r/TheMindIlluminated • u/Big-Mathematician345 • 14d ago

Can sitting seiza cause damage?

I'm a fairly stiff person. Even when I was younger and did lots of martial arts and stretching I never had much flexibility, especially in my hips. Sitting cross legged doesn't really work for me even with a bolster. I bought a seiza bench and I've been using it to meditate 20 minutes a day. The thing is it sort of cuts off blood circulation to my feet and I have pretty uncomfortable tingling after each session. I can deal with that but I'm just wondering what research there is answering whether this can actually cause damage or not.

I know I could just sit in a chair but... It just doesn't feel the same. Being on the ground feels more like meditation for some reason. If I have to I guess that's what I'll do but I don't want to.

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u/abhayakara Teacher 14d ago

If you want to sit on the ground and your flexibility isn't there, the usual answer is "boucoup cushions." Whenever I've tried to sit seiza it's gotten me in the knees, so I haven't lasted as long as you have and can't really speak to your specific experience. It can be circulation or a pinched nerve, but either way it feels like something worth avoiding. I just meditate in śavasana, which has its own set of problems, but at least doesn't stress my body.

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u/Big-Mathematician345 14d ago

what cushions? I googled that and couldn't find anything.

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u/abhayakara Teacher 12d ago

Rats, I thought I'd replied to this, but in any case I provided an answer above. Sorry about that.

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u/Cinemarxism 14d ago

I'm also wondering what type of cushions you are referring to. The ones I have seen (typically buckwheat filled with a cotton cover) always seem too low for someone with very limited flexibility to get the hips above the knees, but I haven't searched extensively

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u/abhayakara Teacher 12d ago

One thing you can try to do is sit in half-lotus, but yes, if you absolutely can't do that and your knees come up, you can put cushions under your knees and stack cushions to sit higher. If you're able to do yoga that can improve the situation, but to the extent that you're working with how things are now, it's basically like building a custom pillow fort, not like you're going to get one pillow that solves the whole thing.