I was in my mid-thirties when I first learned to meditate. That was 20 years ago. I was semi-regularly attending an insight meditation (vipassana) group. This group was Buddhist-based, and therefore had a degree of formality and ritual, and the teacher somewhat rarefied. People sat on meditation cushions on the floor, facing the teacher.
I would head for a space in front of a wall so that I could lean on it, but even then, after 10 minutes or so I would start sliding down until I was soon lying flat on my back on the floor. One time I did this I was rebuked for pointing my feet towards the venerable teacher. I’d like to say that from then on I sat up straight, but I didn’t. Instead, I twisted around so that my feet were never aimed at the front of the room again!
Posture is a clue that someone is meditating, but posture is not about what it looks like; posture is about what it feels like. Posture tells your body and your mind that you are meditating. Posture really does assist in keeping your mind focused, and assists in ensuring the time spent in meditation is of value.
Sitting meditation
Sitting meditation is the most common meditation position, even with people who also do walking or lying meditations. Sit upright, with the spine in alignment with the head, the top or crown of the head reaching to the ceiling or sky. If you are on a chair, place feet firmly on the floor or a footstool, weight centered so the body is not perched at the edge of the chair. Keep just enough tension to maintain the posture and an attitude of relaxed alertness. If you are sitting on the floor on a cushion, sit against a wall if your abdominal muscles are not strong enough to keep your back straight. However, sitting unsupported may help to prevent you from falling asleep. (I have seen people sleeping quite soundly in this position, I’ve even heard the occasional snore. And I have nodded off, my head dropped to my chin!)
Walking meditation
Walking meditation requires an unimpeded path of around 20 paces that you walk back and forth along. Walking is very slow, each step is intentional. You may focus entirely on your feet and the steps your feet take, or you may notice your surroundings using all your senses, without judgment, and without, as much as you can, labelling or describing with language. If you can’t stop your mind using language, then just notice that as another appearance of sensory perception, just like the things you see, hear, taste, smell, and feel.
Lying meditation
Lying meditation can be particularly helpful for people who have pain when sitting. It can also be a better position for body-scan meditation techniques. Adopt a formal posture, keeping your body symmetrical and in alignment. A rolled up towel under your knees can take pressure off your lower back, but don’t put too many pillows under your head or neck.
More posture perception …
Be comfortable, and shift your body if discomfort is becoming detrimental to your meditation. Certainly do not ever force yourself to be in a posture that causes you pain. Posture is not inherently sacred; it’s only sacred if that’s what you want to believe. Otherwise, posture is just good technique to get more value from the time you spend in meditation.
