Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong Full Lotus

Years ago i always sat in full lotus position for very long stretches of time, i.e., 1-2 hrs at a stretch.

But in 1990, i became sick w/ Lyme Disease & i've had it 4 times since then. Now my right knee gets sore off/on. I use magnets & the pain goes away immediately.

My thoughts are: Now that i've started Level 1 active exercises again, the knee hurts quite a bit. Magnets go on & the pain goes away. I consider this left over arthritic pain from the disease. If i just continue w/ the active exercises, maybe the blockages will fully open up & the arthritic pain will stop.

In any case, i can no longer do the full lotus. I can easily do the half lotus b/c the left knee is fine.

So should i shoot for healing the right knee & then full lotus? In all seriousness, i do agree w/ M. Lin, but after all these years, i also know that just keeping the spine straight is all that is necessary. And, having love, kindness & forgiveness is more important. I sat for years in the full lotus but i didn't have love, kindness & forgiveness in my heart. Powers of any kind w/o love, kindness & forgiveness are extremely detrimental to spirituality.

Gallen, are you now doing full lotus?

I'm work'n on it! I have some arthritis I am working through. It is hard, as it seems connected to lifestyle choices too. I like cappicino, my arthritis doesn't! Little things like that...I am not a purest, although I have good cycles where I really focus, and make progress. I sit in a half lotus for my meditations. I can sit in a full lotus, but it isn't what I would say, comfortable for me. I am using some yoga principles to gauge my choices. I prefer no discomfort, as opposed to working through discomfort. I prefer the meditation time without that issue. When I started these sitting positions, maybe a year ago???, I had trouble even sitting cross-legged on the floor. From that perspective I have made definite progress. I find myself moving more and more towards meditation, and gearing my active work towards that end.

My husband is a yogi. He was of the Jain religion. He now practices his own meditation. I had asked him about sitting in the lotus position and why the yogi's all sat that way to meditate. I can't sit in a lotus position either due to arthritis in my hip and now in a recently operated on knee.

He said the reason why the lotus position was so popular was that Indian people are very poor and never had furniture so most of the people always sat on the floor, hence the lotus position evolving. He said when you are raised from a child in India, sitting on the floor, your back becomes much stronger and the Indian people are more used to sitting that way than westerners. It's natural for them.

So now, I for one, don't believe that if you can't sit in lotus position, you won't become enlightened or experience total freedom.

It's your mind that frees you, not how you sit.

Mayflower,

This is simply not true. Yes poor people do sit on the floor but in the half-lotus posture.

The full lotus has profound physiological effects. In the parlance of yoga, there are two currents- male current and female current(i am omitting the sanskrit), sitting in the lotus posture, the male current is overcome, and by regulating the breath(inhalation equal to exhalation) the female current is overcome. When both the currents have been overcome, it will let you go into the meditative channel(sushumna, similar to the governor vessel).

There are subleties to the lotus posture itself- like putting the right foot on top, use of various mudras etc.

Blue_sky

Blue Sky,

You do know your lotus position. My husband is Indian. He would know. Actually you just proved my point. You said they sit in "half-lotus" posture. They're halfway there already.

I'm just stressing again, that one shouldn't get all wrapped up (GET IT? WRAPPED UP?? HA! HA!, I made a funny) in sitting the "right" way to get enlightened. It's your mind that frees you.

Blessings,
Diana