The path to half lotus

Mobility is correlated with feelings of youth and flexibility provides mobility, so if you want to feel younger, start with mobility. A good place to do so is with your hips. Hips tend to be the worst culprit, which is a shame because flexibility there can give you the most benefit.

Lotus is a yoga position whereby your right foot is placed on top of your left thigh, and at the same time your left foot is placed on top of your right thigh. Young kids should be able to do this no problem, babies even more so. As we get older, we stop using our full range of motion and as a result, our bodies become less and less flexible. Or so they’d make you think.

It’s possible to reverse this, to gain your flexibility back, and in turn to be mobile and feel young again.

My aim is the lotus position, and I’ve promised myself that I’d work at my hip mobility every day until I’m able to do lotus without pain. I’ve been doing a hip opening challenge for over 80 days now, not consecutively, mind you, but any break I’ve had has been a maximum of two days.

I never realized, but lotus is all about the hips (well and the ankles too). I always thought it was the knees because whenever I tried to force it, my knees would hurt real bad. Your knees should never feel such pain in lotus. Now with more open hips, I found myself able to do the half lotus, one foot on top of the thigh, so I guess I gotta keep it up!

Tim Bunting ( @kiwiyamabushi) is a self-professed Dewa Sanzan nerd from New Zealand who became an official Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi in 2017.

He is currently helping develop the Dewa Sanzan into a global retreat centre among other jobs. Check out yamabushido.jp or dewasanzan.com for more on this wonderful area of Japan, or email him using the form below.

Originally published at http://timbunting.com on November 13, 2020.