posture for meditation

In this episode of the Mindfulness series, I'm going to talk about the posture to use when meditating in order to deepen our mindfulness.

The posture is quite important if you are going to meditate for more than a few minutes. And in general for meditation, it's good if our spine is straight, not bent as it would be if we were slouched in an armchair, for example. The straight spine brings a certain alertness to the body and therefore to the mind. And it also improves the energy flows in the spine. It helps the body become integrated, and this again is reflected in the mind.

My favourite position for meditation is a kneeling position with my knees on the floor and sitting on a low meditation stool, so my weight is taken by the stool. I like the sort of stools that are sometimes called Zen stools. The top of the stool is perhaps twenty centimetres off the ground, or a little more, and the top of the stool slopes down towards the front. When we sit on such a stool, our weight is on the sitting bones – part of the pelvis – and that tilt on the stool naturally angles the pelvis so that the top of the pelvis comes forward a little, and this straightens the spine rather effortlessly.

With this sort of posture, we can sit in an erect way without having to strain our back muscles. And because it's a relaxed position, we can sit for a long time, without it becoming painful.

Instead of using a Zen stool, some people sit in a kneeling position with a cushion between their legs so that most of their weight is taken by the cushion.

Some people prefer to sit cross-legged. Again it's good if the pelvis is tilting slightly forward at the top, and for this to happen, the knees need to be the same height or lower than the hip joints. If you have a flexible body, then you may be able to do this, sitting flat on the floor even.

You might try the full lotus position where the legs are crossed and each foot rests on the thigh of the opposite leg. This is not necessary, though, in order to meditate well.

If kneeling or sitting cross-legged doesn't work for you, then sitting on a chair is also fine. If using a chair, I prefer to sit right at the edge of the chair with my feet tucked a little under the chair and my knees splayed apart, so that my knees are again lower down than my hip joints. It's the same effect as that Zen stool, only now using the edge of a chair.

If that doesn't work for you, then just try sitting normally in a very upright chair, a dining chair, with your bottom pushed right back so that your back is against the back of the chair.

Play around with a few of these different ideas and find which posture works best for you. If you really find them all very uncomfortable, then you might like to try lying down for your meditation. I mentioned that we want the spine to be straight, ideally, straight and vertical, but straight and horizontal is the next best thing.

If you're going to do your meditation lying down, I suggest you do it without using a pillow, so that your head is right down at the same level as your back. Otherwise that little bend in your neck will be enough to slightly inhibit the energy flow in your body.

Another possibility for a meditation posture is standing. If you are comfortable standing still for prolonged periods, then this might work for you. Most people have a little too much stress in their muscles, when standing, for it to be as good as the other postures I've talked about. But perhaps it's right for you.

If you are using one of the kneeling or sitting postures for meditation, then you can rest your hands on your legs, either palms down or palms facing upwards, whichever is more comfortable and relaxed for you. Another possibility, and one which I personally prefer, is to bring the hands together in front of the lower abdomen, one hand resting in the palm of the other. In order to completely relax the weight of your arms in this position, you might find that you need to rest them on something, a very small cushion nestled between your legs.

The idea is to be able to sit very still without having to use any muscle tension. When the body is relaxed and yet alert, the mind will follow. It too will become relaxed and yet alert, and that is mindfulness. So attend to the posture carefully, and each time you start to meditate, take a moment or two to shuffle your weight around a little bit. Get comfortable. Check your spine is straight. And take a few deep breaths to relax into that that posture.

Enough for now.