Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong Full Lotus Tips

Hey there, for the last two weeks I've been stretching the hell out of my legs trying to acquire the Full Lotus position. It's basically my goal to hold the Full Lotus for two hours straight before moving on to level 3. But let me tell you, it's no picnic. So far, I've only used the tactics shown in the level 2 video before I sit down and attempt to stretch out each leg for 20 minutes by attempting the half lotus. I've definitely been making progress, but still, any added advice would be nice.

Thanks for your time.

Aloha Nacho,

I believe there are some tips already mentioned on this forum for you -do a quick search.

Be patient with the process.

Just getting to the point of being in the full lotus position is a step, being in it for 2 hours is another.

It's good to hear your're honoring your body by doing the stretches.

Another one I started doing a couple years back is, for lack of a better description, the sitting squat . Be gentle with your knees if this a new one for you, but it does a wonderful job opening the sacrum (it's great for pregnant women too and they show it in the Bradley Method classes.)

Your feet are probably are a little wider than shoulder length a part and with feet flat on the ground (you may feel a tendency to be on your toes), you squat your butt down to just off the floor. once again, be gentle with your body on this one and go slowly. Spend a couple minutes a day doing this -people at the office will look at you funny, so choose where you do it wisely , and after a while the lower back and sacrum will open and you body will being in a relaxed vertical position with you arms relaxed over you knees.

In the full lotus position, you want your legs lying flat on the ground. Don't press down on your knees to get the legs flat, the relaxing, stretch and opening needs to happen in the hip area for that.

Be gentle with much Love,

Shawn

p.s. Chunyi has his once a year level IV retreat along the beautiful shores of Lake Superior August 24-26. I had to pull out of it due to running pieces of the Paul Scheele retreat that week, but Gallen, my wife, and other members of this forum will be there. Please mark it in you brain or calendars and send them Love, energy and prayers during those growth-filled days.

p.p.s. This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars,  an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two  planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is  in 2287.  Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs  its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close  to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000  years.

On August 27, Mars will come within 34,649,589 miles and will be  (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky.  It will  attain a magnitude of - 2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide.  At  a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to  the naked eye.

[This message has been edited by Shawn_Grim (edited August 01, 2003).]

Thanks for the tips Shawn. By the way, when doing the "sitting squat" should your back be straight, or does that not matter?

Aloha Nacho,

I had to grab my "little sister" who works next to me at LSC to show her the position and ask about the back.

The tendencies are to be on your toes and learning forward.

You want to keep the feet flat and work down until your more vertical. Your feet should stay parallel rather than be pointed out. This will take time to work into that position, as your opening up that same sacrum area. Be gentile.

I could put another animated gif for it along side the bouncing. (I'll see if I can find a visual refernce on the web)

Much Love, Shawn

Man, I sure hope I'm doing this right. My feet keep falling asleep, and I'm having the hardest time trying to figure out what to do with my arms. Anyway, since I forgot to ask earlier, how long should somebody do this stretch? I've been doing it for 20 minutes so far, but I'd like to be sure.

Aloha Nacho,

5-10 minutes a time is plenty and if the feet point out a bit, it is ok.

I didn't find a picture for you on the net yet.

Is your difficulty in getting the feet on top of each other, or being in that postion?

Much Love, Shawn

Nacho,

Sounds like you're making good progress on the stretching. It looks like both of us are pretty much along the same stage in SFQ and stretching.

I've been doing stretching for a few months now and the best I've been able to do so far is get into half lotus for 30-60 minutes at a time. I feel I could just about force myself to go into full lotus but this would be forcing it and cause real pain so I've developed a system that's getting me there with relative ease: Once in the half lotus I simply get hold of one knee at a time and move it up and down (without unfolding the leg), moving as close to my torso as possible and then back flat onto the ground. I alternate both knees and also alternate which leg goes on top. Do this for 2-5 minutes and then relax leg back into half lotus, continue watching TV etc or doing small universe. Then after another 15 minutes do the knee raises again. You can intersperse a small walk to the end of the room and back in between also. I find the second and subsequent times I do the knee raises I can stretch further and on a good day I come close to locking my legs but I'm not going that far yet and will probably give these exercises another 3 or 4 months at least before I attempt that. Unfortunately I've not found the recommended exercises on the video to be of much help - but that could be just me.

Another good tip would be to try full lotus in a sauna if that's possible. In such conditions your muscles and ligaments really loosen up and expand given them the extra leverage needed. Again I recommend the knee moves. Failing that try sit out on a sunny day to practice these stretches. Thos living in Florida will find this a breeze as it's a virtual open air sauna Here in the UK we're experiencing a heat wave and the temperature has definitely helped me. Muscles and limbs are much more supple.

It is also important to realise that ones diet can affect as much if not more than the outside conditions. Certain foods that fit into the "cold" category generally tend to act in a way similar to if you were out in the cold. And of course other foods can have the effect of doing the reverse... without going into a detailed list of foods I suggest you eat a healthy balance of food items and refrain from too many cold, fizzy drinks in particular, eat plenty of beans, eggs, milk, fish and chicken.

Respect
Hakim

Thanks for the help Hakim,
It's actually started to get pretty hot over here too so I'll be sure to start gettting some more sun. Also, the exercises Master Lin gave haven't helped me much with the Full Lotus either, but they have helped me in other ways. Now when stretching my legs I can actually move my head down past my knees, it might not be Full Lotus but it's still pretty cool. Anyway, I'm glad you're making good progress with this. Maybe beating you to the Full Lotus can be a goal for me.

My meditation teacher advised me to try the "rocking the baby" exercise. While sitting cross legged, cradle your left knee in the crook of your left arm, and your left foot in the crook of your right arm. Envision that your lower leg is the "baby" being cradled. The exercise involves bringing your left foot (rather than your knee) up to your chest in a gentle "rocking" motion. Reverse for the other side. I hope that makes sense. Good luck!!

Cradling the lower leg and rocking laterally is often taught in hatha yoga courses. The half lotus and full lotus postures came from the yogis and Buddhist monks from India. The Burmese meditation posture may be easier for many in that both feet are on the floor while sitting. See http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/meditation/poses.asp Another easy posture is the kneeling position common in Japan http://www.buddhamind.info/leftside/lifestyl/medi/posture.htm A meditation stool can make this pose much easier to hold for long periods.

The hurdler's stretch is also another good practice exercise. If you go beyond the hype, the body flow system by Coach Sonnon has some excellent flexibility exercises for the lower body to develop the suppleness to achieve full lotus much more quickly.
http://www.amerross.com/kinetic.html

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