I am very new to yoga. Due to an injury, I’m not able to cross my legs but I notice that in a lot of the practice, we are cross legged. What would be the best alternative to still get the benefits without crossing my legs?
Welcome to the practice! Alternatives would depend on what you are able to do with some level of comfort and safety. If you can find a variation of crosslegged with some supports that is a great option to allow you to slowly move towards that, this might look like having supports on either side under your knees or sitting up on a blanket to elevate your hips. Alternatively you can sit in hero’s pose which is kneeling with your feet tucked under you, you can also prop this up with a blanket under your sit bones. Would either of these work for you?
Fiji
If the reason for not being able to sit cross legged is a knee problem, then as Fiji mentioned, propping the knee up or Vajrasana pose are alternatives.
In my experience, when there are knee problems you could roll up a small (kitchen) towel and put it at the back of the knee, before bending the kmee - in that way you create more space and the knee will not be bent to its limit, which can aid the healing and definitely the feeling of ease during sitting. There is slso nothing wrong sitting with one leg stretched, for a timre being, until its healef….
Good Luck Damara
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I sometimes prop blocks underneath my knees if I have any knee soreness, which I do have at times, in “easy seat” (cross-legged). Also, you could sit in an extended leg position as in a wide-legged forward fold.
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