The Padmasana or the Lotus pose is an intermediate pose that, when done perfectly, can reap great rewards for the body.
STEP 1
To start off, sit on the floor and stretch your legs straight in front of you. While in this position, bend your right knee so that your right leg is in a cradle position in your lap and your hands are together clasped by your shin. Once you do this, straighten your back completely so that it does not hunch. After that, bend your left knee and lock it by ensuring that your calf is in firm contact with the back of your thigh.
STEP 2
Repeat the exact same routine with the right leg, resting it on top of the left and ensuring that both the knees are as close to each other as possible and that the right heel is firmly pressed against the lower abdomen. Also, make sure that the soles of both feet are perpendicular to the floor and not parallel. Although this move adds a greater degree of difficulty, it is in fact the right way to do this position. Once you have maintained this position, lean back a little and straighten you back muscles. You can also straighten out your arms and place them on top of your knees in the jnana mudra position with the first fingers touching the thumbs.
STEP 3
This exercise cannot be performed by everybody and experienced people can perform this as part of their daily meditation. It is advised that students doing this exercise for the first time hold this position for only a few seconds and make a quick release. Make sure that you do this exercise with both leg crosses as this is not a one-way but a two-way exercise. You can gradually add a few seconds to it every day until you can do this for over a minute without any discomfort. It is ideal, although not necessary, that you perform this in the supervision of a teacher.
STEP 4
To avoid distortions in the hip, make sure that you change the crosses every day. To make this easier to remember, you can do the right leg over the left on the odd-numbered days and the left over the right on the even-numbered days.
BENEFITS
There are many benefits of this pose, like:
1) It helps soothe the brain.
2) It stimulates the spine, bladder, abdomen and pelvis.
3) It decreases menstrual pain and sciatica.
4) If practiced consistently well into pregnancy, this pose can help ease the pain of childbirth.
5) According to traditional texts, this pose is a deterrent for diseases.
6) It stretches vital muscle groups in the legs, especially the ankles and knees.
Meta Description: It also outlines the benefits of this exercise and muscle groups that it engages. Furthermore, some not-to-do pointers are also mentioned to ensure that the first timers know exactly what they are getting into and how to best do and best use this exercise. The Lotus pose has been proven to stimulate vital muscles in your back and the pelvis while also helping to strengthen the abdominal organs of your body.
