Meditation Posture
A common question asked by people when they start practising meditation is what posture should they adopt.
As with many aspects of meditation and mindfulness practice there is not necessarily a 'right' or 'wrong' answer to this, since meditation is about cultivating accepting and self-observing attitudes or approaches to yourself, your situations and life and in theory you can do this in whatever position you are in. Nonetheless meditation guidebooks will often make suggestions or give guidelines as to positions that you may find conducive to meditating. Here are some principles that are sometimes suggested:
1. Choose a position that is reasonably comfortable for you.
2. If adopting a sitting position choose a position that keeps your back straight. Some options might be:
(a) Try a kneeling posture on the floor, kneeling on the floor on a carpet or mat. Lift your buttocks up as you kneel and place a cushion (or kneeling stool) under your backside to help support you and to leave your posture titled slightly forward.
OR
(b) Sit on a hard backed chair (not a sofa or soft armchair) with your feet placed flat on the floor and your back upright against the back of the chair. You can put a couple of magazines or a telephone directory or other large book under the back two legs of the chair (making sure that it is still stable) so that just as with the floor posture you tilt slightly forward.
OR
(c) Sit on a a carpet or mat on the floor as in (a) but instead of kneeling, sit with your backside on the carpet or floor and your legs crossed in a way that is comfortable for you.
3. You can rest your hands palm down on each of your legs or you can choose to cup your hands one on top of the other, palms facing up in a way that you sometimes see the buddha in statues or pictures.
Once you have found a position that works for you then try out a simple meditation such as observing your breath (for an example go to: Meditation Practice).
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