foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
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Cittasanto
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by Cittasanto »

johnny wrote: please convince me lotus doesn't matter! sincerely. i don't like lotus! however i would need a posture that is as conducive too wakefulness since lotus helps with that a lot.
Ok
it doesn't say how to cross your legs,
The passage could also mean sat on a sofa
Pallaṅkaṃ ābhujitvā, ujuṃ kāyaṃ paṇidhāya,
They sit mastering the crossed legged posture, intending to keep their body upright,
pallaṅka: a sofa; a coach; a cross-legged sitting.
there is never the suggestion to sit full lotus in the canon, and the sugestion is to meditators who are mendicants who had the robe & bowl as their only possessions, not a rucksack full of things, so having a bench of some kind would of been a luxury.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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johnny
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by johnny »

Cittasanto wrote:
johnny wrote: please convince me lotus doesn't matter! sincerely. i don't like lotus! however i would need a posture that is as conducive too wakefulness since lotus helps with that a lot.
Ok
it doesn't say how to cross your legs,
The passage could also mean sat on a sofa
Pallaṅkaṃ ābhujitvā, ujuṃ kāyaṃ paṇidhāya,
They sit mastering the crossed legged posture, intending to keep their body upright,
pallaṅka: a sofa; a coach; a cross-legged sitting.
there is never the suggestion to sit full lotus in the canon, and the sugestion is to meditators who are mendicants who had the robe & bowl as their only possessions, not a rucksack full of things, so having a bench of some kind would of been a luxury.

sweet, thank you sir! no more lotus for me! this is really important as i'm on my feet all day and my knees ache very bad from it!
The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only the electronic clocks but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch would twitch once, and a year would pass, and then it would twitch again.
There was nothing I could do about it. As an Earthling I had to believe whatever clocks said -and calendars.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
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Cittasanto
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by Cittasanto »

johnny wrote:
Cittasanto wrote:
johnny wrote: please convince me lotus doesn't matter! sincerely. i don't like lotus! however i would need a posture that is as conducive too wakefulness since lotus helps with that a lot.
Ok
it doesn't say how to cross your legs,
The passage could also mean sat on a sofa
Pallaṅkaṃ ābhujitvā, ujuṃ kāyaṃ paṇidhāya,
They sit mastering the crossed legged posture, intending to keep their body upright,
pallaṅka: a sofa; a coach; a cross-legged sitting.
there is never the suggestion to sit full lotus in the canon, and the sugestion is to meditators who are mendicants who had the robe & bowl as their only possessions, not a rucksack full of things, so having a bench of some kind would of been a luxury.

sweet, thank you sir! no more lotus for me! this is really important as i'm on my feet all day and my knees ache very bad from it!
Try doing some stretching of the leg muscles, this eases my knee pain after a day at work, but I have a muscle tension issues in the legs, but may be of benefit.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
dharmagoat
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by dharmagoat »

TravisGM wrote:
johnny wrote:Your name and avatar make me happy
I have to agree :D
Aw, thanks guys. I will try to live up to this in my posts.

I find that the Burmese position is quite adequate to provide that sense of stability that the lotus position is known for. When I am unaccustomed to sitting, such as after a long break, I find it useful to place support under the knees when they do not naturally come to rest on the ground.
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johnny
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by johnny »

dharmagoat wrote:
TravisGM wrote:
johnny wrote:Your name and avatar make me happy
I have to agree :D
Aw, thanks guys. I will try to live up to this in my posts.

I find that the Burmese position is quite adequate to provide that sense of stability that the lotus position is known for. When I am unaccustomed to sitting, such as after a long break, I find it useful to place support under the knees when they do not naturally come to rest on the ground.
yeah you better live up too the great reputation of the dharma goats! lol :smile: good advice. i know it's totally just peer pressure, but the sitting posture like that is important too me so that's a good choice that will be almost the same without hurting me! like smoking those electronic cigarettes too hang with the cool people who smoke the real ones ha ha. actually not at all like that but a funny that came too mind since i used the cliche "peer pressure".
The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only the electronic clocks but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch would twitch once, and a year would pass, and then it would twitch again.
There was nothing I could do about it. As an Earthling I had to believe whatever clocks said -and calendars.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
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johnny
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by johnny »

TO EVERYBODY

thanks so much for all the advice! i entered jhana in burmese posture so i can forget lotus! whoo! healthy knees here i come!

oddly enough i had trouble sitting in a chair. it's purely mental though, my body and mind are just so used too lotus that they don't want to be in meditation mode when sitting in a chair. i could have just kept at it and i'm sure it would have happened, but burmese posture is so close too lotus that it worked beautifully!

my left foot/leg still fell asleep but since there was zero wrenching or unnatural twisting of my knee, i'm sure this is nothing problematic, and i could still move it, it was just a normal leg asleep kind of feeling.
The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only the electronic clocks but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch would twitch once, and a year would pass, and then it would twitch again.
There was nothing I could do about it. As an Earthling I had to believe whatever clocks said -and calendars.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
dharmagoat
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Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:41 am
Location: Gone Bush

Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by dharmagoat »

Good to hear, johnny.

Sitting on/against a firm cushion may help lessen the loss of feeling in you legs. For firmness in a cushion, you can't do better that buckwheat.
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johnny
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by johnny »

dharmagoat wrote:Good to hear, johnny.

Sitting on/against a firm cushion may help lessen the loss of feeling in you legs. For firmness in a cushion, you can't do better that buckwheat.

i'm poor and can't afford a cushion. i sit on pillow(s) folded up and tucked under a blanket. could you explain how too position pillows with my body too lesson loss of feeling?
The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only the electronic clocks but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch would twitch once, and a year would pass, and then it would twitch again.
There was nothing I could do about it. As an Earthling I had to believe whatever clocks said -and calendars.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
dharmagoat
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:41 am
Location: Gone Bush

Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by dharmagoat »

johnny wrote:
dharmagoat wrote:Sitting on/against a firm cushion may help lessen the loss of feeling in you legs. For firmness in a cushion, you can't do better that buckwheat.
i'm poor and can't afford a cushion. i sit on pillow(s) folded up and tucked under a blanket. could you explain how too position pillows with my body too lesson loss of feeling?
I was using an old sack partly filled with dead leaves at one point, it worked very well but made a mess as the the leaves crumbled. Blankets work alright, but don't hold a shape very well. What might work best for you is to fill a pillow case with laundry or a crumpled blanket. Just experiment for yourself. The important thing is that it shouldn't be too compressible.

I have always had difficulty with my legs losing feeling after only about twenty minutes of sitting. One way that I have reduced this is to sit far forward on a firm cushion in such a way that the cushion forms a wedge behind the point where the pressure normally occurs. I don't know exactly why this works, but it seems to better distribute the pressure around the area of the sciatic nerve, which is most likely what is causing the problem.
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johnny
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Re: foot falling asleep too the point that i can't move it???

Post by johnny »

dharmagoat wrote:
johnny wrote:
dharmagoat wrote:Sitting on/against a firm cushion may help lessen the loss of feeling in you legs. For firmness in a cushion, you can't do better that buckwheat.
i'm poor and can't afford a cushion. i sit on pillow(s) folded up and tucked under a blanket. could you explain how too position pillows with my body too lesson loss of feeling?
I was using an old sack partly filled with dead leaves at one point, it worked very well but made a mess as the the leaves crumbled. Blankets work alright, but don't hold a shape very well. What might work best for you is to fill a pillow case with laundry or a crumpled blanket. Just experiment for yourself. The important thing is that it shouldn't be too compressible.

I have always had difficulty with my legs losing feeling after only about twenty minutes of sitting. One way that I have reduced this is to sit far forward on a firm cushion in such a way that the cushion forms a wedge behind the point where the pressure normally occurs. I don't know exactly why this works, but it seems to better distribute the pressure around the area of the sciatic nerve, which is most likely what is causing the problem.
cool thanks very much señor cabra! i will give this a shot and see what works. i hadn't thought of filling a pillow case with laundry, that's a really good idea which would give me a dedicated cushion that would be the same every time as opposed too my pillow/blanket pile which is always different.
The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only the electronic clocks but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch would twitch once, and a year would pass, and then it would twitch again.
There was nothing I could do about it. As an Earthling I had to believe whatever clocks said -and calendars.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
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