What is a Good Posture?

While meditation is foremostly about what you do with your mind, the is important to recognise that mind and body are connected.  Therefore, having good posture will help you focus on the meditation.  Good posture also alleviates body pain, strain and injuries.  Therefore it is worthwhile taking time to get your posture right.  It not only benefits your body but will also allow you to advance in the meditation as you progress.

There are just a few key points common to most postures.  In most kinds of sitting postures, whether on the ground, on a chair, or kneeing on a stool, the postures have several main points in common.

The Main Points for Good Meditation Posture

1If you are sitting in any position (lotus, half lotus, on a chair or stool) make sure your knees are equal to or lower than your hips, otherwise you’ll develop a sore back.  With your knees higher than your hips it forces your back to round itself which creates pain over time. Having your knees lower than hips is better than level with your hips unless you are very flexible in the hip and knee joints.

2Keep the back straight, and the back, neck and head in alignment.  A good way to think of it is imagine your spine is a stack of coins sitting straight and your head is balanced on top.  Another way to think of it is that there is a string attached to the top of your head and its pulling your head and back up into a straight line.  You can tilt the head ever so slightly forward (shown in pics) as if you are looking about at a spot about 2 metres head of you but not lower.  If you don’t keep a straight neck and back after sitting for a while you’ll develop pains or and over long periods of time may develop back problems.  This is no different to if you sat badly in chairs at work all day long.

3Be symmetrical and balanced.  Keep both sides of your body the same.  The only variation to this is the half lotus where one foot obviously sits on top of the other.

4Rest the hands in your lap, this is best done by placing the back of your wrists in the creases of your lap (your groin area) or put your hand on your knees.  I like the lap because it brings the shoulders back (which helps maintain a good posture) and allows your shoulders to relax plus it opens up the chest to help with breathing.  Over time you’ll notice tension releasing from your shoulders. With your wrists in your lap your fingers will probably be overlapping such that your hands sit naturally into a comfortable position.

5With your hands you can either clasp them (interlock your fingers) within each other or put them into a simple mudra, shown below.  I like the one where you thumbs just very lightly touch each other.  Why?  It becomes like a thermometer for your meditation.  If you are stressed you’ll notice you tend to jam your thumbs together with force.  If you are lazy or sleepy in your meditation your thumbs will come apart.  It helps keep you mindful.

6Close your eyes.  There are 3 major ways you can keep your eyes – open, closed or partially open.  I talk about this more down in the FAQ section.

7Close your jaw/mouth and bring your teeth together gently or just slightly apart.  Put your tip of your tongue lightly just above the top of the back of your front teeth on the roof of your mouth.  Why?  Although this seems like strange instruction it does help to reduce the urge to swallow.  As you develop in meditation swallowing can be very disruptive.

While even these simple points may at first seem unnecessary there is a very good reason for all of them.  Slight changes in your posture affects your state of mind and you’ll notice this as you develop.  For example if you are stressed or anxious you’ll tend to hunch your shoulders slightly, force your thumbs together (in your mudra hand position).  If you are tired or lazy you’ll tend lower your head and collapse in your chest and your breathing becomes restricted just slightly.  This in turn tends to make your mind even more lazy and sleepy.  A good posture can help neutralise these effects.  You’ll begin to notice these things over time in your own practice.

A good explanation of the meditation postures are also on these websites:
http://www.mro.org/zmm/teachings/meditation.php
http://www.meditationinfo.net/1/meditation_posture.htm

Video – Shoulders, Arms and Upper Body Posture

In the below video I give a very good demonstration for how to get your upper body just right for meditation. A written explanation is also available in this article Meditation Tip #20 – (Video) Shoulders, Arms and Upper Body Posture

Video – Lower Back Posture

Video – Legs, Hands and Sitting Postures

Good Sitting Postures

General Sitting Principles	Burmese style
Knees are lower than (or level to) the hips, back and head are straight, hands in lap. You can see the head is ever so slightly dipped, like looking a few metres ahead.	Both feet flat on the floor. You may have to spread your hips slightly wider to do this posture
Quarter Lotus Posture	Half Lotus Posture
One foot on the opposite leg’s calf muscle	One foot on the opposite leg’s thigh
Full Lotus Posture
Both feet on opposing thighs

Kneeling Posture with Cushion	Kneeling Posture with Stool
Just like the sitting postures above, the same principles apply here – knees are lower than the hips, back and head are straight, hands in lap, head slightly dipped. To get the height, try standing the cushion on its side.	You can also use a stool to kneel

Chair Posture	Chair Posture with Support
Just like the sitting postures above, the same principles apply here – knees are lower than the hips, back and head are straight, hands in lap, head slightly dipped. It is best not to use the back support.	Alternatively if you need lower back support use a cushion or zafu to support your lower back lumber

Lying Down Posture

This is the preferred laying position. Lift your knees into the letter “A”, feet flat on the floor. If you get sleepy you’ll drop your knees which will keep you awake and mindful. Use the floor and a small cushion under your head. Don’t do this on the sofa, you’ll just fall asleep.

You can also put your hands flat on the floor (like the left picture) and your knees down although you are more likely to fall asleep in this position. If you can raise your knees like the left image without pain then do that

Hand Postures

I prefer this first basic mudra or the cosmic mudra where the thumbs are just touching but any of the below are perfectly fine.

Basic Mudra Principles	Cosmic Mudra
Wrists sitting on top of thigh bone, where it meets the hip. Just rest the hands gently in your lap. Fingers slightly overlapping, then relax your arms, shoulders and back.	Thumbs just lightly touching. Very common posture
Fingers Inter-clasped Mudra	Hands on Thighs Mudra
Just interlock the fingers gently	Don’t bring the hands too far forward or you’ll pull your shoulders forward, as shown in the bad postures above
Vitarka Mudra	Problem Posture
Again, don’t bring the hands too far forward	In this image the hands are being held too high. This is a common problem and is a little too stiff and forced. Just relax the hands into the lap, like the images above

Bad Sitting Postures

Although these postures below look really cool these people would get a sore back and experience pain because their knees are higher than their hips. The exception would be if they are really flexible but still I don’t think this is a good posture even if you are flexible.

Bad Postures 1,2 & 3
All 3 of the postures look cool but suffer from similar problems. While they show some flexibility in hips, to be able to get their backs straight, they’d get back pain after a while because it takes too much muscle to hold the body in this position. In short, the knees are just way too high, which puts the rest of the body out of position and places strain on the back and back muscles. It is best to use a cushion under the bottom. While having your arms like this may appear trendy, it tends to bring your shoulders forward which can be a problem again for your posture and back. In the middle image, her head is also dipped way too low.
Bad Posture 4	Bad Posture 5
Head is too high, knees are too high Hands are too forward, which brings the shoulders forward	Back is rounded so the chest collapses in on itself Hands are too far forward which drops the shoulders forward
Bad Posture 6	Bad Posture 7
Leaning too far forward, hands are too far forward thus the shoulders are too far forward Knees are too high thus rounding the back	Knees are still just a bit too high but this is better Still you can see the lower and upper back are still rounded
Bad Posture 8	Bad Posture 9
Leaning backwards on the chair Not upright	Knees are too high Shoulders are too forward thus the back is rounded