What is the reason for numbness in legs when meditating

With the development of society, people's living standards are getting better and better. People are beginning to pay more and more attention to health preservation in their lives. Only by keeping their bodies in good shape can they enjoy life better and prevent many diseases. Meditation is a common movement in yoga. It is also the easiest to do and can help calm your mind. If you encounter troubles in life, you might as well give it a try. However, after meditating for a long time, legs often become numb. What is going on?

What causes leg numbness while sitting?

The numbness in the legs that occurs when sitting cross-legged in meditation is actually a feeling of numbness and stiffness. Numbness is a sharp, tingling, and relatively clear feeling like an electric current passing through. Wood, on the other hand, has a dull, outward-expanding, vague feeling. Generally speaking, the feeling of numbness does not appear at the same time. The feeling of numbness comes first, and then the feeling of numbness. There will be more or less numbness in the legs when meditating. The numbness in the legs during meditation is generally caused by the following reasons.

1. Caused by meridian blockage

The numbness in the legs is because the cross-legged sitting posture blocks the downward flow of qi and blood, resulting in blockage of the meridians. The blood circulation in the legs is poor and the peripheral nerves are compressed, which affects the normal conduction of the nerves. The stimulation cannot be transmitted to the brain accurately and in time to remind us to change posture, so the legs and feet will become numb. In addition, maintaining the same posture for a long time can also compress the tibial nerve or peroneal nerve, causing nerve paralysis symptoms and numbness in the legs and feet.

2. Incorrect posture

When meditating, it is easy to cause leg numbness if you do not pay attention to your sitting posture. The correct posture may allow you to meditate longer before leg numbness occurs, but an incorrect sitting posture will make the blood circulation in the legs, which is already obstructed, even more obstructed, making leg numbness more likely to occur.

3. Sitting for too long

Maintaining a meditation posture for a long time will put pressure on the blood vessels in the lower limbs, and blood circulation will be blocked for too long, causing numbness in the legs.

What to do if your legs become numb while meditating:

1. Warm up before meditation

Before you start meditating, you need to warm up all the joints of the body so that you can stretch the muscles and ligaments. The joints can be moved before they can be activated. Warms the body and speeds up blood circulation. Such as twisting the waist, moving the head and shoulders, circling the knee and ankle joints, walking in clockwise circles, etc.

2. Change your posture

When you feel numbness in your legs while meditating, it is best to change your posture as soon as possible, such as changing from double-legged cross-legged to single-legged cross-legged. You can also stretch your legs and knead them to promote blood circulation in your legs, then stand up and walk quickly in a small range for a few minutes to allow blood to flow smoothly in your legs and relieve leg numbness.

3. Control your time

Many people experience numbness in their legs because they meditate for too long and blindly pursue the ability to persist for a long time. It is recommended to control the time of meditation. When you first start to meditate, the time should not exceed 30 minutes. Also, start with a short meditation time and gradually increase it, so that your legs have time to adapt.

4. Long-term practice can reduce leg numbness

It is actually normal to feel numbness in the legs while meditating. People who have just started meditating will feel numbness in the legs after just a few minutes, but those who have been meditating for a long time can sit for one or two hours. This is the result of long-term practice. The leg meridians have been unblocked after long-term practice, and if you practice for a period of time and then stop for a while, and then meditate again, you will return to the starting point. Therefore, if you can persist in meditation for a long time, the numbness in your legs will be reduced or even disappear.