How to become flexible enough for lotus pose as a beginner

[Magnanimous]

I'm trying to get to the lotus position one day to optimize my new Kriya yoga practice and improve meditation. But I'm not flexible enough, so I look on YouTube tutorials and my findings are

1. The stretches are too hard for me

2. I don't know if they will lead to me being able to do the lotus position in the long run

So how did you become flexible enough to do the lotus pose? Did you have a routine?

[samijiben]

Just do butterfly and push your knees down and bring feet closer to anus and head down to cock for the best stretch. Do what you can. Slowly flexibility gets (you guessed it) more flexible 

[samijiben]

Then after, hold foot in same side hand and bring to ear on opposite side. Again, do as much you can. Slow & easy habibi. Life Lotus is a journey, not a race

[Sugarcoat]

3 minutes ago, samijiben said:

Just do butterfly and push your knees down and bring feet closer to anus and head down to cock for the best stretch. Do what you can. Slowly flexibility gets (you guessed it) more flexible 

😂😂😂

[Magnanimous]

@samijiben

1. How much of each stretch do you do?

2. Say I reach full lotus; is 6 minutes of each stretch daily enough to maintain it?

3. How long did it take you to acquire lotus position?

[samijiben]

1. Lots of stretching 

2. Try it out for yourself

3. 1st try

(Though it stings like a BITCH)

All the best to you on this incredible journey of being and becoming, my magnanimous brother 👐🤲👈🤏👆

[samijiben]

May I ask what your goal is in achieving the highly esteemed and utterly magnanimous Lotus Position, Brother?

[aurum]

@Magnanimous don't do full lotus.

Horrible for your body, does nothing to improve consciousness.

[Jodistrict]

You have to do a general hip opening routine to gradually work up to it.   That includes stretching the adductors and external hip rotator muscles.  Include the prayer squat and pigeon stretch.    I had a yoga instructor tell me that the lotus position is something that should be possible for a normal person.  In other words, you don’t have to be double jointed or anything unusual.  It’s the best position for advanced meditators because it is so stable and doesn’t put undue pressure on any part of the body, allowing it to be held hours at a time.

Edited yesterday at 05:12 AM by Jodistrict

[Leo Gura]

Warning: lotus is bad for knee health. It will eventually ruin your knees.

I recommend just using a chair.

[Magnanimous]

@Leo Gura

 

[Davino]

Okay, so padmasana is good for yoga but is not necessary for meditation. It lets the energy really flow through the spine, although it's quite overrated, it's the best way to sit. You can do kriya yoga in other poses and when you're a few years in and want to improve, get the padmasana.

These stretches are good, use the ones that work for you, don't worry if you can't do some, you'll eventually can if you do the ones accessible to you. 

 

On the other hand, most people do padmasana wrong which can lead to knee problems and derivates. Here is a short explanations on how to perform it safely:

 

Here is a more complete version: 

Watch one or the other depending on your interest of depth.

 

[Rigel]

Swiss ball meditation is clearly superior. /jk

[Thought Art]

10 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Warning: lotus is bad for knee health. It will eventually ruin your knees.

I recommend just using a chair.

The Toaist way. It’s also more comfortable. 

[Jodistrict]

People have been doing full lotus for thousands of years.  They lived in societies where people didn’t have chairs and would squat, which naturally opens the hips.  It was probably chosen because it was so comfortable and highly stable.   Today, people use chairs which ruins their backs and posture.   If anything is bad for your health, it’s a chair.

[Bogdan]

True flexibility is obtained in years, cause you want to get to the point where you can wake up and simply do the pose you want without warming up.

That's acquired flexibility

To be comfortable in the lotus, you need to be able to go beyond the lotus, so that the lotus itself is not your maximum. You want zero tension, especially if you wanna sit for long periods of time in one pose.

Personally i just switch between a few comfy positions, mostly sitting on a comfy chair or couch.

If you wanna increase flexibility as an adult, especially without having it as a child, i recommend the following resources:

Range of Strength (Lucas Hardie)

Emmett Louis (the splits wizard)

Also for general spine health check out the GOAT - David Weck

[UnbornTao]

2 hours ago, Thought Art said:

The Toaist way. It’s also more comfortable. 

You once made the same spelling mistake about a year ago, and then I made this with AI:

#toaistreligion

Edited 22 hours ago by UnbornTao

[Davino]

@UnbornTao

[aurum]

20 hours ago, Davino said:

These stretches are good, use the ones that work for you, don't worry if you can't do some, you'll eventually can if you do the ones accessible to you. 

On the other hand, most people do padmasana wrong which can lead to knee problems and derivates. Here is a short explanations on how to perform it safely:

No, this is bullshit.

These stretches and poses are completely unnecessary and not healthy for you. There really is no such thing as "safe" full lotus. "Safe" full lotus essentially just means you have way over-externally rotated your hips.

Yogis do not understand biomechanics.

[Leo Gura]

Stretching yourself to get into lotus does not mean your knees will be saved. Those are distinct issues. Knees are not designed for lotus. People do it out of conformity -- like most things.

You don't want to screw up your knees into old age.

Edited 12 hours ago by Leo Gura