Is there any danger in legs becoming numb or falling asleep during meditation?

[lmfao]

Only in the past 2 weeks have I started meditating on the floor, with a mat/cushion. Before I used to just mediate on my mattress. I haven't been meditating for a while so when getting back into it I thought I would change things up and do yoga as well. 

My feet and lower half of my leg get numb to the point where I am literally unable to wiggle my toes or flex my foot. Is there actually any danger to this or is it fine? Anyone here know if it's fine or not? I've noticed that even by shifting my position ever so slightly, the numbness is greatly alleviated. But that isn't the point since sometimes you might want to stay still. I'm fine quickly after getting up standing up, but it's not like my sessions are a long enough yet to know if the numbness is to worry about (30 mins yoga , 40 mins meditation). 

[Nahm]

@lmfao It’s nothing to worry about, but I’d add some cushion under your feet. 

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

If you are in an asana with your spine upright, legs crossed and don't have your back against anything it would be nearly impossible to fall asleep. When my foot goes numb I switch the bottom with the top leg. The more flexible you hips get the less your tibia has to crush your bottom ankle/foot and you can tuck the foot more in the crease behind the knee. 

[purerogue]

I think I read somewhere that you can have problems from doing it and it makes sense, it is not healthy to have blood flow disturbance for long time and sitting with crossed legs can surely make problems for your knees because of unnatural way your legs are placed.

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by purerogue

[exhale]

I'm not a human doctor, but I think that could put you at increased risk of blood clots/deep vein thrombosis.  I'd find a different position.  I also experience this, and I tend to sit in a chair to avoid this. 

 

[Matt23]

I heard Shinzen Young saying that the feeling of limbs going numb or tingling isn't harmful at all.  

Dunno though.

I've gone pretty numb and still function fine.

Peter Ralston advises t0 not do half or full lotus since it causes knee issues.  He gives the example of how Ramana Maharshi walks.  There's videos of him walking and his knees are all inverted.

[brugluiz]

Good to know it may cause problems. At the beginning, my legs would get numb a lot, but now it just happens sporadically. I do meditation kneeled (best position for me).

Edit: just found out that there's a bench for kneeled meditation that may solve my problem.

Edited December 24, 2019 by brugluiz

[Nash]

@exhale I have  questions about meditation. Can I meditate in a chair? Do I have to be cross legged on the floor? I usually sit on the floor but use the wall as back support because I have really bad posture. The first time I meditated seriously a few months ago I started hyperventilating. But i kept going despite my mouth and limbs becoming numb, because I recall Leo saying that you're supposed to "die", and "let it happen". Weather he was referring to me literally dying or my ego dying I don't know, but I went with my intuition and just kept breathing. I also started crying my eyes out and have no idea why. and i tend to fall over from tiredness and snap myself back to position once my head falls forward. I try to do hour sessions with binural beats.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Nash

[purerogue]

27 minutes ago, Nash said:

@exhale I have  questions about meditation. Can I meditate in a chair? Do I have to be cross legged on the floor? I usually sit on the floor but use the wall as back support because I have really bad posture. The first time I meditated seriously a few months ago I started hyperventilating. But i kept going despite my mouth and limbs becoming numb, because I recall Leo saying that you're supposed to "die", and "let it happen". Weather he was referring to me literally dying or my ego dying I don't know, but I went with my intuition and just kept breathing. I also started crying my eyes out and have no idea why. and i tend to fall over from tiredness and snap myself back to position once my head falls forward. I try to do hour sessions with binural beats.

Funny

It does not matter how you meditate, you could be standing on one feet with your hand touching ground, or just lying on bed.

But there are things that you should pay attention to:

*Can it cause any health problems to you(optional, but I would rather do not do something that can cause harm to your body)

*Can you breath properly while in such position, especially when you start to get really relaxed , that is why back posture is important because when you relax, your body curves in making it harder to breath properly, making disturbance

*Is it comfortable for you, you do not want it to disturb your meditation because of some pain , or whatever, but I can see some good thing in it too , can make it easier for you to learn how to do practice even if you have outside interference.

Ofc that is my opinion, if you will look in some other schools they will have some reasonings why sitting like that and that is better because of chakra point flow or whatever, you can look into it too if you are interested. 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by purerogue

[Nash]

@purerogue So I can meditate in any way as long as I am focusing on nothingness?

[purerogue]

5 hours ago, Nash said:

@purerogue So I can meditate in any way as long as I am focusing on nothingness?

You do not focus on nothingness, you just do not focus on anything ,  to do it your body needs to  be able to breath comfortable when you are relaxed and  have as little interference as possible, if you are new to this you will have long way to get even close to being able to do it, but it will be good training to stop your mind jumping around. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by purerogue

[silene]

 I was given the advice if sitting cross legged, to have my hips higher than my knees and create a stable tripod effect. So I use a firm support under my cushion like a yoga block or bolster (Tibetans call it a gomden), as a cushion doesn't give me enough height off the floor. It's a case of experimenting till you find what's comfortable for you. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by silene

[exhale]

I am not experienced nor informed enough about your physical or psychological health to advise you appropriately.  

You certainly can meditation in a chair.  At this time, sitting on the ground is uncomfortable for me, and tends to be a distraction.  I have been advised to sit on a chair with my feet flat, palms open on my lap, back straight (not using your chair's back support).  If your posture is poor, I would try to make this an effort (not using back support), and consider starting with shorter intervals to retrain some muscles.  "Nodding off" is likely a result of having too much physical support and you are actually falling asleep. 

Its unclear if you hyperventilation was physiological (and potentially dangerous and harmful) or secondary to psychological breakthroughs (potentially therapeutic).  You would need to introspect and contemplate this.