View Full Version : Stretching
meat
3rd April 2002, 11:56
Hi guys. I meditate pretty much everyday for about 20-30 minutes and I'm starting to come across problems with my flexibility. It's like I've hit a plateau or something. My goal for the past few months has been to be able to sit in the half lotus for, say about 15 minutes at a time. I've been stretching twice a day for the last month or so and initially, I started to improve quickly, but lately I've had soreness in my hip flexors(i think thats the muscle, or tendon) and I have to go through my routine twice before the soreness goes away and I can stretch to full capacity. Is this just a temporary hurdle or am I doing something wrong? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Shitoryu Dude
4th April 2002, 17:23
I'd talk to a yoga instructor or an orthopedic surgeon. All I know is that for me, due to a lot of lower back injuries, stretching always has some element of pain involved. It has gotten better over the years and I am more flexible, but it never goes totally away.
:beer:
meat
5th April 2002, 02:25
Sorry, my bad. In my post I said my goal was to sit in half lotus for 15 minutes. I can actually sit in half lotus for around 20-30 minutes. My goal is to sit in full lotus for 15 minutes.
NoMan
5th April 2002, 08:07
Originally posted by meat
Hi guys. I meditate pretty much everyday for about 20-30 minutes and I'm starting to come across problems with my flexibility. It's like I've hit a plateau or something. My goal for the past few months has been to be able to sit in the half lotus for, say about 15 minutes at a time. I've been stretching twice a day for the last month or so and initially, I started to improve quickly, but lately I've had soreness in my hip flexors(i think thats the muscle, or tendon) and I have to go through my routine twice before the soreness goes away and I can stretch to full capacity. Is this just a temporary hurdle or am I doing something wrong? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Hi there. I'd wonder if you've ever done really vigorous stretching in your younger days. (I'm going to assume you're an older gentleman and not a young one.) Really hard stretching in your youth days causes microtraumatic scar tissue. Once you get to a certain point, you'll hit the scar tissue and movements will be highly limited. Supposedly a technique known as "rolfing" will help it go away, but I've heard various things about it.
Also, there's this tricky thing known as the Law of Diminishing Returns. Basically states that when you start something you get a lot better at it very quickly, but after that, you taper off until progress slows down to a minimum.
My final thought could be, again, overzealous stretching. Stretching too hard invokes the myotatic reflex, where the muscles contract really hard to stop the stretching. That could cause soreness and loss of flexibility. If it's none of the above, the best advice I can give you is to go to my webpage on the bottom and look at the stretching articles. Hopefully this helps a little bit.
meat
5th April 2002, 11:46
Funny you should say that noman, I'm probably one of the younger people on this forum. I'm only 21, and I've been highly active all my life. I used to dance in my younger days and obviously I was like a rubber band then. I'm not after that sort of flexibility anymore(tho it would be nice),I'd just like to get a little bit further than where I am. It occured to me the other day that it could be that i just started using a proper meditation cushion, which makes the hips and legs go downwards. Could this be the cause? If so, how am I supposed to sit properly? Is the pain just something that will be there 4 a couple of weeks and then go away?
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