How do you keep your legs from falling asleep during seated meditation?!
Question: I've started meditating with this group on Sundays. The problem is, about 15 minutes in, my legs fall asleep and i can hardly move them. Now this doesn't bother me, except that right after we have to do walking meditation. And I don't like having to wait 2-3 minutes to get feeling back into my legs.
I've tried to mindfully readjust my legs, but it doesn't help too much. I've tried sitting on cushions, and changing out my angle.
Are there any stretches or other prep things I can do for myself to help prevent my legs from falling asleep? Or at least refill faster?
Answers: I've started meditating with this group on Sundays. The problem is, about 15 minutes in, my legs fall asleep and i can hardly move them. Now this doesn't bother me, except that right after we have to do walking meditation. And I don't like having to wait 2-3 minutes to get feeling back into my legs.
I've tried to mindfully readjust my legs, but it doesn't help too much. I've tried sitting on cushions, and changing out my angle.
Are there any stretches or other prep things I can do for myself to help prevent my legs from falling asleep? Or at least refill faster?
Put some effort into a cardio workout a couple of times a week and doing good stretches, even yoga before hand. Yoga will enhance ur meditation, afterward, too.
Don't discount the cardio, it is very, very important, but not just before ur meditation, u will be too pumped up to mellow.
will take a few weeks, also, even w/ cardio and yoga, then will get better, usually
When you're sitting in one position for a long period of time, the key to keeping them from falling asleep is to flex and relax your muscles every so often to keep them oxygenated. The reason they fall asleep is because the rate of the blood moving from your heart to the rest of your body is slowed down, but flexing your muscles will speed up the rate of blood flow and allow for the richer oxygenated blood to reach your muscles faster, keeping them "awake" during this meditation exercise.
Too bad your routine is not the other way around, because it sounds as if you are losing circulation for them to fall asleep.
Can you do a brief walk by yourself before this "sit in" ??
That might help.
If you are sitting cross legged, try simply sitting in a comfortable chair...
And the previous comment was absolutely correct, Yoga before and after will help and is good for meditation as well. If you need to look at Yoga postures.. check out the ones at the Leap Over Web Clutter section of this website.
I use a kneeling bench. If you're tall, one of the taller ones would be great for you. That way, you're not putting too much weight on your legs.