I’m curious to understand a recent impulse I encountered to sit in Padmasana during sitting practices. I used to sit very comfortably on a shallow grain-filled cushion in Siddhasana for the past 3 years. However, a few month ago, I experienced occasionally during deep meditation a strong impulse to remove the cushion and sit directly on the hard floor and in Padmasana, even though I’ve never learned sitting in Padmasana and neither had any plans to do so. There particularly the impulse to sit on the floor (even a yoga mat feels less satisfying than the wooden floor directly). Out of curiosity I sometimes followed this impulse, but sitting like this became quickly uncomfortable (since I never learned to sit in Padmasana) so I never considered switching. More recently these impulses came more often, and I read about how to properly sit in Padmasana, so that eventually sitting in Padmasana has become sufficiently comfortable and distraction-free to remain there for my 20 min of sitting routine.
I’m curious to understand better what is going on. Using the AYP Plus AI tool and the search functions I know that Padmasana is not recommended in AYP and that Siddhasana suits the AYP sitting practices better energetically. However, in my experience this impulse to sit directly on the hard floor and “tie up” my feet in Padmasana feels like an energetic impulse. And it feels then also very satisfying energetically once sitting in Padmasana. It “closes a circuit” although in a different way than Siddhasana.
I have been recently self-pacing downwards energetic practices, and so I wonder if this impulse to sit in Padmasana could be yet another step in this direction. The most obvious difference is the heel against the root in Siddhasana. But if it were just that, my impulse could have just been to leave a small gap between the heel and the root, rather than the impulse to sit on the hard floor directly without cushion. So I believe there might additional differences and I would like to understand them. I would appreciate any insights or suggestions for further reading.
I know that Padmasana can damage the knees, and so I’m also interested in understanding if this impulse can be alleviated without the need for sitting in Padmasana.