It’s possible to be comfortable while sitting cross-legged.
Sitting crossed-legged is an integral part of a yoga practice and is a typical posture to hold while working on upper body stretches, focusing on breathing exercises or meditating. This pretzel-like posture can be very challenging and requires flexibility and strength in the glutes (butt), front, back and inner thighs, pelvis and external rotation of the hip joints.
Sitting crossed-legged is often called Easy Pose or Sukhasana in Sanskrit. There was a time, many years ago, when I could comfortably hold the more challenging version of Easy Pose called the Lotus Pose or Padmasana in Sanskrit (see pic below). There is no way I would even attempt this now, and I can only perform Half Lotus (placing only one foot on top of the opposite thigh). Now, I only sit in Easy Pose while teaching and practicing upper body stretches. I don’t even sit this way when meditating as I find it more comfortable to sit on a chair with both feet firmly planted on the floor. I wouldn’t want to give up practicing this pose altogether because it does provide numerous benefits and information about the state of flexibility in this part of my body.
Benefits of Easy Pose (Sukhasana)
It improves range of motion.
It improves blood flow.
It is a great way to stretch the muscles in your lower body.
It improves your posture.
Lastly, when you sit cross-legged, your ankles tend to put more pressure on the arteries of your inner thighs. This makes your heart pump more blood, leading to a better supply of oxygenated blood to other body parts, improving their functioning. (it’s essential to ensure that your feet don’t become numb)
Why is the pose challenging?
Despite the name Easy Pose, it’s anything but for many people. We’ve become accustomed to sitting on chairs for hours and often with poor posture. This weakens the abdominal muscles, the back and glutes, and tightens the hips.
If you find the pose challenging and you’re not recovering from an injury or have osteoarthritis in your hips and knees, the following may be contributing to your challenges with this posture:
You have weak glutes.
When you sit cross-legged, your body weight lies on your glutes, and if your glutes are not strong enough, it will not take long until your back feels fatigued, and your glutes will start to feel numb.
Your thighs are not strong or flexible enough.
Your thighs bear the stretch when you sit cross-legged, and weak and inflexible thighs (hamstrings and quadriceps) will make it challenging to hold the pose.
Your hips are not mobile.
If it’s challenging for you to externally rotate your hip (when the thigh and knee rotate outward, away from the body), for example, stepping out of your car, it means that your hips are tight and have a limited range of motion.
Your pelvic muscles are weak.
When your pelvic muscles are weak or too tight, it becomes hard to mobilize them.
The pelvic floor consists of muscles and connective tissues. These soft tissues attach to your pelvis and, more specifically, to the bones at the bottom of the pelvis. In all people, the pelvic organs include the urethra, bladder, intestines, and rectum. In women it consists of the uterus, cervix, and vagina and in the men, the prostate.
You have poor blood circulation.
Stiff muscles are a sign that your blood is not circulating correctly and can cause numbness in your lower body.
This video demonstrates how to use props and which postures to practice to prepare your lower body for Easy Pose-
Crossed legged sitting position video.mp4
Utilizing props to make the pose more comfortable
Your hips should be higher than your knees, so place a couple of throw cushions or folded blankets under your hips. You can also support your knees by placing cushions under them. If you find your back tires quickly, try sitting with your back against a wall until your glutes and hips become more robust and flexible.
Yoga postures and stretches to practice:
These postures and stretches will strengthen and increase flexibility in your lower body.
Bridge-strengthens legs and glutes.
Diamond or butterfly-stretches inner and outer thighs and hips.
Leg stretches with strap-stretches hamstrings.
Thread needle/figure 4 -stretches and opens hips and glutes.
Warrior 1 and 2-both strengthen legs and stretch hip flexors.
Yin poses-square, shoelace, pigeon pose-provide a deep stretch of the connective tissue in hips and glutes. You may find these postures challenging for the same reasons that Easy Pose is challenging.
Kegel exercises can help with weak pelvic muscles.
Easy Pose should be avoided if you are recovering from injury or surgery on hips or knees. If you have osteoarthritis in this area, I recommend obtaining an assessment from a physiotherapist, and they can recommend a treatment plan. If you are experiencing pain, you should also avoid this pose until you can figure out what is causing the pain and hopefully find ways to comfortably practice the posture.
Finally, it’s also possible that your body is not anatomically able to sit in this pose comfortably. This might be caused by the alignment between your knee and hip joints, or maybe it’s not feasible for your knees to be in such deep flexion. If that’s the case and props don’t help, skip it and sit on a chair instead. I also recommend continuing to strengthen and increase agility in your lower body.
I’m interested in hearing about your experiences with the Easy and Lotus Poses.
Be well.
Anita
Resources:
DISCLAIMER; The information provided on County Yoga Loft’s website blog is for general health care informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith. However, it should not replace consultation or advice from a physician and/or other healthcare practitioners. The use or reliance of any information contained on this site is solely at your own risk.