numbness after asana?
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Doing the dragon pose for roughly 25 minutes a day, I am getting some extreme numbness in my right lower leg especially. As expected my pain has been getting increasingly difficult over the duration of my practice but from what Crowley says that is actually a good sign that hopefully the worst will be over soon. But I am a little puzzled by the numbness. Is it to be expected in the dragon pose or am i sitting the wrong way? Or is it a sign that I am doing something correctly? thanks
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I would adjust the posture to prevent the numbness as that seems like a blood flow issue. But I'd have to see your exact pose to know if you have it right or wrong. For me the "buttocks resting on heels" doesn't exactly mean a full "let myself slump it all out" sitting on my heels, but with the spine straight it's just barely less than hovering over the heels (thus, not really putting weight on the legs). A strong asana is one of relaxed condition but ready posture, like the dragon ready to strike.
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aha thank you! while I will need to try it for a prolonged period of time to make sure the numbness doesn't return, it seems like I have been slumping and just kind of plopping down on my feet. More focus on keeeping my back straight and "braced" seems to be a good improvement.
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and now that I think of it, your explanation is further evidenced by the fact that lately the nature of the pain has switched from back pain to foot pain, meaning I am definitely slumping without noticing it, Ill try keeping a book on my head again to avoid this. thanks again
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I would look around martial arts dojo's, you will often see students sitting in this pose, properly called seiza. ere's a link with some do's and don'ts
www.mushinkankendo.com/lesson_one.html
I'm not sure what the asana is called in sanskrit, I think it's actually called the Thunderbolt oor the diamoond pose. I do know that it is great for digestion, especially in combination with rythmic breating.
My suggestion would be to take advantage of one of those many chairs you probably have around your house and practice the god-asana first. That way, you can sit comfortably and concentrate on keeping the back, neck and head in the correct posture. See Swami Vivekenanda's Raja Yoga for tips on proper back posture.I have heard and seen from a lot of Thelemic magicians who are practicing this posture very wrong, and the instructions in Liber E aren't much help. If you perform this posture incorrectly for long periods of time day after day you risk serious nerve damage and knee injury.
Another alternative is to practice the sukhasana or easy-pose, which is simply crossing the legs. You can probably find a million instructions and tips for this one online.
I think Crowley's Thunderbolt is completely corrupted, as mentioned, the dragon asana is actually the thunderbolt, and what he calls the thunderbolt appears to be something he made up, based on a misunderstanding from an early translation of a hatha yoga text.
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These troubles with asana usually seem to indicate that a given student didn't actually look into any of the suggested student reading material.
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A serious oversight that many practitioners of Asana is not having enough cushioning. If you look very carefully at the pictures in book four you will see that Crowley is sitting/kneeling on a cushion. Also in Thunderbolt you need to raise the right foot, for me: the Big Blue Book was the perfect height. (again look carefully and you'll see that that his foot is propped up on something) Unfortunately, Nancy Wasserman's book on Yoga (the only thelemic resource other than Crowley with good pictures) reinforces some classic errors with these poses.
Also, do some preliminary stretching and a relaxation before you get into Asana.
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@Alrah said
"Ah... another one gone to the Dragon. quizical smile
Perhaps you get numb because the posture makes you get numb? And if you don't think that's good, why not choose a better posture?
From what I've read, Dragon was recommended to Westerners (like Crowley) so that they didn't have to bother about fasting before meditation. If that's not a worry to you, then there are plenty of other poses to experiment with.
"93,
I fail to see what's exactly wrong with the common-ness of this Asana. I consider it better than any other simply because of how utilitarian it is. Sitting in any of the cross legged positions may be more comfortable for anything longer than 15 minutes, but some of us are a bit OCD about our knees not being level
I also fail to see why this "Dragon was recommended to Westerners (like Crowley) so that they didn't have to bother about fasting before meditation," is even relevant. We know from what we can read that people like Crowley knew to not come in with a full stomach [He even recommends against this. Beyond that, so what? The Japanese have used it as a seat for formal events, respect, and using it to find ways to kill people without standing up fully [XD].
My only real criticism is that calling it the Dragon is silly. The words for it's proper name, Vajrasana, implies the same diamond of adamnatine qualities that are so popular in the esoteric schools of Dharmic thought. I feel "Dragon," misses this point of the Asana.
The numbness is normal. Well, to an extent. Any time you sit like that, you'll cut off blood flow. A trick I picked up when I used to sit like that all the time was to make sure you kept enough weight lifted, as to be putting less pressure on the larger veins and arteries, so that the blood flow doesn't get as interrupted. Though, that's just me, our bodies are probably different.
When I do it, if I wind up being unable to walk within 30 seconds, I make a note, as that tells me I did something wrong.
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@Alrah said
"Personally - I'm all for any posture that you can sit in comfortably for more than an hour and keeps your back straight. What's the point of practising an asana that has you bum shuffling on the mat after 15-20 minutes?"
93,
Er, have you ever accomplished anything important? Have you ever had to just take something until you couldn't take it any more? Perhaps it's a male thing, but the feeling of defeating yourself is just as good [If not better for some of us], than sex.
Frankly, I don't see the value in going out of ones way to sit for an hour. Any time I have ever sat in any way for a significant deal of time, assuming I wasn't being messed with by other people, my body tends to not matter. The only real reason I am doing Asana is to get used to being "Uncomfortable."
93 93/93
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93,
Uh, I wouldn't find a handstand uncomfortable in the least. There's a good chance I would fall out of it immediately, and with my luck injure something
Last time I did hand stands, I wound up messing up my back for a few months. lol. There is a difference between conquering, and messing up horridly.And no, that's not necessarily an avoidance to do them- due to certain issues, I literally am unable. XD.
The value I see in the "uncomfortableness," of Vajrasana is a very different kind from that, any way. The seat automatically straightens posture [At least for me, it's neigh impossible for my back to slump when I am on my legs, as they are like a chair.
I think part of the issue is that you seem to be attempting to put your own form of attainment onto others- I don't think that would work for me, as I have an almost radically different aesthetic from you- you talk about harmony, while I consider it already done- all elements just need to be forced into the right place, from where they are at any time. XD. With what I know about human evolution, various forms of mysticism seem to have the common ground of forcing us to pull off those millenia of having to adapt all the elements to survival, but without going too far as to become dead. We can make of that what we want, though.
Does your approach work for you? I'm sure it does, but it is far too sentimental for me
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