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
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.
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.


























