Dragon asana questions
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I've been practicing Dragon asana for a few months now. It feels wonderful for about 15 minutes; after that my ankles/feet start to tingle and eventually go numb as I lose circulation in my lower legs and feet.
I usually sit in posture for about 25min, then get worried about this and stop.
I understand there's a process of dealing with being uncomfortable for a while, but the pain I feel isn't in posture, it's the intense pins-and-needles sensation after I finally move. If I go for long enough it's difficult to stand up for a few minutes afterward.
I'm mostly worried that I'm doing this incorrectly and that it's not healthy for my legs. Am I sitting improperly or distributing my weight wrong? Do I just need to exercise more? Or is this normal for Dragon?
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That is exactly what I felt undertaking similar postures. It's just one of those things one goes through. I freaked originally (30 years ago) thinking I was cutting off circulation and would lose my legs <vbg> - nothing like that is happening as far as I've ever been able to tell.
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I'm about at the same point with Dragon as you, Amiana (25-30 mins), and experiencing the same. I've pushed my physical body to similar places of discomfort before and haven't seen any persistent damage. We'll see what I'm like at 70, though, I guess.
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OK good, this makes me feel better about pushing myself to go for longer. Yesterday I was sitting in Dragon at a noon meditation group at work and reached a point where I felt blissful, like I was floating. I would have been perfectly happy not moving for quite a while longer if it wasn't for this nagging worry that I was doing something wrong.
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Neat
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I personally would do some hip opening and thigh asanas first. Espicially if you don't normally excersize your legs and Pelvic region. I also would finish the practice in corpse posture to restore the body.
It is taught that your restorative posture should be at least 10% of your practice time, so if you do dragon for 30 minutes lay in corpse for at least three, focusing on low full abdominal breathing.Also just from looking at some picture now, What I think many occultists call the dragon is in Sanskrit the vajrasana. The pictures shown under dragon are from what I can tell a modification of the true posture. You may want to look up vajrasana and see if the complete pose is more comfortable for you.
Poses are modified to conform to the practioners unique capabilities, props are even used. Yoga postures are best for the body when they challenge but do not harm, major loss of circulation is harmful Espicially in the legs as it could lead to blood clots. -
I did gymnastics as a child, and I remember how flexible I was at that age, compared to as a grown up. Middle aged westerners have very stiff unflexible joints which is why we struggle with some postures more than others. This is why I have never even tried the dragon asana, just looking at a picture of it tells me all the problems I would have with it. Fortunately Crowley gave us a way out of all the unnecessary suffering and potential damage in the form of a reading list which contains books full of easy postures which one can choose.
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I can't sit in the "Dragon" or any cross-legged position for more than about 20 minutes without my legs becoming completely numb. A meditation bench was the solution. Some people are of the opinion that this is "cheating", but I think it's no more so than using a chair for the "God" position.
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I'm the same as gmugmble.
It's a tricky balancing act to decide whether to make adjustments to your practice. E.g., you don't want to derail yourself with thoughts like, "Oh nuts! Have I been doing it wrong the whole time? Maybe I should re-evaluate things..."
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@gmugmble said
"I can't sit in the "Dragon" or any cross-legged position for more than about 20 minutes without my legs becoming completely numb. A meditation bench was the solution. Some people are of the opinion that this is "cheating", but I think it's no more so than using a chair for the "God" position."
I do not think it is cheating. The Iyengar method of yoga, which is for hard core yogi uses all sorts of props. When I fist walked into my sisters private studio, I truly thought it was some s n m chamber, mirrors, straps and ropes on the wall, bolsters, weird chair like benches, huge wooden blocks.....
It's not cheating, is is compensating and helping the body align, open, strengthen and become flexible.
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Thanks everyone! I've been going through a period of experimenting with different postures. God is fairly comfortable but inconvenient. I don't keep a chair in my Temple and don't like requiring one. Tried variations of cross-legged poses for a while but that didn't feel 'right' for me. I find myself actually wanting to sit in Dragon and looking forward to asana practice. I haven't tried using a bench yet but I'll give it a shot.
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It's also worth considering that you probably won't be struck down by an angry god if you do some stretching warm up exercises before you start. All other forms of physical exercise start with a warm up.
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@Amiana said
"Thanks everyone! I've been going through a period of experimenting with different postures. God is fairly comfortable but inconvenient. I don't keep a chair in my Temple and don't like requiring one. Tried variations of cross-legged poses for a while but that didn't feel 'right' for me. I find myself actually wanting to sit in Dragon and looking forward to asana practice. I haven't tried using a bench yet but I'll give it a shot."
The Dragon is my favorite and I use it for a variety of different practices: prayers, adorations, meditation, etc. The pose fulfills best many ritual and other such functions as suited to my personality. As has been said, there is no reason to be concerned about the numbness of the feet and pain in that area after practice: the trick is not to overdo it. After gradual and steady progress your joints etc. will strengthen and you'll be able to hold the pose with more comfort.