How to Sit On Your Heels - Seiza for Everyone
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- Опубликовано: 4 ноя 2022
- Want to learn how to sit on your heels like a bad *ss samurai... but don't have the mobility or strength to get all the way there? Don't worry. It's not because you're not Asian. I've got some tips and tricks here to help you gradually work toward sitting all the way down in the seiza position. Remember when trying to sit down, listen to your body and don't push past your limits. Take it slow!
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At Upright Health we give you strategies and research to get your life back.
With principled functional training, we believe everyone can beat chronic pain and get strong, mobile, and resilient.
Our home training programs help you troubleshoot and train your body safely. We help you tear down fear and build up muscle. We help you think right, move right, and feel right.
Matt Hsu's own battle with chronic pain from the age of 16 in his feet, knees, hips, back, shoulders, elbows, forearms, wrists, hands, and head gives him a uniquely thorough understanding of musculoskeletal pain, the ways in which it can undermine an entire life, and the mental and physical hurdles that keep people from getting out of it.
When not filming videos, he's working out in the living room, surfing, learning dance or gymnastics moves, or riding a bike with his son in tow.
ENDING CREDITS MUSIC
David Cutter Music - www.davidcuttermusic.com
ABOUT THIS VIDEO
In this video, I go over some exercises that will help you to achieve a full seiza position - a traditional way of sitting in Japan that involves kneeling, and then sitting on your heels.
#Seiza #Flexibility #SittingInSeiza #UprightHealth
How does your seiza feel after doing these exercises? Drop me a comment!👇
Matt you are brilliant love your sense of humour. I was waiting for a video on this very exercise. Began doing this nearly two weeks ago and was in so much pain. Right knee was exploding. Now l am getting more flexible, doing it thrice a week. Though l haven't tried the position on the sofa to strengthen my bum. Just a question. I'm aiming to do the squat by doing the follow along knee exercises with ankle weights, do you think the above exercise will this help. Lol from London England
Hmmm... how about being flexible and no problem sitting like this but every time my lower legs(from knee down) are starting to sleep/stop getting proper blood flow. Thats my reason why i don t like to sit like that for more than a few minutes without moving constantly. With a small "kneeling stool" which takes the body weight off my lower legs its fine.
I struggle being able to close my right knee fully to sit on my heel. I could always do this pose easily but recently the right knee won’t fully close by about 2 “ .. any advice? I usually put a yoga block between heels and butt to relieve the problem
Matt, this is exactly what I’ve been waiting for! Although it feels like my knees are going to explode, it’s in my calf muscles where I feel this the most. There really do feel they will pop at any time!! I do desk work and have done for years, and have been sedentary for quite some time. Will these exercises help with this, or should I be doing something for my calf muscles too? Thanks in advance 😊
@@lillianjulius3734 Yup, a stronger bum will always be a net benefit in your life. ❤
3:26 - Exercise 1
7:04 - Exercise 2
10:32 - Exercise 3
12:41 - Exercise 4 - Ankles
15:11 - Bonus Exercise - Bringing the knees together
Underappreciated comment
Gonna use this comment to add another exercise that I've found to be the perfect one. Use pillows and supports! You will probably feel it easier to practice if you don't look like you're trying to hump your couch or get caught by your naughty stepson. Put pillows (as many as needed) to cushion (haha) your body. You can rest your legs in them and sit on a box or bucket. You can them evolve to only using a few cushions to prevent you from going all the way down until you're comfortable to be or your knees straight up.
I wish this comment was pinned
thanks, extremely helpful.
Deserves more likes.
I think the ankle part is the part that will get most people.
Been practicing these exercises for the last 15 minutes. Amazing improvement. Started off with a great deal of knee pain especially on my left bone on bone knee. I repeatedly backed off and repeated. I have been doing your exercises for my knee and slowly seeing improvement. I love this addition to my regime.
I'm very encouraged. Thank you so much.
❤
Awesome! 🙏
i have knee-OA as well. i can do exercises like these without pain. The pain always comes with a delay. sometimes next day. 15 mins might (!) be a too narrow observation-window.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR LESSONS!!! and HOW YOU APPROACH THE LESSON!!!
When I was 15 and I started training in Japanese Jiu-jitsu I learned to sit like this because of the ceremonial group meditation at the start and end of the class. It felt like my knees were going to explode. Nowadays I don't feel like I've corrected my posture properly until I sit in Seiza for a good while. Great video, subbed!
I've just started traditional Jiu Jitsu at 49...😅 I can sit in this position at the start of the lesson, but when doing it at the end of the lesson I have the worst foot cramp within seconds. 🤣
@@eimdeima good luck on your path to black belt my friend, Jiu-jitsu is truly an amazing art, with balance at the centre of everything. Stick with it, it will test your brain as much as your body!!
My sensei used to do an exercise from Seiza where he would lean all the way back until his head touched the floor... Great for the spine, agony (at first) on the legs haha
Jiu-Jitsu is a beautiful sport indeed
I can sit on my heels just fine, just that my ankles will get sore after a while, so thanks for the ankle exercise. It's usually the back of my ankles that hurt most. Will give it a go!
That rug really ties the room together, man.
Seems I’ve spent much of my working life spending hours in this position usually on hard concrete floors. I’m 60 and still working. Thanks for this video I always thought this was an unhealthy position cause colleagues have always told me to use cushions or knee pads and also I’ll eventually get pins & needles after a long period. You’ve given me ways to explore and engage with this movement and I even have created my own little knee exercise from watching this video.
And I still try to squat at least once a day. You taught me that one.
Your videos are fantastic! Thanks to the stretching and strength training you've taught, I can now get down in this position on or off my toes and intp a deep squat. I just spent this position and deep squatting to do some work on the floor for 15 minutes and it was fantastic. I'm 61, so anybody can build these capabilities. I'm also barefoot training and working on all parts of my legs and hips. It's been life changing!
Thanks for your help!
Just today I was trying to work on sitting on my heels. Can’t remember the last time I could sit on my heels but probably not since childhood. Now at 62 with arthritic knees I am far from being able to sit on my heels. This video is just what I needed. Now I know what to do. Thank you 🙏🏼
You're correct!- No.One.Has Ever addressed this! I Never Could do this- ever! Despite any of my fitness/flexibility. THANK YOU! For practical, Useful information to change this . Grateful ! 🙏
TY for the best exercises for old Seniors like me!
Retired, kids are grown and lives far away plus covid; I've become a couch potato! Gained lots of weight. Your videos has helped me with a lot of my pains! I'm Asian- no pain meds for me! I am over 70 yrs old and now that it is cooler, plan to go walking! THANK YOU!
I don't have any trouble getting into this position, but for some reason, my feet go to sleep within seconds, and it only takes a minute or two before I'm pins and needles from the knee down. Makes getting back out of it without turning an ankle a bit of a challenge.
Yes, I have the same problem. The position is fine, but I just get numb legs
Yes, it is the same for me, maybe he will have some tips for us
Me too! Makes it difficult to sing the role of Suzuki in Madame Butterfly. Help!
I have no problem getting into and out of this position. However, while I'm sitting in this position I can feel the brunt of my weight directly over the front of my ankles, so I wonder if I'm cutting off the circulation there. I think if I did this for 5 minutes, it wouldn't be a problem. If I sat like this for 15 minutes or more, I think I'd get more and more numbness, and maybe would have difficulty getting up.
Same for me and it's been this way forever. Overall I do have less than strong legs so I'm going to work on these exercises anyway to see if it does help somehow. I think most of my mobility issues are stemming from lack of strength since my flexibility isn't terrible overall
I just stumbled upon your channel today and I LOVE it! I appreciate it when practioners refuse to subscribe to the common "aging" myths as it pertains to joints and muscles . Thank you for reminding us that there's always a solution... a better way to improve our mobility as we age! 🙌🏾🤸🏾♀️👏🏾
You made my day. This seiza position has been my most challenging forever. Thanks😊
I’m grateful I can do this with no issues at 65. Thank God for Matt and his insight! I also learned a new word; seiza
Actually I found this channel couple months ago when I was searching how to sit on feet. Because this position is used a lot in yoga too. now I am excited to see you are giving a solution to it. Thank you!
I start every exercise session in seiza. It's the best way to center myself and bring the energy up after a long day. This is a great video on the subject. (And it took me almost a year to get there, but it was worth it).
HOLY COW. I've been slowly working towards seiza for the last 4 months. Saw some improvements in range of motion at the start, but have felt kind of like I've plateaued for the last month and half. I have been sitting in the position somewhat uncomfortably, but needing to take some pressure off using both hands on the ground. I just did your exercises along with the video for 10 minutes and was able to achieve relatively pain free seiza with no hand support immediately after my first time! I am AMAZED!! Thank you so much for this invaluable content :).
I have just found your channel & although I am a lucky 71 year old who has always trained & also practised Qigong for over 20 years. I still have difficulty with wall squats & sitting on my heels. Your vid is brilliant in describing the way to achieve both as specific goals. Thank you 🙏🏽
This by far is the most informative video on seiza I’ve seen on utube, & I’ve studied virtually everyone, the Japanese use a special cushion called a "zabuton" for seiza sitting. Also I’d recommend everyone to practice seiza as it helps older people to get up from sitting In chairs 🪑 without struggling, as many do ?
Matt, I’m an old bodybuilder that has been training my whole life and I’m very strong but also very tight in my hips and knees. I just signed up for your FAI program and I can’t wait to get started. I’ve been dealing with hip pain for the past 10 months and I’m ready to get out of this pain and get into these positions that you’re demonstrating! Oh yeah, I’m 62 and retired so I’ve got plenty of time to devote to this!
Fair play brother, hope you’re doing great now
You're absolutely right and I love getting your video reminders of move my body through a range of different positions.
I absolutely love the humour & gentle approach. Such a great video. Thank you friend 👍
You really are the best! 🎉 I started with bob and brad and you have even better quality in your explainations and guides. You respect the process!
Thanks so much. I always thought just practicing these positions was enough, now I've learnt which muscles to work on to enable me to do these positions better. Your videos are brilliant!
I've been training for the past 4 years and only now did I start actually caring about mobility and flexibility. Most of the compound exercises I was doing were uncomfortable to some degree, and I kept getting hurt. I stopped doing them altogether and now I sub in mobility exercises instead. I feel so much healthier, and I am confident that in the future I will gain even more strength to continue doing compound exercises. Your content has been massively helpful in my journey. Thank you :)
Wow! Thank you so much! It's like a wonder for me! I was struggling with this all my life! Also your video about getting the hamstrings stretched is incredibly valuable for me. Really like a miracle. I really always thought something's terribly wrong with me. I never got better results. Now I know how and THAT I can work on it. You're so inspiring. I love what you do and how you present it🎁🎁🎁🎁
Wow, I can’t wait to try these exercises. I’m training with a teacher of Japanese Buddhism who requires me to sit in seiza on tatami and I think this video is going to help me a lot. Thanks for sharing this with us.
THANK YOU! I have never been able to get into this position. This is the first video I have found that addresses it.
OMG!!! after 15 mins I could do this. I have also done the leg extensions for the inner thigh muscle and I feel so much better all ready. Thank you so much. I am going to do this every day from now on.
You have seriously taught me so many things about my body that I've spent years failing to learn. Thank you so much dude
Happy to help!
Thank you so much for the videos or Phibro exercises, because so many people have no clue and I just started watching your videos and I just started and I’m already feeling that you’re spot on. Thank you so very much.❤
I'll definitely be using these exercises. I have serious problems sitting in seiza. The pain in my ankles forces me forward onto my hands. Thank you for posting this!
Muslims do this during Salat. This is often painful for new believers. These exercises are certain to be extremely helpful. Peace.
Yes I am going through this, it is very painful for me
More difficult with your left feet lying down to the side with your right feet upright with toes down. It goes easier and even normal with no struggle as you keep on praying 5x a day.
Thank you. I will work on these 3 exercises. I found a difference in first attempts. Hopeful.
Not the most painful thing for new Muslims to go through
@@lars7747 FUNNY AND WITTY
Exactly what I was looking for to get knees back to bending. Great video!
Yes these exercises greatly helped me to get closer my heels! I plan to do this every morning
Thanks! I Couldn’t find anyone who addressed this. I thought I was going crazy - and I knew that there had to be answer other than I just wasn’t built to be able to do it . Bless you and thanks much.
Glad I could help! Really appreciate the support!
GREAT video, Matt!👍💪👍💪
Good day bro . This is great , this is one of our prayer position. Because knee issues I was siting in chair doing the prayer . But I started to do it in normal way in beginning it was quite difficult but gradually I regained it. What you say is right daily practice you can do it.
I do the hero pose and can sit right in between my knees on the floor. I love doing it because it is a great stretch and feels great. It also relieves hip pain from arthritis. I will do this one as well to see the difference.
Thanks, bro. Loved your instructions.
This is so motivating! I can't wait to try it out. Thank you!
I have been ill with Lyme since '89. I haven't been bed bound all that time but I did go through many years of little activity since walking up stairs could make me feel faint. I am very out of shape. I have horses and adore riding as well as working with abused horses to help them but with so little energy and so much pain I have felt like it is impossible. I have made a lot of progress over the last 4 years with my health but whenever I looked at videos about beginning an exercise plan it just seemed just plain impossible and misguided. I want to aid my body in healing and growing stronger, not set it back. I deal with a lot of pain especially with the arthritis in my knees, the bursitis in my shoulders/knees/hip and the sciatica. I just have been so discouraged Then I came across your channel I was so relieved at the helpful content that you have created here. It was as if you were speaking to my issue directly. I just wanted to let you know that you are helping me, at 61 with chronic illness, get my body back in a healthy realistic way. That is such a relief. Thank you.
Bro after doing this I feel so much relief in my hips, butt and lower back. Thanks dawg you gained a subscriber for life
feeling confident after seeing this video. Going to start all the exercises from today. Thank you for the wonderful video.
Haven't been able to do this for 12 years since my ACL surgery, and I've avoided it due to pain. Now im determined!
I'm usually about a fist away from my heels at best, but after a run through of these exercises I got to about 2 fingers away!
Great stuff, thank you!
Hi, just wanted to remind you in case you forgot. Is it going ok?
Hey, I had an ACL surgery too and been struggling with this as well. Did some martial arts before that and couldn't perform basic rolling anymore cuz of not being able to bend my knee, did you have success until now?
@@doubleofu8254 unfortunately no. It was very encouraging at first.. however even when I was trying to be conservative, the excessive bending and time kneeling was causing swelling and new pain issues.. so I stopped trying to push it. You may be different, and I may have had cartilage tears that cause the swelling issue, but for me.. looks like I'm going to be about a fist away from sitting on my heels for a long time still
@@diagonals792 damn, I have had the same issue with swelling when I first tried fixing it but thought I might have gone about it a bit too aggressive...
@doubleofu8254 I've had 2 physios say that sometimes, for some people, after ACL surgeries your knee flexion will never be full range again. The last time I tried these exercises to restore full knee bend I had a swollen knee for 6 days.
I have trained most of my life, played volley, football you name it. But i could barely do the toe exercise. Amazing improvement to feel muscles working properly. Great video!
Thank you so very much. Today,I am just watching your entire videos. My plan is to try these exercises tonight❤
Your videos are amazing, thank you, thank you. I needed them for my martial arts training.
Thank you so much I am starting yoga and my biggest struggle is the sitting positions. I found the cross legged video too. This is awesome. 😊
You Sir, are insanely Useful!
Thankyou for your generosity in sharing with us. Love you
Wow, this is perhaps the first stretch exercise I can do. Interestingly enough, I do it for a purpose not mentioned. Few years ago I tore my right meniscus. Every once in awhile the meniscus was going out and the pain would drop me. Literally had to scream and crawl. The doctor said nothing would help except surgery. So I began to stretch the knee and of course the furthest I could stretch it was sitting on my heels and attempting to lie backwards. It’s been years and no recurrence of the meniscus problem. Never seen this as an answer to such a meniscus problem, but it worked for me.
Was going to ask about knee pain where they touch the floor . . . but you answered that :) Thanks!
ive been waiting for your vid on this! i knew seiza was a good pose and that you would have a trick no one else mentioned!
Hi Matt. This looks achievable. For beginners I am cheating by putting two small cushions under my shins and ankles. No knee problems and I can get all the way down. Will practice this whilst watching TV instead of slouching on the couch. Greetings from the UK!
You are a star my knee pain is almost going
Thanks, good video. very easy to listen to
Aren’t you the best? I will be doing this everyday!
I am new to yoga so I want to get comfortable with this position!
Thank you!!!!
Love the way you present ❤
Literally helped me so much! Thanks so much 👏👏👏👏
You are amazing love your workout videos and they work!!!👏
I can’t wait to try this!!
Was looking for a way to sit seiza, found a way to live well in all aspects!
I really appreciate this! Cannot wait to try - I was someone who just thought I couldn’t do it.
Wow, I just found you on RUclips. You are a God sent. Thank you so much for this simple practice. 🙏💖
Thank You for your time and knowledge, it has helped me tremendously. Thanks Again.
Upright Health has helped me slowly and safely gain range of motion in my 'asian squat', Something that I thought would have been impossible. I will now confidently add 'Seiza' to my training. Thanks
I am speechless bro....thanks for your great efforts
Great info. Thanks a bunch.
I love your advice and practices...I recommend you to EVERYONE! Thank you for approaching overall health in such a realistic and practical way. Such VALUE here! How do I donate?
Thank you for the detailed information and demonstration. I have work to do.
You can do it! Best of luck!
Thank you very much. After doing the exercises I felt so much better. And you give hope that I can overcome this problem.
I really appreciate you sharing these tips. I'm 51, and I have extremely limited mobility and flexibility. I'm not even close to being able to sit on my heals. I'm going to do these exercises daily, and I hope to be posting my successes in the future. Thanks again!
Great video as usual. 50 years of Aikido Sieza we were trained to sit with big toes crossed.
Congratulations for the Clearness and General Pedagogy 👏👏👏👌👌👌🙂
Awesome thank you for this training video.
what a wonderful and considerate How To break-down. Thank you for taking the time to explain what your muscles are doing and how they *should* work.
My issue isn't getting down, it's my feet falling asleep and my ankles hurting to get up =/
I use to sit in this position for my meditation. I had to quit as it was getting painful. Now I’m hopeful that I can do it again. Thanks
Thank you for this video!
Thank you for this video it has helped me understand better how to progress in sitting in this position
i was able to do this until 2 years ago randomly. great tips! ill be back to seiza in no time😊
Apparently I have no muscles in my entire body. I seem to have something in the right places, but I’ve got years of work ahead to kneel, bend, etc. thanks for the encouragement.
No joke the more i sit in seiza the more i notice how unnatural and uncomfortable modern furniture really is. Its almost like chairs are designed to restrict you over time
I didn't realize this was a difficult position to sit in,until I went to school and everyone said,how can you sit like that? I always had,it's very comfortable. I even sit in my chair like this❤️
I use seiza all the time for meditation and in karate classes. I was hoping for tips and tricks to keep my legs from falling asleep after uhh 20-30 minutes. it's a real eye opener that so many people can't even do it at all. Its a sad realization that being moderately fit and flexible is actually rare
@@dango470 Ya I learned this from karate too. I feel most people can't do it.
i also always sit like this in my chair (if propriety allows for it) and thought it's just a normal human thing until this video o.O
If you sit like that from a young age, it probably won't be very hard. But, if you get out of practice, then it can be a challenge to regain the mobility to do so.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade This is why we must practice.
I had a TKR 6mos ago and can only achieve 120 degrees. I'm determined to regain my ability to bend all the way. This is helpful.
Love this!
I had to stop and have a solid laugh at the peach slapping! HAH! I love the humor you present the info with
Thanks!
Thanks so much for your support!
Many thanks !
great tips. It worked for me
I started working on being able to sit on my heels about 3 years ago. My physio started me on the 1st exercise you presented. She also had me doing sitting repeats without letting my butt hit the chair. That made a lot of improvement but I could only barely sit on my left heel not my right (I sprained my right ankle so many times playing sports when I was young that I hadn't noticed the asymmetry and it affected my running greatly. So I started doing one leg at a time on my bench (very painful at first) and can now sit comfortably on my left leg but uncomfortably on my right. Surprisingly, I tried the plantar flexion exercise and discovered that I form a straight line. I expected to find that this was a big reason I was still struggling to do the Seiza position comfortably. That leaves my glutes as my main suspect, an area I've worked a lot to strengthen over the past 3-4 four years since they are the key to stable hips which are the key to most knee and ankle problems. No matter how old I get, there is always something to learn. Good video. Very useful.
Love your style.
I had been wondering why I haven't been able to this squat when I used too in the past without a problem but will definitely start trying your suggestions and see how it goes. Thanks
Physically feeble fallicy... Thank you for that! It's a horrible trap and I'm glad to find someone willing to address it directly. ❤️
I remember when I started practicing Kendo (in my 50's) and we were asked to get into Seiza position before and after training, I struggled majorly with doing it, and it took me months to be able to sit for the few minutes while our sensei was talking to us. Wish I had found this video sooner!
I have been in hot yoga stretch classes for two months and couldn't do Seiza. It got better, but not good. My right knee felt like it would explode. I went to a stretch place yesterday..they worked on my hips..soooo tight...and last night, my right knee popped into place!! Telling me, it's not my knees that are limiting my Seiza...it's something else. I found your video...and I'm so glad to have an action plan now!!!!
Thank you!
This, and the videos about being in a squat and criss cross apple sauce, are fantastic! I work with children, so i often have to get low to the floor. Its really uncomfortable for me. These seem like good ways to start working on getting comfortable when im not sitting in a chair
I may have bone on bone in my hips but I can totally do this pose! Yay me! 😃💕 But I may need to work on glute engagement and quad strength lol. Thanks for the awareness! 👍💕