पद्मासन
Padmasana — Lotus Pose
padma = lotus — the lotus seat of meditation
Each foot rests on the opposite thigh: the iconic seat, earned slowly, never forced.
In the simplest words
The famous 'statue sitting': cross your legs and lift one foot onto the opposite thigh, and only if it's easy, the other foot too. If it hurts even a little, stay with plain criss-cross. The gods accept every comfortable seat.
What it is
The seat the murtis sit in: legs crossed with each foot placed sole-up on the opposite thigh, knees grounded, spine rising free. Locked this way, the body cannot slump, and for that reason the Hatha Yoga Pradipika calls padmasana the destroyer of all diseases (I.47; I.49 in some editions) and so many traditions seat their meditators in it. The pose demands open hips built over months through sukhasana and the butterfly, and forcing it is the usual way practitioners injure a knee. Half-lotus, one foot up, gives nearly all of its benefits.
Before you practise: health first
The knee is a hinge, not a swivel; ALL rotation must come from the hips. Any knee or ankle pain means release at once; existing knee injury means half-lotus or sukhasana permanently. Months of preparation are normal.
Getting into it
Warm the hips first: butterfly flutters and a minute of sukhasana each side.
From sukhasana, cradle the right foot and place it sole-up high on the left thigh.
If the right knee floats high or complains, stop here; this half-lotus IS the pose for today.
Otherwise, bring the left foot onto the right thigh; both knees resting down.
Hands in chin mudra on the knees; alternate which leg is on top day by day.
The breath
The seat exists to forget the body. Breathe as in sukhasana, slow and silent.
What it is kept for
The steadiest long-sit for japa and dhyana once the hips allow it; the posture of every dhyana murti.