postures for meditation

Gautam Buddha described four postures for meditation: sitting, standing, lying down, and walking. The first three of these are still postures; the body is still, not moving. And the fourth, walking, of course involves the body moving.

Of these four postures, sitting is the one most commonly used for meditation, and Gautama encouraged his monks, his followers, to sit in the lotus position, with the legs crossed and the feet upturned. It’s a very stable posture but not one that my body has ever known.

With any of the three static postures, it is important that the body can physically relax, so the position we adopt needs to be comfortable. Lying down, this is usually easy to achieve. Perhaps we don’t want to be on too cold a surface, or too hard, but a flat surface is good, and I recommend not using a pillow under the head, as long as the head is resting on something reasonably soft. This way the spine can be as straight as possible, which helps with the energy flows during meditation.

Standing up, it is good if the feet are approximately shoulder width apart. I like to stand in bare feet so the feet are really in contact with the ground. And then you might try slightly relaxing the knees so they are not held locked: slightly bent, but only slightly. Ideally, there should be no tension needed in any of the muscles of the body when standing. This is a little difficult, and the reason that sitting is usually preferred over standing is that it is a more stable position, and the muscles of the body can relax all the more.

Sitting, you need to try a few different positions and find what is comfortable for you – a full lotus, the half lotus, sitting cross-legged – these may work for you. In any case, you should aim for the knees to be slightly lower than the hip joints. This allows the pelvis to rotate forward slightly and the lower back becomes naturally straight without the back muscles needing to hold it in position. Again, the straight spine helps with the energy flows as well as with the relaxation of the muscles.

When sitting I prefer to use a Zen stool, a low stool just a few inches off the ground. I am kneeling but my weight is sitting on a stool which has a sloping top, just slightly angled, so again, the pelvis tends to be slightly rotated forward and the back is comfortably straight without any effort, without any muscle tension.

The emphasis on a relaxed posture is because if there is tension in the body, there will also be tension in the mind: the two are not as separate as we tend to think. So whether sitting, standing or lying down, find a position which is comfortable, where the body can relax, and with that, the mind too will be able to relax, become tranquil.

When walking, again I prefer to walk in bare feet, preferably outdoors in nature, feeling the earth beneath my feet. The body is designed to move and if we indulge in too much sitting meditation, the body will tend to generate a lot of pain: it is an unnatural thing to do for prolonged periods of time. So if we are meditating a lot, it is a good idea to alternate a static posture with some walking meditation. It allows the circulation to be revitalised and the body is happy moving, from time to time at least.

These are the four basic postures that Gautam Buddha identified for meditation: sitting, standing, lying down, and walking. In fact you can use any posture, any position, but it should be relaxed, comfortable and, ideally, with a straight spine.