I continue to sit the 40 in the lotus, at least once a day, in spite of the extent of the stretch that I find myself in past 35. I’m looking for the activity of the sitting to be generated involuntarily out of the stretch of ligaments, in reciprocity for the most part, and I accept that the stretch that’s involved is going to develop strength that has to do with balance that I may not have had before. That means sometimes the stretch is a lot, for a little bit of activity!
Balance is going to open the ability to feel, through alignment of the spine and ease in the exits of the nerves from within the spine, so there’s an evolution of stretch and activity, alignment and the ability to feel.
I think of Dennis Merzel, who says he started out in half-lotus, then sat in full lotus, and now is sitting Burmese. I admire the way he has figured out what works for him and been willing to change.
It’s true that there are folks out there who damaged their knees with the lotus, presumably trying to force the activity of posture instead of allowing it to develop through the stretch of the bands and the sheets. If it’s not possible to find a stretch, and there’s only pain, there’s no point in continuing in any given posture as far as I’m concerned.