the result is the foot turned up. Change legs and continue the exercise.

Yoga Precautions

Yes, many are attracted to the lotus position. How to sit? The photo with the asana really creates a feeling of simplicity. Meanwhile, yoga is not just stretching. In asanas, not only ligaments are involved, but also joints, which often move in an unusual direction.

Without a warm-up and preparation, many poses are simply traumatic and threaten with a fracture. Therefore, instructors talk about the inadmissibility of tension and excessive pain. Remember: yoga is incompatible with violence, especially with violence against yourself.

A karmic trail of broken promises trails behind me. We need to start slowly digging it all out. For example, I, or the lotus position, since excessive efforts in mastering this asana can lead to very sad and irreversible health consequences. So I'll tell you now.

First you need to decide why you need it. If the first answer that comes to mind has to do with "coolness" and the desire to impress others with your abilities, then this is definitely the wrong path. Rest assured, no one cares about your coolness, everyone only thinks about their own. And undermined health is too expensive a price to pay for such circus performances. When you come to a group class with a good teacher, you will surely notice that he not only does not strive to put everyone in padmasana at all costs, but he himself avoids this position so as not to embarrass the students who will probably want to imitate him. And that's why.

It should be understood that, by tradition, Indians rarely use European devices such as armchairs, sofas or chairs. In India, it is customary to sit upright on the floor. This contributes to the disclosure hip joints which is the reason why Padmasana is a natural posture for all Hindus and does not cause any difficulties. A European person, who has been sitting on a chair all his life, is not stretched either in the legs or in the back. Most Europeans are not even able to sit with a straight back, straight legs stretched forward.

Why is it that the lotus position is the main yoga posture for meditation?

And by the way, not only yogis. In many spiritual traditions, padmasana is the optimal posture for meditation. The thing is that by crossing our legs in such a strong castle, we block the flow of energies in the lower part of the body, thereby excluding the lower part of the body from the process. In addition, it is believed that in padmasana, the descending energy, apana-vayu, reverses, thereby not only improving meditation qualitatively (if I may say so at all), but also removing energy blocks and clamps, or, as Christians would say, washing away sins . All this facilitates the upward movement of the Kundalini.

On a purely physiological level, padmasana is also the most ergonomic posture for sitting cross-legged for long periods of time. Of course, provided that you own it freely . The fact is that the closer the knees to the floor, the straighter the back is fixed, and the less its muscles are included in holding the asana. Try to sit down yourself, for example, in Turkish with your knees raised high - the back immediately rounds itself. Lower your knees and she will straighten up. Of course, there are all sorts of deviations, we are all different, but in general, the body works that way. Padmasana firmly fixes the knees on the floor. Again, I repeat, subject to free mastery of it, i.e. enough reversible hip joints.

How to sit in the lotus position

Starting to master padmasana, striving for immediate success, many people forget one simple thing: to achieve the lotus position, you need not to stretch the knees, but the hip joints. Nature conceived a person in such a way that our knees bend only in the “forward-backward” direction, but not in any way “left-right”, as some often think. The result of such an error can be irreversible processes that can only be solved surgically. There are many preparatory asanas for the development of the hip area, the most effective of them are jana sirshasana and various interpretations of the butterfly pose, which is also performed in a dynamic version.

Janu sirshasana. Sit with straight outstretched legs. Place the foot of one leg on the thigh of the other leg. Try to rotate your hip so that your knee rests on the floor. The next step is to lean forward with a straight back, trying to lie with your chest on a straightened leg, grab your foot with your hands. Avoid pain i.e. doing everything smoothly, in a sparing mode, observing the principle of “do no harm” in relation to your own body.

baddha konasana(butterfly pose, or literally translated as “bound angle pose”). In a sitting position with a straight back, connect the feet, pulling them to the perineum at a comfortable distance. Pull the spine up, shoulders down. In this position, you can lean your hands on your knees and with a little effort try to stretch the hip area. You can also swing your hips up and down, making movements similar to fluttering butterfly wings.

Pose for meditation.

All the secrets of the correct and comfortable posture for meditation

Tags: Meditation. Where to begin?

A yogi sitting in a lotus position, with his legs almost tied in a knot, and a perfectly straight back - this is the image that comes to mind for most people when asked about the posture for meditation. Therefore, people who start meditating for the first time immediately have a lot of questions about the best position to do it. After all, they don’t want to tie their legs in a knot, it’s also hard for many to keep their back straight. In general, there are difficulties.

In today's article, I want to highlight two issues. First, we will look at the basic postures suitable for beginners in meditation. Secondly, we will talk about the principles that will help you find the perfect position for yourself that is right for you. The fact is that we are all different, we all have different bodies and, accordingly, different possibilities and limitations.

If you are just starting to master the practice, then the posture for meditation must be comfortable. It happens that people refuse to master meditation because they are not comfortable for a long time in those positions that are recommended for practice. And then you should deviate from the recommended instructions and find a pose that takes into account individual characteristics. Knowing the principles of constructing a posture for meditation, you can find for yourself a position of the body in which you will be really comfortable.

So let's start with the first question.

Basic postures for beginners in meditation

1. Turkish sitting

You can meditate while sitting on the floor with your legs crossed.
You can sit on pillows. Then the pelvis is slightly higher than the legs, and this prevents them from flowing.

If you have a bad stretch and your legs are on weight, you can also put pillows under your hips.

2. Sitting on a chair

In this case, the back should be straight, the legs should be firmly on the floor.

3. Meditation lying on your back

In this case, the arms and legs are slightly retracted from the body. You can even meditate while lying on the bed, but it is better to do it on the floor, since the rigid support allows you to properly position the spine. For convenience, you can put a small pillow under the lower back.

Many people wonder if it is possible to meditate while lying on your back. The answer is: yes, you can. However, it should be borne in mind that this position of the body often causes drowsiness and interferes with meditation. Therefore, whenever possible, it is worth choosing other poses for practice.

There are times when the supine meditation position is the perfect choice. This applies to situations where a person in a sitting position has serious physical discomfort.

By the way, about how to choose a posture for meditation, if during practice there are unpleasant sensations associated with the posture of the body, there is a separate one on my blog.

Of course, there are other postures for meditation, but they are more complex, but I still suggest starting with a simple one. In addition, in order to use meditation in your Everyday life and to get tangible results, in my opinion, those three poses that I mentioned are quite enough. Personally, I most often meditate while sitting Turkish and sometimes sitting in a chair, and I get results from the practice that I am completely satisfied with.

It would seem that what could be easier than, for example, sitting on a chair with a straight back? But even this simple instruction has its pitfalls. Therefore, now we will move on to the second question and analyze the principles of constructing postures for meditation.

Principles of posture for meditation

1. Feel grounded

Feel the weight of your body relative to the ground and how you feel supported. If you are sitting on a chair or in Turkish, then the weight of the body should "drain" into the pelvis, and the pelvis should be a support. Feel the pelvic bones you are sitting on. Feel how they rest on the surface of the chair or floor.

During meditation, distribute your body weight symmetrically so that both pelvic bones rest equally on the surface you are sitting on.
If you are sitting on a chair, also feel the support in your legs.
If you are lying down, feel how your body weight is distributed on the floor. Make sure that the body position is symmetrical.

2. Watch your back

When you meditate, your back should be straight and perpendicular to the floor (that is, you should not lean forward or backward).

Experiment and start slouching. Pay attention: what happens to the support? Does the weight continue to “drain” into the pelvis? When we slouch, the weight of the body shifts forward. These are the laws of physics.
Now lean back, for example, leaning on the back of a chair. Where has the weight of the body moved from the pelvis? According to the laws of physics, it moves backward.

Let's see why it is so important that the weight of the body flows into the pelvis.
Take a thick book and put it upright on the table. Like this:

Costs? Certainly. And for this you do not need to make any effort. It does not need to be specially supported. Now put the book aside. Fell? Yes, if you did not spend extra effort to keep it in a tilted position. By itself, without your help, the book will not stand like this. This is against the laws of physics.

Now let's get back to the meditation posture. When your back is straight and in a position perpendicular to the floor, your posture is like a book standing upright on a table. No extra effort is needed to hold this position, and therefore it involves maximum relaxation.

As soon as you start to deviate from this position, additional muscles begin to tighten so that you, like a book, do not fall, but maintain a sitting position. Too much tension interferes with meditation.
If, for example, you not only leaned back, but leaned back on the back of the chair, using not the muscles of your own body to hold the pose, but relying on the back of the chair, in this case, too, oddly enough, you will most likely experience excessive muscle tension, who are supposed to be relaxed during meditation. If you lean back, then to maintain balance, the head changes its position, goes a little forward, while the neck muscles tighten.

In addition, leaning back in a chair, your body is likely to come into a position that will prevent free and deep breathing. I will talk about this in more detail below.

3. Avoid kinks and unnecessary tension in the back

This point follows from the previous one. Often people are not accustomed to keeping their back straight, and trying to do this either creates unnecessary tension, or they quickly begin to slouch or tend to lean on the back of a chair. As a rule, this is due to the underdevelopment of those back muscles that are responsible for keeping the spine in a straight position.

If you find it difficult to sit with a straight back for a long time, use during meditation support on the wall or back of a chair using a pillow. So you can keep your back straight without undue stress.

In addition, in this situation, you should regularly do simple physical exercise to strengthen the back muscles.

In an effort to sit with a straight back, some people put their muscles in unnecessary tension. Most often, this causes tension in the lower back or in the thoracic region. Outwardly, it looks like too much extension. That is, the back is not in a straight position, but arched.

In order to track excess tension, remember that the weight of the body should “drain” into the pelvis. If there is tension somewhere, then this prevents such a runoff. Therefore, remember the support on which you sit. Imagine how the weight of the body flows into the pelvis, and through the pelvis goes to the floor or into the seat of the chair. This will protect you from excessive tension in the back.

4. Body position should help free deep breathing

If you have followed all three of the previous principles, you have most likely already adopted a body position conducive to correct breathing. However, I would like to draw your attention to some nuances, as they are very important.

Free and deep breathing- the basis of a state of relaxation and peace. Breathing is closely related to emotions. A stressed person instinctively holds his breath. Most people have shallow breathing. Many tend to delay it often, preventing the rhythmic and calm passage of the air flow through the respiratory tract. This type of breathing indicates that a person is in a state of chronic emotional stress. By the way, on my site there is a separate article on how to use simple breathing techniques achieve physical and emotional relaxation. Read it.

Freeing our breathing, making it deeper, even and calm, we are freed from unnecessary emotional stress, returning to a state of deep calm. Therefore, during meditation, it is desirable to maintain calm, deep, even breathing.

It is worth saying that if you are used to breathing shallowly, it may not be possible to immediately release your breath to the full extent. Therefore, you should not immediately strive at all costs to breathe in the right way. If you practice meditation regularly, gradually your breathing will become more and more free. However, from the very beginning it is important to create conditions in order to free your breath. A prerequisite correct breathing is the correct posture of the body.

In order to understand which body position is correct, let's recall the school biology course and analyze how the breathing process occurs.

Inhalation occurs due to the fact that the space inside the chest increases and, following this, the volume of the lungs increases. As a result, air rushes into the respiratory tract. That is, our body works like a pump: by increasing the space of the chest, it draws air in, while reducing this space, it pushes the air out.

The space of the chest increases and decreases due to the ribs and diaphragm. The diaphragm is a muscle located on the border of the thoracic and abdominal regions. This muscle is shaped like a dome that points upward into the chest cavity. On inspiration, the diaphragm contracts and the dome flattens, therefore, the volume of the chest increases. As for the ribs, everything is clear. When you inhale, the ribs rise, and the volume of the chest increases.

And now, with this information, let's return to the analysis of body posture for meditation, which provides deep and free breathing.

There are people who are used to stooping, and therefore their chest looks sunken. From this position, the volume of the chest is very difficult to increase. And, accordingly, if you stoop, then you can release your breath only after straightening chest.
So, make sure that your chest is straightened.

Now about the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a muscle that is very sensitive to stress. She often spasms as a result of emotional stress. There is even an expression: "Sucked in the pit of the stomach." In a stressful situation, many people experience discomfort in the area. solar plexus(this is the area where the stomach is located, where the chest cavity ends and the abdominal cavity begins). Such sensations are often associated with excessive tension of the diaphragmatic muscle. Excessive tension of the diaphragm leads to the fact that breathing becomes more shallow. Outwardly, such tension looks like a slight compression around this area.

If you are prone to contraction of the diaphragmatic area, you can begin to meditate with either the back of the chair or the wall behind you. Then you can put a pillow behind at the level of this area and lean a little on the pillow. This will help you straighten this area.

So, I hope, after reading this article, you have an understanding in what position to meditate correctly.

Meditation is a spiritual yoga practice that allows a person to find harmony in body and mind. There is no magic in it. This is a fairly simple exercise that helps not only relieve psychological stress, but also relax physically, balance all processes in the body. It is noteworthy that meditation has no restrictions and contraindications. people can meditate different ages, gender and religion. Giving training just 20-30 minutes a day, you can significantly improve your mood and well-being.

Like any exercise, meditation has its own technical rules and conditions. Musical accompaniment, silence and proper breathing are, of course, significant components of the practice. But the most important is the posture for meditation.

Why is correct posture important?

A comfortable position of the body provides peace of mind and nervous system, deeper concentration. This is especially true for beginners. Because enlightened yogis have a great stretch, physical strength. They can "twist" into complex asanas and meditate in them. Meditation poses for beginners are more familiar and natural body positions. With regular practice, they will allow you to dive deep into the consciousness almost anytime and anywhere.

Meditation enhances the energy current in the human body. For beginners, the wrong position can have a negative meaning, or bring no result at all, except for wasted time. Therefore, the position of the body should be comfortable, give stability and keep the spine straight. The correct posture for meditation is the key to a successful exercise. Only in this way will energy circulate freely throughout the body, saturating, activating and healing every cell, every organ.

Poses for beginners

Starting to choose a posture for meditation, you should not be equal to yoga instructors or acquaintances who have been practicing meditation techniques for a long time. It is necessary to proceed from physical abilities your body (health conditions, stretch marks). It is best to start with easier positions and gradually complicate them.

Turkish pose

The yogic name for this pose is sukhasana. This is perhaps the most common posture for meditation. This is what most beginners prefer. The cross-legged pose is also ideal for people with joint mobility issues.

Technique:

Diamond Pose

It is also called vajrasana. This meditation posture is also very comfortable and does not require special physical training. To perform it, you need to kneel, put the foot lifts on the floor. Then lower the buttocks on the heels, while crossing the toes of the feet. Straighten your chest, lower your shoulders and relax. Reach up with the crown, while the chin is slightly lowered. The hands should rest on the knees with palms up or in mudra. To achieve greater comfort in the diamond pose, you can put a thin roller or pillow between the buttocks and heels.

Sitting on a chair

This is a very easy and comfortable posture for meditation, which can be practiced not only at home, but also where you need to relieve tension and recharge a little (for example, at work). She does not have physical contraindications and can be practiced by almost anyone. To do this, you just need to sit on a chair, straighten your spine, open your chest, lower your shoulders. Legs should be parallel, chin slightly lowered. Put your hands on your knees, palms up, or hold in mudra.

sage pose

This is a great pose for energy attunement. It is medium in complexity, so you need to prepare physically for it: warm up the muscles of the legs, stretch the joints.

Technique:

Lotus position

This is the best posture for meditation. Experienced yogis call it padmasana. It closes the energy inside the body and does not allow it to flow outside. In this position, joint endurance plays a huge role. For those who do not have local problems, it is not harmful. People with diseases of the joints of the legs should not be used in practice.

Before proceeding with the technique, it is necessary to stretch the hip joints, knees, ankles. To get the maximum comfort, relaxation and benefits that meditation brings, the lotus position must be performed taking into account all conditions:

Important Points

• Meditation takes place exclusively in an upright position, so the practice of "lying down" does not bring any benefit other than relaxation.
• No matter how effective and powerful this or that posture for meditation is, you should not experiment. The position of the body in spiritual practice should correspond physical training and state of health. Only in this case, you can get a healing result.
• Sometimes even detailed descriptions not always give a visual design of the chosen posture for meditation. Photo images in this case are the best helpers.
• Eyes during meditation should be closed or half open.
• Breathing must be controlled. It plunges a person deep into consciousness, helps to tune in and relax. In addition, focusing on the breath will help to get rid of annoying and disturbing thoughts, which will make the practice deeper. Therefore, the breaths should be deep, and the exhalations should be slow.

Namaste, friends! An article on how to learn to sit correctly in the Lotus position - Padmasana, photos and videos illustrating the technique for beginners, a description of the benefits and contraindications. After studying this material, start applying it in your daily practices, this will give you a more comfortable position, as well as increase concentration.

Padmasana is one of the four main postures described in ancient yoga treatises. Today I will tell and show you in practice its implementation. This is the most famous position and depicts the Buddha, Indian yogis and other sages. In fact, all other yoga asanas are designed to help you learn to sit comfortably and with a straight back. Earlier we talked about, which occupies a leading place in meditation practices, but Padmasana is not inferior to her in importance in her qualities. In meditation, it is very important not to be distracted by discomfort in the body, so if you have the right and comfortable posture, meditating will be much easier. Overview of all

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika says: “Padmasana is the destroyer of all ailments, it is not available to mere mortals, only to sages. The yogi who sits in Padmasana and controls his breathing certainly becomes liberated.”

In Indian, in the ancient Sanskrit language, the lotus position is called Padmasana. "Padma" means lotus and "Asana" is a pose.
The lotus has several petals and lives in clear ponds and slow-flowing rivers. If you see a blooming lotus up close, you can understand why this pose has inherited its name.

In the east, the lotus lying on the water is considered a symbol of perfection and purity. And in this position, we kind of recreate the beauty of the lotus flower in our body and in our mind. The roots of the lotus are at the bottom of the lake, and the flower turns its radiance towards the sun, despite the fact that the lotus moves in the water, it does not lose its roots.

This perfectly symbolizes the practice of yoga and meditation: "Having a solid foundation, and at the same time spiritual advancement."

Lotus Pose step by step

At first glance, the lotus position does not seem so difficult, but if you try to take it without having sufficient preparation and mobility of the joints, you can feel how difficult it is.

It may even be thought that it is too difficult for beginners, and only indian yoga hermits or some ascetic monks. But this, of course, is not the case. Acting clearly and consistently, guided by common sense and the experience of wise teachers, you can achieve results and take the Lotus position in a perfect way.

At the same time, don't rush or force things.

For some beginners, Padmasana may take a long time to complete, and prematurely attempting it carries the risk of injury to the knees.

Therefore, it is better to take a slow and sure step to make your first Padmasana than to rush and leave the game without reaching the goal.

Taking the lotus position will be easiest for those who have a good stretch and flexible joints. The lower their mobility, the more difficult it is to achieve a result. However, you should not despair - Padmasana can be mastered even by older people, which means that study and training are simply necessary.

So here's the step by step guide:

• Take a comfortable position in the pose.
• Straighten your back, try to relax your body and focus your Mind.
• Grab your right foot with your hands and slowly place it on your left thigh, as close to your stomach as possible.
• Grab your left foot with your hands and slowly place it on your right thigh.
• Stretch your spine up.
• Pull your shoulders back and down.
• Open your chest.
• Pull the top of your head up.
• Remove excessive deflection in the lower back, giving the coccyx forward.
• Lower your chin a little.
• Put your hands on your knees in, or another
• Touch the floor with both knees.

Close your eyes halfway and hold this posture throughout your meditation. Try to calm the Mind and relax, feel like a lotus floating on the surface of a lake. Your breathing should be free, inhale and exhale without tension. Try to watch your body breathe in and then breathe out.

In the photo below you can see a photo of the Lotus pose.

The question is often asked, which leg should be on top and which should be on the bottom?

In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the description of the asana begins like this: “Place the right heel on the left thigh, the left heel on the right thigh . Further clarification is given that it is necessary to place the feet on the thighs of opposite legs.

From this we can conclude that it does not matter which leg is on top and which is on the bottom. Change legs alternately in the Lotus position, thereby you will balance the energies in the body and the hips will be stretched evenly.

Most often it happens that in some one position, in my case, this is when the left leg is on top, it is easier to sit. When the right leg is on top, the pose is less comfortable and requires more careful study. Therefore, practice with a different crossover of the legs is logical and reasonable.

Preparation for Padmasana for beginners

If you are unable to sit in the Lotus position, do some exercises to prepare for Padmasana by stretching the muscles of the thighs. And also, you can perfectly meditate and gradually prepare the body for the full Lotus in the pose. This asana is very good for beginners, and I recommend that you master it first.

If the Lotus pose does not come out, do the following exercise:

• take a sitting position on the floor;
• bend your knees in front of you and connect your feet;
• spread your knees as wide as possible;
• clasp your toes with your hands; as you exhale, tilt the body forward;
• lightly press your knees, elbows to the floor.

In the image you can see me doing this exercise. The inclined body body allows you to press your elbows on your knees.

It is important in the Lotus position that the knees touch the floor and the back is straight. If this does not happen, use improvised materials. Such as:

• pads;
• blanket;
• yoga cube;
• roller;
• additional yoga mat.

If you need improvised materials, a yoga mat, cubes and others, I recommend looking at this store.

In the photo you can see me sitting on a pillow under my buttocks

Sit with your buttocks on a blanket folded several times, or whatever you have available from the above. Thus, you artificially raise the pelvis off the ground, and the knees naturally fall down. If, in this case, it is not possible to reach the floor with your knees, then place pads under them, creating stability and at the same time relaxation in this position.

Benefits and harms of the Padmasana lotus position

Padmasana, like all phenomena in the world, has positive and negative sides. The main thing here is to find a balance in order to bring only good to your body, and in no case harm.

Benefits of Padmasana

The pose benefits your breathing, back muscles, and spine, and is good for your heart and circulatory system. The lotus position helps to increase the mobility and flexibility of the ligaments and joints. But its influence is not limited to physical indicators.

After the Lotus pose is fully mastered, it becomes one of the most relaxing asanas, speeds up thought processes, and improves memory. Proper execution Lotus posture raises the vital force upward, helping to focus and achieve deeper concentration during meditation and breathing practices.

That is why it is necessary to keep the back perfectly straight so as not to block the energy in the body.

Harm of the lotus pose

Despite all the amazing properties that the lotus position has, if you have injuries to your knees, hips or ankles, this pose is not recommended.

Since Padmasana at the very beginning creates a serious load on these parts of the body, and if there are sharp pains or injuries in them, this can lead to an aggravation.
Practicing padmasana, sometimes you can feel how your back hurts and ache, as well as your legs become numb. If this happens, release the asana and rest a little, stretching the legs and turning the body, alternately in different directions.

However, if you have never practiced yoga, you do not need to try to quickly master it. For beginners in the world of yoga, there are dangers. Do not try at all costs to perform Padmasana without having special training. If during the lesson you experience pain, your health worsens, be sure to consult with a specialist.

Padmasana for women

Lotus position - Padmasana, is very favorable for women.
To master it, it is necessary to develop the mobility of the hip joints, and it is this area that is most important for women. The health of the genitourinary system, the absence of complications during pregnancy and easier delivery are directly related to the mobility of the pelvis.

It is impossible to get around the purely aesthetic side of the matter: in addition to health, a girl practicing yoga acquires a truly flourishing appearance..

Lotus position during pregnancy

A direct link has long been identified between yoga classes of pregnant women and their subsequent easy childbirth.

Can pregnant women sit in the lotus position?

Padmasana for women is generally very useful and its practice during pregnancy will only benefit. This will help to make the body more flexible, get rid of back pain, and also avoid many difficulties during childbirth. In addition, the lotus position is teaching proper breathing and the ability to relax, which will also be very important during the birth of a child.

Video master class on how to sit in the Lotus position

And in conclusion, I suggest you watch a video clip in which I explain how to perform Padmasana correctly.

That's all. I tried to describe Padmasana, the Lotus position, as clearly as possible. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them in the comments to this article.