{"id":110,"date":"2020-05-17T19:37:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T19:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demosites.io\/yoga-studio-gb\/?page_id=110"},"modified":"2026-09-08T21:59:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T01:59:31","slug":"84647-single-class","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/resources\/84647-single-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Postures of Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Please return to this page a few times to become familiar with these guidelines. Taking time in the beginning to cultivate posture will support your practice until it becomes natural. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posture is very important if one is going to sit for an extended period of time. Proper alignment in sitting posture allows us to put our energy in our meditation instead of being physically distracted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is challenging enough to meditate without having to be continuously pulled away from the object of our meditation; whether that will be breath awareness, counting the breath, or a repeating of word or phrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should take several minutes to align in posture before you start your meditation practice. The time you take will allow you to have a more fruitful meditation. There are many ways to approach this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting on a Cushion<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

If you are able to, it is worth getting a proper cushion made for meditation. Cushion height ranges from 3 to 9 inches tall. If you can physically go to a store and get a proper fitting for your body, that would be best. Also please be aware that many people, even those who teach meditation and yoga, and have been doing it for a long time, may still not be adequately trained or aware about the proper use of meditation cushions or sitting posture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cross Legged On a Cushion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A soft meditation mat or a thick blanket should be used to support your ankles, knees, and feet and to place your meditation cushion on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. The buttocks have to be raised off the ground. Your bones (genetic) structure and flexibility will determine the height of your cushion. It\u2019s usually more your genetic physical structure where the determination is made.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The cushion should have the flexibility so that it can be adjusted to be lower at the front than the back   As you settle into the cushion sit so that your pelvis tilts forward and then down. At first you will have the feeling you are going to fall forward. (See image.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Make sure that you sit 1\/3 to 1\/2 way back on the cushion to allow the pelvis to tilt forward. Then gently push your upper body backwards to have a straight but relaxed back with a slight inward curve in the lower back, if possible, without forcing \u2014 for some, this not possible without proper personal guidance. See images of sitting postures with cushion and chair.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. If your knees do not touch the ground, use some rolled towels or other small cushions to support them. Do not push them up, support them just enough for them to rest where they are.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Your head and neck should rest gently on your shoulders. This means you do not control where you think they should be, but rather let them rest where they are, by looking straight, tucking your chin slightly in, gazing down in front of you 2 or 3 feet (without focusing anywhere or anything in particular), or keep your eyes closed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Place hands close to your body on your lap or thighs. Having them too forward on your knees may cause you to concave forward.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Open your chest, by gently raising your shoulders, over backwards, and then drop them down. Do not tense. Allow the body to be at ease.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Belly should be soft and relaxed. If your belly is soft and relaxed and you are off balance, you will fall forward or backwards, or sideways. The soft belly is a good way to determine if you\u2019re physically centered and balanced.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. If you are finding it difficult to stay vertical and relaxed in your sitting posture you can add a little tension by putting your hands on your thighs, and pushing backwards gently. A little tension is ok, and it can keep one from falling into lethargy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. The body, as much as possible, must be supported by alignment. This means to try to sense any tension you might be holding in your body before you start your meditation. To help with this, you can rock forward and sideways gently, and see if you come back to the center. If you come back to the center easily it means that your body is supported by your seat bones with the weight going straight down your spine, and gravity is supporting instead of your muscle tension. This is good. Remember however, that what is important is for you to be as comfortable as possible, rather than trying to be rigid about these instructions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    Kneeling on a Cushion<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    Guidelines for the kneeling posture on a cushion are similar to cross-legged on a cushion. The difference is that the lower legs are flipped on either side. See picture below.<\/strong> The advantage of this is that there are greater options for elevation and slope. This means that raising the buttocks higher or lower is easier and with little restriction. The kneeling posture has a few main advantages.
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    • Those who are not able to sit cross-legged are able to sit on a cushion on the ground<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Those with back issues due to habitual improper posture or age or lack of flexibility do better with this posture with less physical distraction from discomfort.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • This posture naturally elongates and curves the spine with very little effort and allows the muscles to relax more easily.
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      Like the cross-legged position, one needs to have a soft surface to kneel on to cushion the knees, the top of the foot, and the shins.
      One of the challenges that people have in the kneeling position is that bending the foot backwards may create stress, discomfort, and pain. This can be partially alleviated by placing a folded towel under the foot, near the joint with the leg. By doing this, the foot joint will bend less and ease the strain. Try different heights of cushioning with the towel. In time, this will become easier. After you have set yourself up, you can work on the upper body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Here are a few points to review for sitting optimally in the kneeling posture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      1. Create a soft surface by using a folded blanket, towels, or mat (zabuton). Place the edge of your cushion on top of the blanket or towel. Create a sloped line with your cushion, so that the buttocks can be raised higher or lower depending where on the slope you sit. You may also add a support cushion or towel on top of the cushion if you feel you need more height. Legs are positioned on both sides of the cushion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. The weight of your body should be supported by your sit bones, which means that you are always sitting on 1\/3 to 1\/2 of the cushion on the forward part of the slope. This makes it easier for the pelvis to tilt forward, which allows the back to naturally elongate vertically.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Your head should not be too forward or too far back, but resting naturally, with the chin slightly tucked in. Tucking the chin in slightly allows the support and weight of the head to be carried by the skeletal structure, rather than by tightening of compensating muscles. Another way you can assure this posture is by allowing the eyes to look straight ahead, bring the chin in slightly; then without moving the head too much, allow the eyes to look down with soft gaze about 2 feet in front of you or close your eyes. Check to see if you are tightening the neck and if you can, just let that go.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Place your hands closer to your body \u2014 this prevents concaving of the upper body over time as you sit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      5. The chest should feel open and relaxed. Do not force or roll your shoulders back or lift the chest at all. If the chest is open as when one opens arms to give someone a hug (and then stretching them and opening hands palms up, like catching rain drops) \u2014 it will automatically align your whole upper body without having to do anything else.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      6. The belly should be soft and relaxed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      7. From time to time, check your posture to see if you’re tensing anywhere. If you are, it generally means that you are off center and the muscles are compensating by tightening to keep you vertical. So raise or lower the buttocks, or anything needed, to release the tension in order to sit relaxed and comfortably, but vertically, in a soft, alert, and dignified posture.
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        Please note: <\/strong>Some of you are dealing with chronic pain, thus the body can be in a constant state of tension\/tightness. This comes about from a habitual response of tightening in order to compensate for the pain. Therefore, even with optimal balanced posture, the body will remain tense. Over time, as we become attentive to our posture, the tightness and consequently the pain \u2014 will soften. The more we practice, our awareness and experience of this deepens. Therefore, pain or tension \u2014 whether from emotional or physical sources is not an obstacle but rather a process on the learning curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Some people, particularly in the western countries, due to lack of understanding or knowledge, do not value and appreciate the benefits of this traditional meditation posture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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        Kneeling on a Bench<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

        Instructions for this posture are similar to the instructions for sitting kneeling on a cushion, except that one will not be able to adjust the height of the bench without adding towels or cushions. So use all the instructions given for kneeling with cushion, but in order to raise or lower the height of the buttocks one will need to add layers of folded towels on the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The purpose of using a bench instead of a cushion for kneeling is that it will alleviate pressure from the lower legs and feet. Usually older sitters or those with injuries prefer benches.
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        Sitting On a Chair<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

        Sitting on a chair is preferable to a cushion or bench if one cannot sit on cushion or bench from excessive discomfort or pain. What is important is to be able to sit in a relaxed, alert, and dignified manner. A chair works just as well as other postures if attended to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        Illustration from The Three Pillars of Zen<\/em> by Roshi Philip Kapleau, 2000<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

        Some pointers: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        1. You will need a chair that has a flat seat where one can add towels or cushions to create a forward sloping wedge. This is done in order to <\/strong>allow the pelvis to tilt forward to assist the back to relax vertically without effort. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. If your feet do not touch the ground then place a rolled\/folded towel or cushion on the floor to rest them on. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Sit on the forward half of the chair, allowing the knees to angle downward and making the buttocks and pelvis higher. This, like all the other postures, allows for the back to naturally elongate with a slight inward curve in the lower part of the spine. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. The hands need to be placed closer to the body so the chest does not concave.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. The head should rest naturally on the shoulders, chin slightly tucked in, and <\/strong>eyes <\/strong>slightly open, with a relaxed downward gaze or closed if preferred. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. Scan the body, and if you notice any tightness adjust your posture so the body can relax but remain vertical. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        7. The belly should be relaxed. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Please note that tension in the body is due to one of three reasons: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          • Imbalanced posture, which means that the body is compensating for this imbalance by tightening muscles. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Tension also comes to the body as we enter into our meditation and encounter release of energy held in muscles, tissues, etc. as well as psychological states. This is normal. Every time you notice the tension, just allow yourself to let it go. One can also make some micro movements to alleviate it, use the breath, awareness, etc. It’s also helpful to speak with a qualified teacher for one-on-one direction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • If you have back issues you can try to roll a towel or use a cushion, to support the lower back \u2014 just above the pelvis \u2014 placed between your back and the back of the chair. This will help reduce strain in maintaining a vertical posture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Sitting, standing, walking and lying down: how to hold the body in meditation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":940,"parent":311,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"inspiro_hide_title":false,"inspiro_hide_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-110","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1851,"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions\/1851"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snowlionmeditationcommunity.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}