Padmasana (Lotus Pose): How to Do It Step by Step

Padmasana (Lotus Pose) is a seated, cross-legged yoga pose in which each foot rests on top of the opposite thigh, soles turned up. It is one of the classic seats for meditation and breathing practice, described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The pose asks for a lot of outward rotation in the hips, so most people build up to it over months, by way of Half Lotus.

Pose type: seated, cross-legged, hip opener. Level: intermediate to advanced. Props: a folded blanket or a cushion to sit on.

What Padmasana means

The name comes from two Sanskrit words: padma, lotus, and asana, seat or posture. With the feet turned up on the thighs and the knees wide, the legs look like the open petals of a lotus. Across Hindu, Buddhist and Jain art the lotus stands for growth out of the mud toward the light, and it is the seat you see under meditating figures of the Buddha, Shiva and the Jain Tirthankaras.

How to do Padmasana, step by step

Warm up your hips first. Lotus from cold is the fastest way to hurt a knee.

1. Sit on the front edge of a folded blanket with your legs straight out in front of you. The height tips your pelvis forward and makes the rest easier.
2. Bend your right knee. Hold the shin with both hands, and turn the whole leg outward from the hip, as if you were rocking a baby in your arms.
3. Place your right foot high on your left thigh, with the heel close to the crease between the belly and the thigh. Keep the foot active, toes spread, so the outer ankle does not collapse.
4. Bend your left knee and lift the left foot over the right shin onto the right thigh, heel toward the belly. If the left knee complains, stop here. You are in Half Lotus, and that is a complete pose.
5. Let both knees move toward each other and down toward the floor. Sit on your sitting bones and lengthen your spine up through the crown of the head.
6. Rest the backs of your hands on your knees, or place your hands in your lap, palms up. Close your eyes, or rest your gaze softly on the floor in front of you.
7. Breathe slowly through the nose. Start with 30 seconds to a minute. To come out, lift the top foot off with your hands, straighten both legs and shake them out. Then repeat with the left leg first.

Change which leg goes first every time you practise. Most people have an easier side, and always starting with it makes the difference bigger.

The traditional form

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th century) gives more detail than most classes do. The right foot goes on the left thigh first. In one version the arms cross behind the back and the hands hold the big toes, which is the bound form, Baddha Padmasana. The chin draws toward the chest (Jalandhara Bandha) and the gaze rests on the tip of the nose (Nasagra Drishti). Many teachers today use the point between the eyebrows instead. Our guide to drishti, the yoga gaze, explains both.

Benefits of Lotus Pose

What Lotus gives you is a stable seat. With both knees on the floor and the feet locked over the thighs, the base is wide and symmetrical, and the spine can stay upright for a long time without leaning to one side. That is why the tradition uses it for pranayama and meditation.

• Hips: it asks for, and over time keeps, a wide range of outward rotation in the hip joints.
• Ankles and feet: it stretches the tops of the feet and the outside of the ankles.

The calm people feel in Lotus comes from sitting still and breathing slowly. The same breath works in Sukhasana (Easy Pose) or on a chair. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika calls Padmasana the destroyer of all diseases. That is the tradition speaking, and no study supports it.

Who should skip or modify Lotus Pose

Lotus is one of the yoga poses that most often causes injury, nearly always to the knee. The knee is a hinge. When the hips do not rotate far enough, the twist needed to lift the foot onto the thigh has to come from somewhere, and it ends up in the knee, where it can strain the ligaments and the medial meniscus, the cartilage on the inside of the joint.

• Skip full Lotus if you have a knee injury, meniscus problem or knee surgery behind you, or a hip replacement, unless your physiotherapist has cleared it.
• Come out straight away if you feel sharp pain or pinching on the inside of the knee. A stretch in the outer hip is what you want. Pain in the knee is not.
• Come out if a foot or leg goes numb or tingles. Pressure on the nerves around the knee and ankle can build up in long sits.
• Choose Half Lotus, Sukhasana or Siddhasana if your knees stay high above your hips when you sit cross-legged. That is a sign the hips are not ready yet.

For more on practising without injury, read our 10 tips to avoid yoga injuries.

Common mistakes

• Pulling the foot up by force. If the hands have to haul the foot onto the thigh, the rotation is coming from the knee. Go back to Half Lotus.
• Foot too low. A foot resting on the shin or mid-thigh twists the knee more. It should reach the crease of the hip.
• Collapsed ankle. When the sole turns up too far and the outer ankle bends, the ankle ligaments take the strain. Keep the foot active.
• Rounded lower back. Sit higher on the blanket until the pelvis tips forward.
• Always the same leg on top. Alternate.
• Sitting through numbness. Come out, straighten the legs, and try again another day.

Preparatory poses

Lotus is mostly about the hips. These poses open them in the directions Lotus needs:

• Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose): outward rotation with the soles of the feet together.
• Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose): the outer hips and glutes.
• Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes): the outer hip of the bent leg, with a twist.
• Ardha Padmasana (Half Lotus): the step before full Lotus, on both sides.
• Virasana (Hero Pose): the knee bend and the tops of the feet.

Our hip-strengthening yoga exercises build the control around the joint, and Clare Nicholls' class Approaching Hip Opening is an easy flow for the hips and glutes that she recommends before sitting to meditate.

Follow-up poses

• Matsyasana (Fish Pose): traditionally done with the legs in Lotus, lying back with the chest lifted.
• Yoga Mudrasana: fold forward in Lotus with the arms behind you.
• Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog): lengthens the legs after the long bend in the knees.

After any long sit, straighten your legs in front of you and move your ankles and knees gently for a few breaths before you stand up.

Padmasana variations

• Ardha Padmasana (Half Lotus): one foot on the opposite thigh, the other foot under the opposite knee. The best seat for most people who are working toward Lotus.
• Baddha Padmasana (Bound Lotus): the arms cross behind the back and the hands hold the toes.
• Sukhasana (Easy Pose): a simple cross-legged seat with both feet on the floor.
• Siddhasana (Accomplished Pose): one heel in front of the other along the midline, feet off the thighs.

Once you can sit comfortably, the pose is a seat for everything else: our beginner's guide to meditation is a good place to start.

Sofia Soori's class Padmasana Preparation opens the hips step by step and shows how to come into Lotus without hurting your knees.

Frequently asked questions

What is Padmasana in yoga?

Padmasana, or Lotus Pose, is a seated yoga posture with each foot placed on the opposite thigh, soles up, and the knees on or near the floor. It is used as a seat for meditation and pranayama, and it is one of the main seated postures of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

How is Padmasana performed?

Sit with your legs straight. Bend the right knee and, turning the leg out from the hip, place the right foot high on the left thigh. Then place the left foot on the right thigh. Sit tall, rest your hands on your knees or in your lap and breathe slowly. Change sides next time.

How long should you sit in Padmasana?

Start with 30 seconds to a minute on each side and add a little time over weeks, as long as your knees stay free of pain. Experienced practitioners sit for 20 minutes or more. Come out as soon as you feel pain in the knee or numbness in the legs.

Which is better, Siddhasana or Padmasana?

For most people Siddhasana is easier on the knees, because the feet stay low and the knees twist less. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika calls Siddhasana the foremost of all asanas and praises Padmasana too. Pick the one you can sit in without pain for the length of your practice. A steady seat matters more than its name.

Is Lotus Pose bad for your knees?

Lotus is generally fine for the knees when the rotation comes from the hips. It becomes risky when it is forced: then the twist goes into the knee, and meniscus and ligament injuries from Lotus are well documented. Open the hips first and never pull the foot into place.

Why can't I do Lotus Pose?

Usually because the hips do not yet rotate outward far enough. The shape of the hip socket and thigh bone also differs from person to person, and for some bodies full Lotus may never be comfortable. Half Lotus, Siddhasana and Sukhasana give you the same steady seat.