I've recently restarted meditation and was wondering about a problem I have: after about fifteen minutes, my foot (or feet) fall asleep. So I have two questions: Is it dangerous to let my foot stay asleep for long periods of time? Is there anything I can do to wake my foot up without breaking my pose?
Have you tried different positions. Your foot falls asleep because blood isn't circulating properly to it, but it would have to be denied blood for a long period of time before any damage would occure
Hey Liam, I'm Buddhist, and I know from personal experience that losing feeling in your legs during meditation is just part of the deal and can get intensely painful the longer you sit. The best thing you can do is not meditate for longer than half an hour at a time, and when your half-hour is up, stretch your legs and allow feeling to return to them. If you want to, you can try sitting with your legs folded under you (geisha-style) rather than folded Indian-style, but for me it's a much less comfortable position than the half lotus.
What position do you sit in? The more you sit the more your legs will become accustomed to being it that position. Proping your sitting bones a bit higher than your legs and feet might also help. Along with your meditation, incorporate some yoga stretches. Specifically, hip opening and lower body poses. Once you become more limber in your lower body, then sitting for longer periods wont be as strenuous. These are a few i use for this purpose. I will get full lotus one day http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2477 http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2480 http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/477 http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/486 http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/684 http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/476
