Accepted throughout the world as the best posture for meditation and
contemplation, the yoga posture is the only seated pose in which all four
areas of the body are perfectly balanced, the legs and feet, pelvis and
torso, the arms and hands, the neck, throat, and head are all in perfect
alignment. When the body is in perfect balance so is the spirit; the head
rests correctly on the spinal column and breathing becomes easy. The
positioning of the legs in the Lotus Posture supports the back and aligns
the torso so the diaphragm is able to expand more fully.
The locking of the legs together also provides a solid foundation, a base
on which you feel secure and stable. In the Lotus Posture you feel firmly
connected to the earth and yet your mind is clear and alert.
One Indian text, the Yoga-Shastra, even describes 840,000 different yoga
poses, but only describes the Lotus Posture (Padmasana) as suitable
for attaining enlightenment.
Why You Need this Course
There is a great danger of knee damage connected with the Lotus Posture.
This is caused when people with insufficient hip flexibility try to force
him- or herself into the position too early. The only way to protect the
knees in the Lotus Posture (in all its variations) is to follow a
systematic course in hip flexibility such as the one outlined here. Then
and only then will you be able to achieve the Lotus position in comfort
and safety. People are continually injuring their knees through the Lotus
Posture — forcing one’s legs into the Lotus Posture is painful. That
feeling of pain is your knees telling you not to do it. Pain is an
important warning sign that you should never ignore. If your teacher or
instructor tries to force you to perform this or any posture through pain,
you should leave his or her tutorage. You will not achieve enlightenment
with this method; you will achieve a painful pinching sensation in the
inner knee that will lead to injury. If you are using your knees to flex
into the Lotus position you are pinching the inner cartilage of the knee
between the inner ends of the thigh and shin bones, while simultaneously
over-stretching the tendon on the outside of the knee.
