Impossible full lotus

[Byrne]

When I started I sat Burmese style because it was the easiest. Then after a few months I sat half lotus. Now I do full lotus. 22 years ago I fractured my spine in three places and I've been soberly reminded of it every day in my right shoulder blade. Changes in climate really remind me. If I want to sit for longer than 15 minutes I need to prep my body with some yoga exercises. Otherwise it will get rough. I've also sat zazen in a chair. That was nice too.

Gassho

Sat Today

[Screature]

Hi!
From reading your responses, I've realised in hindsight my question could be considered insensitive. I complained that I can't, without consideration for those who *can't*. Apologies for that, and thank you for seeing past it to answer!
I should really have absorbed as much beginners information as possible before beginning! I'll do that now.
To answer an earlier post, my "human name" is Mike, chosen because my alien name is difficult to pronounce ;-)
Lovely to meet you all! "Gassho" is the palms together greeting isn't it? Would it be more polite of me to include this in my posts? Autocorrect changes it to "grasshopper"!

Gassho,
Mike

[Kotei]

Hey Mike,
good to have you here.

I took your question just as the natural result of someone, full of curiosity and expectations,
starting a new thing, wanting to do everything in the 'right' way.
(At least that would've been my reason to ask this :-) )
For myself, the 'right' way, more and more, seems to be that there is no 'right way', no 100%.
I have to accept, that I cannot do all I want or think I have to. That seems to be my cure :-).
Actually, I am starting to feel quite comfortable with that.

Regarding 'Gassho', I'd like to echo Kyonin from another thread:

And about gassho, it's pretty much like namasté in yoga. It's a greeting, a reverence, a salute, a symbol of union, peace and wish that all boundaries are lost. To me (can't talk for anyone else) is a sacred mudra (hand posture) that reminds me that we are one.

Gassho,
Kotei sattoday.

[Anka]

Hi Mike,

Glad you found your way over here from ZFI. As you can see there is a very tight knit and caring community.

Don't worry about jumping straight in, we were all as excited about this practice as you are when we first found it. Just remember this practice is a marathon, not a sprint. Get some zazen sessions completed and you will find a new perspective on this question and some others I am sure you have.

-James F

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[Entai]

Mike (there's a really good band named Screature, btw \m/ )

Lots of great advice. I agree to sit in a posture that is comfortable or at least not painful. I sit in seiza, since any other position cuts off circulation to my legs. If you really want to sit in full lotus, maybe you can do stretching and practicing it in a time other than your zazen time. Maybe you'll get back into the flexibility (I could never do it). In the meantime, I'd suggest that you sit in a different posture.

Gassho,
Entai
#SatToday

[Tom]

No, no, no , we're not doing asana practice. There's enough pain in our minds without fighting it in our joints. Plenty of tutorials on the web on alternatives to full lotus, like a seiza bench. I can do full lotus, but chronically sprained ankles make it agony to hold for 30 mins, so I just use half-lotus, or burmese or seiza.
Gassho,
Tom
Sat today.

[BillH]

Hi Screature,

I sit with my legs crisscrossed on my couch. Sadie, our family dog, often jumps up on the couch to sit with me. I usually end up resting my right hand on her shoulder and we meditate together. This works for us and I'm confident that any way you do it will work as well.

Gassho,
Bill
Sattoday

[Risho]

Oh man good timing for this post! I used to sit half lotus quite regularly and would sit full lotus once in a while; my left hip did not like it much and started hurting, so now I'm in a chair. I actually kind of like sitting in a chair - I guess it's novel; I've been sitting on my zafu for years, and I'm seeing different nuances with the chair now. I'll go back to the zafu eventually, but I really am liking the chair because I can sit anywhere now. I could be at work and just sit zazen somewhere. I know this is obvious, but I get so wrapped up in the right way to practice sometime (right in my mind) that I forget hey I can just practice.

Gassho,

Risho
-sattoday

[Jishin]

That's awesome Risho. Screw form. Go with emptiness!

[emoji4]

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Meian]

Speaking of sitting anywhere - I sat shikantaza last night at a "K-pop" concert with my daughter (she got tickets as a gift). In the middle of thousands of screaming teenagers (and accompanying parents), I sat (and stood, as appropriate) shikantaza and no one was the wiser.

(K-pop is Korean pop music, my younger daughter's favorite.)

Zen travels anywhere

Gassho
Kim
S/t

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