I advised my kids to keep stretching into adult life and maintain what they had. Too may of us don't.clw_uk wrote:Ive being trying to get into this position but find it impossible, has anyone else had this trouble?
Anyone know any good stretching tips?
First tip - learn as a child and don't lose it.
In the same way, the Indians and Japanese may be used to 'lotus' or 'seiza' postures from childhood and have no problem adopting them.
For a westerner unused to sitting on the floor, to try to adopt an alien and painful position is daft. The postures mentioned were 'natural' ways of sitting in a particular culture. Our 'natural' way of sitting usually involves a chair and as far as I know, a straight back is perfectly possible whilst sitting that way.
OK, so I don't think 'lotus' postures are essential for good meditation or enlightenment. However, I have spent many hundreds of painful hours in seiza so I am not really in a position to say anything is 'wrong' - but is it necessary?
I have taught my kids to sit on the floor and I hope that, unlike me, they will not lose that natural ability.
In case anyone wonders about the wisdom of learning how to sit on the floor, there is now evidence* that westerners suffer far more falls than those used to sitting on the floor, so perhaps we should all throw out the chairs and get 'grounded'.
For those who want to learn sitting in lotus or seiza but have no experience of it, I suggest Yoga and Japanese martial arts respectively. I can sit in seiza for hours, but friends in India laugh at my pathetic attempts to make my hips and knees to contort.
I also observe a difference between men and women, the latter seeming far more able to rotate hip joints outwards and adopt a full lotus. My 'party trick' is the opposite, inward rotation. Is that generally true about the gender differences, I wonder?
* I read the evidence, but can't recall the source, which was stats relating to the elderly.