Suffering
In my on-going quest to find a meditation position in which my legs do not go numb, I recently bought a new, extra-tall Mountain Seat zafu. The top layer is made out of that awesome viscoelastic foam (the stuff that holds a handprint) and the bottom is full of buckwheat hulls, so it does have a nice mix of support and "give."
My legs still go numb, however. But not as quickly. And not as painfully, so I'm hoping that whatever nerve I'm pinching will eventually get used to it.
Here's what Bhante Gunaratana, in Mindfulness in Plain English has to say about physical pain:
"First, get rid of the pain, if possible, or at least get rid of it as much as possible. Then, if some pain lingers, use it as an object of meditation...
"You will discover that there are two things present. The first is the simple sensation--pain itself. Second is your resistance to that sensation. Resistance reaction is partly mental and partly physical. The physical part consists of tensing the muscles in and around the painful area. Relax those muscles...Then go after the mental side of the resistance. Just as you are tensing physically, you are also tensing psychologically....
"Please understand: There is no masochism being advocated here. Self-mortification is not the point. This is an exercise in awareness, not self-torture. If the pain becomes excruciating, go ahead and move, but move slowly and mindfully. Observe your movements. See how it feels. Watch what it does to the pain. Watch the pain diminish...
"New meditators sometimes say they have trouble remaining mindful when pain is present. This difficulty stems from a misunderstanding. These students are conceiving mindfulness as something distinct from the experience of pain. It is not. Mindfulness never exists by itself. It always has an object, and one object is as good as another...
"Numbness in the leg is nothing to worry about. It is caused by nerve pinch, not by lack of circulation. You can't damage the tissues of your legs by sitting. So relax. When your legs fall asleep in meditaion, just mindfully observe the phenomenom. Examine what it feels like. It may be sort of uncomfortable, but it is not painful unless you tense up.
"Just stay calm and watch..."
(Illustration from The Buddha Tarot by Robert Pace.)
10:16:42 AM 
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