How to stop sleepy feet??

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

Okay, seriously serious question of seriousness.

How.

Do you.

Stop your feet from falling asleep while meditating? Every pose, full lotus, half lotus, lack lotus, no lotus, crisscross, japanese knee sitting.

My feet fall asleep every time, sitting in a chair is the only thing that stops it.

How do stop sleeping feet, halp

[Plenum]

My feet fall asleep every time, sitting in a chair is the only thing that stops it.

well, I can't answer your question directly, but I get around the issue by doing what you just described; that is, meditating in a non-lotus posture - more specifically, sitting in a comfy sofa

The important thing is to quiet the body, and having a specific posture and mat is something that can train the body to go into quietude.  But that is just the technique.  One can quieten the body using the more conventional sitting in a chair; it's the mental attitude which is of paramount importance.

I tried going the route of painful knees and crushed ankles; at the end of the day, I thought - what's the point of inducing this posture if it only serves to draw the mind more to physical discomfort?  I'm sure part of it was me doing it improperly; I've always been a fail when it comes to physical technique - at least at the start - but it just seemed such a low return-on-investment to train the body that way.  Sit in a chair, comfortable, and explore and quieten the mind.  The body should be really transparent at thet stage - as closing the eyes is the most important aspect of shutting down bodily/sensation based inputs into consciousness.

[Jade]

I lie down. I know it's not proper, but it's most comfortable for me, and I don't risk falling asleep usually, and it allows me to fully relax my muscles without any discomfort. You can try to set the intention to keep your body awake, keep the circulation into your feet, etc - experiment!

[Steppingfeet]

Have you tried a zafu/zabuton combination?

With these I'm able to sit upright on the floor relatively comfortably for a long long time.





Meditation benches also work well.

[APeacefulWarrior]

I'm in the camp that thinks there's no "wrong" way to meditate, if one is achieving the proper mental state in the process. A lot of those positions you mentioned (lack lotus? ) are social constructs as much as anything else, ways of differentiating various "schools" of spiritual teachings. Whether any method of meditating is truly BETTER than any other is almost certainly subjective and unproveable.

Like Plenum said, just sit on a comfy sofa. Or whatever else makes you comfortable. If you're not trying to achieve some level of Yogic bendyness, there's no reason to try to force it.

[anagogy]

Okay, seriously serious question of seriousness.

How.

Do you.

Stop your feet from falling asleep while meditating?  Every pose, full lotus, half lotus, lack lotus, no lotus, crisscross, japanese knee sitting.

My feet fall asleep every time, sitting in a chair is the only thing that stops it.

How do stop sleeping feet, halp

I would sit in a chair. I honestly find cross leg poses counterproductive for that very reason. Focusing is the thing of import. Once your mental muscles are stronger, if you want to challenge yourself by successfully ignoring bodily discomfort in some weird yogic posture, go for it.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

So I ask this now after trying.

Chairs...'feel' wrong.  I can't explain it, I just can't get into that...feeling or sensation meditation brings.  I can lightly meditate but crossed sitting, like crisscross is the most natural form that when I'm on a pillow or bed takes me far.

I'd lay down...but doing this at Work...the concrete back office floor isn't comfy and plus bugs.  (Yeerreeeghhkk)
In bed I always fall asleep, but...maybe on a comfy mat.

Benches.  I...Think I'll pass
Mostly cause I have no idea if I'd actually use one but a meditation pillow is officially on my Christmas list.

Lack lotus is my joking way of saying I put my legs down and neither are in any stance at all, just curled on the ground like 'what-dO-I-DOOO??!' While I try to meditate.

I'm finding full lotus doesn't work cause I still got chubby thighs -~- but half lotus feels so Comfy until my feet die of blood loss.

Crisscross sitting on hard floors puts my feet to sleep but soft surfaces don't.  I need a pillow or mat.

I hope they've got 6' yoga mats!
Thanks for all the thoughts everyone

I'll definitely look into zafu/zabuton pilllows, they look cozy o:

I find the word 'Concentrate' works better for me than Focus does as a guiding thought to keep me quiet in-mind when trying to get past a light beta wave meditative stage. Its weird how you can feel the brain switching to a different frequency in meditation, but nice. I had the delight of plain ol' breathing suddenly just feeling really good today in meditation half an hour ago.

Fun times! Here's hoping for more!

[Jeremy]

I gave up the whole lotus position years ago. I too had the same issues of not only my feet going to sleep but my butt also lol. Plus the whole straight back position caused my muscles to spasm within about a minute such a flexed back position.

I have a nice leather recliner that is awesome to meditate in but now that my girlfriend and I meditate together, we sit on the floor. The only way I have figured out how is to sit on a couple pillows and sit back again the foot of the recliner. That way my legs don't go numb and my back is supported.

[isis]

walking meditation

[Aion]

It's all about circulation. Try thinking about and meditating on the bottoms of your feet. Try and 'breathe in to' your feet, in to the floor, from your base (where you sit).

[Plenum]

thanks to GLB's post, I decided to get a sitting mat and cushion.



will report back on experiences.  The issue now seems to be less about the knees and ankles, and more about the back and neck.  In terms of alignment.

But in deference to Tradition, I'll call it the z&z combination (zafu and zabuton) rather than a mat and cushion

[Aion]

Need equal flow in front and back.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

I've lost weight actually, so the half lotus with left foot on top right leg works very well if I posture my spine straight now.  But in time my feet fall asleep on a hard surface (my butt has never gone numb in my life from prolonged sitting so, thank you body for that blessing.)

IunIHr makes concentration hard, my best choice has always been listen and focus on more prolonged fulfilled breathing, slowly with comfort.

Focusing on my feet makes me super sleepy for some reason, Aion.  Any idea why?

Regards the Z&Z
I have my own heart shaped pillow and just made my own (short on money, house falls apart haha), so, it's cozy, but my pillow is a 20$ heart shaped pillow thats much bigger than the one in your picture Plenum, I could see the posture could feel odd, but mine is pretty...

Well.  Comfy.  Buy a big heart shaped pillow, its like sitting on a cloud  

[Plenum]

Regards the Z&Z
I have my own heart shaped pillow and just made my own (short on money, house falls apart haha), so, it's cozy, but my pillow is a 20$ heart shaped pillow thats much bigger than the one in your picture Plenum, I could see the posture could feel odd, but mine is pretty...

ahh.  Do-It-Yourself.  Good stuff 

Need equal flow in front and back.

my posture is generally good (no back or neck issues).  Just sitting in this novel configuration will take a few days to get used to.

[Steppingfeet]

The issue now seems to be less about the knees and ankles, and more about the back and neck.  In terms of alignment.

But in deference to Tradition, I'll call it the z&z combination (zafu and zabuton) rather than a mat and cushion

G, my understanding is that the trick is to raise the butt above the knees. The portion of the legs below the knees, then, just tuck underneath, and help to provide stability. But it is the upward angle from knees (making contact with the zabuton) to butt (sitting atop the zafu) that really aid in sitting upright on the floor with a well-positioned spine.

There may just be some grumbling in the spine from lack of good posture, but if issues persist, try lifting the zafu cushion a bit higher by placing something underneath it.  My zafu has become somewhat deflated over the years so I keep a folded towel underneath for added lift.

I couldn't figure out how to meditate sitting upright on the floor until I discovered these at the Omega Institute in NY about ten years ago. They have meditation halls with those cushions, meditation benches, and meditation floor chairs that have back support.

Good luck!

[Aion]

I've lost weight actually, so the half lotus with left foot on top right leg works very well if I posture my spine straight now.  But in time my feet fall asleep on a hard surface (my butt has never gone numb in my life from prolonged sitting so, thank you body for that blessing.)

IunIHr makes concentration hard, my best choice has always been listen and focus on more prolonged fulfilled breathing, slowly with comfort.

Focusing on my feet makes me super sleepy for some reason, Aion.  Any idea why?

Regards the Z&Z
I have my own heart shaped pillow and just made my own (short on money, house falls apart haha), so, it's cozy, but my pillow is a 20$ heart shaped pillow thats much bigger than the one in your picture Plenum, I could see the posture could feel odd, but mine is pretty...

Well.  Comfy.  Buy a big heart shaped pillow, its like sitting on a cloud  

Well, when you focus on your feet and draw energy downwards it puts your awareness more in your body as well as being grounding. Thus, it is a process of relaxation. The sleepiness, I think, comes from resistance to the relaxation. Being aware and relaxed at the same time is pretty difficult to accomplish. Your focus is going out of your head and in to more instinctual levels. There is benefit to the practice of working to relax in this way while maintaining a conscious awareness I believe.

[AnthroHeart]

The online game Second Life has a lot of meditation areas in its world. It is massive. There are wintery landscapes, windchimes, flutes, even pyramids to meditate within. It's all virtual, but really neat. Some play certain music that is very nice to listen with headphones.