A cross-legged seated position is commonly called a 'lotus' position.
1.
Quarter Lotus (Legs crossed with both feet below
the opposite thigh or knee.
This is commonly called ³Indian
Style.²)
2.
Half Lotus (Legs crossed with one foot resting on
the opposite thigh and the other foot underneath.)
3.
Full Lotus (Legs crossed with both feet resting on opposite thighs.)
For any lotus position, usually the zafu is placed towards the
back of the zabuton with the bottom of the torso placed on the front part of
the zafu, so that the knees are on the zabuton and a base triangle of support
is created with the legs & torso to foster physical stability.
4.
Seiza with a Bench or Zafu
(Legs are under the body, with knees forward
and top of foot against the floor, heels up.
The zafu is usually placed on its side for this
position. A (firmer)
kapok zafu will usually create
a higher lift - bringing more ease to the knees,
while a buckwheat zafu will have more giveı
in the seat.
Experiment for your own comfort.)
Seiza w/bench
Seiza w/zafu
5. CHAIR (regular or ergonomicı) (Body may be placed on front edge of
chair seat, or with pelvis against back of chair, and spine straightened away
from the chair. Extra pillows may
be helpful to support the posture for longer periods. It will be helpful to have your feet flat on the floor, and
aligned with the hips & knees.
You may also want a pillow underneath you to
elevate your hips so that they are higher than your knees (which promotes a
straight spine.) (See: Important Physical Considerationsı on
next page.)
Chair (edge)
Chair (w/padding)
Ergonomic Chair
6. LYING DOWN If you have chronic or acute pain
that makes sitting upright not practical
for longer periods of time, lying down is viable option. The tendency to go to sleep, needless
to say, is much more of an issue, but there are ways of encouraging alertness
when lying down. If you can put
feet on floor with knees up, that can be helpful as the effort to keep the
knees upright will help keep you alert.
Also, quite effective is holding the hands in a MUDRA (See: Mudraı on p. 9) with the thumbs
touching each other. Shinzen often
demonstrates how this can work as a feedback device – i.e. when you are
beginning to lose consciousness and drift off, the thumbs will pull apart and
that will wake you up to bring you back to your meditation.
Lying down (side view) Lying
down (from above)
You may have to experiment with different positions until you find
the one that suits you. You may
also alternate between positions for different length sits. For example, I tend to prefer the
seiza on a zafu, but sometimes like to switch to half lotus when teaching or
for shorter sits. My leg falls
asleep from the hip down quite easily in a lotus, so I tend not to opt for it
for longer sits (unless Iım interested in exploring my relationship to
pain.) Some people like to
alternative between a cushion (zafu) & a chair – especially when on
retreat where they may be sitting for many hours each day – just to give
a break to the knees or legs which are not used to prolonged periods in the
same position.
|
POSTURE
Important Physical Considerations with any position:
1.
Spine
Straight & Balanced
i.
Potential
Pitfalls (Arching,
Slouching, Efforting Head)
2.
Hips Higher
Than the Knees
3.
Breathe
& Relax (especially the Jaw)
|
Straight Spine. The point about
posture, that itıs important to emphasize here, is a STRAIGHT SPINE3. You want the body to be BALANCED with
the weight evenly distributed
on the pelvic bones, shoulders balanced over hips, elbows under
shoulders, head resting over torso & pelvis. If your elbows are out a bit, that will better allow
breathing than if they are tight against your body. Notice if there is tension in the shoulders and see if you
can deliberately let the shoulders relax back & down) Weıre going for support &
relaxation at the same time – i.e. less tension & more
ease.
You also want a straight spine for very practical reasons. In meditation, we want the body to
be relaxed and the mind to be alert. We start off with our eyes closed (to minimize distractions
until weıve developed that stellar concentration.)
Okay. So there we
are. Eyes closed & body
relaxed. Hmmmm. Well, what do you think tends to
happen? Yep, you guessed
right. Itıs quite probable that
youıre going to start to nod off and go to sleep. (Shinzen calls it the Zen Lurch² and he imitates someone
beginning to nod off and then jerking themselves back into sitting posture as
the falling forward wakes them up.
We all laugh in recognition when he does this.)
But this is especially an issue in our sleep-deprived, stressed
lives. When we do finally give
ourselves an opportunity to stop, relax & close our eyes, the bodyıs need
for rest kicks in
– along with the bodyıs Pavlovian/Skinnerian conditioning
that says, ³eyesı closed, body tired, ³THATıs OUR CUE TO GO TO SLEEP!²
So, while you may get that nap you needed, youıre not developing
any muscles of concentration, mindfulness or equanimity, so the temporary
benefit is addressed, but the long term ones are not.
THUS we STRAIGHTEN OUR SPINE! When the spine is straight it activates the reticular
activating system4 in the brain – causing more alertness. The mind literally wakes up.
(A handy bit of information, isnıt it?)
So, a STRAIGHT SPINE HELPS THE BODY BE MORE ALERT.
Hips Higher than the Knees. If you look at the posture photos included, youıll notice
that the hips are always higher than the knees. (And I suggested, when sitting in a chair, to actually put a
cushion underneath you if they werenıt.) When we do the reverse – i.e. knees
higher than hips (like if we sat
on the floor without a cushion5, or in a chair that sinks back)
– itıs very difficult to maintain that lovely straight spine that will
help us stay alert. And thus if we
deliberately get the hips higher than the knees, it makes having
that straight spine much EASIER to achieve. In fact, if youıre having difficulty sitting up straight,
raise the hips even HIGHER.
Donıt worry about the hips being too high. You could be practically standing. Look at the photo of the ergonomic chair posture. It is designed to be the optimal
position for the pelvis & legs to naturally create a
balanced spinal column. Hips
higher than knees. It may feel
unusual, but just try it and youıll discover much more ease in your body
– especially for longer sits.
Relax the Jaw. Letting the
jaw relax will have a trickle downı effect on the rest of the body. The jaw often/usually gets engaged when
we are trying to controlı and by letting it DROP (even just a ¼ or
½ inch) will help promote release in other parts of the body.
Your teeth ideally should be slightly apart, like when you make an
³N.² Along with awareness of the
lifting of the back of the head and the chin tilted slightly down, this should
help the jaw relax & the head rest comfortably on top of the spine.
Breathe.
Breathing is good and highly recommended. Okay, all joking aside, donıt get all cramped up over trying
to get the perfect posture. The
purpose of posture is to PHYSICALLY SUPPORT your practice. You want a solid base and ease. If you are noticing tension or
tightness, see if you can find a way to sit more comfortably while allowing the
spine to be straight. And the dropping
of the jaw will help a great deal for allowing the lower belly to soften, so
that the air can flow freely and contribute to the relaxation of the body.
You can think of the breath as a lubricant to relaxation. And, of course, for many itıs the
object of meditation in and of itself.
Regardless, allowing yourself to breathe freely, deeply, and naturally
will be beneficial to your meditation and your life.
Potential Pitfalls.
a)
Arching
b)
Slouching
c)
Efforting Head
d)
Legs Falling Asleep/Discomfort from Posture
e)
Sleepiness
Okay, hereıs some pitfalls you may land in. We may say straight spineı but that
means different things to different people – especially if youıve never
had someone physically work with you on your posture for any reason.
A) Arching
Some people end up actually ARCHING heir back by pushing their
chest out, and this is not desirable. (See Photo on next page.) These people usually are also applying
a lot of tension in the shoulder blades to ³hold² this position.
Usually within 10 minutes, they will
start to feel discomfort on one or both sides of the spine in the lower/mid
back, and depending on the amount of tension in the shoulders, they may get
sore in the upper back as well.
We cannot, in this book, adjust your
posture for you. Thatıs something
best done in person
by a qualified professional (maybe a
yoga teacher, Alexander Technique instructor or other trained body
worker.) But we can alert you to
potential problems. (And if you feel significant pain or discomfort that you
donıt normally feel, in the areas just mentioned, you may want to refer to the
diagrams included in this book and/or consult a trained professional.)
But please be prepared for a minimum degree of
discomfort that would naturally happen whenever trying any physical position or
activity that your body is not used to doing. Youıll know you need to adjust the posture when it becomes
painful during the sit and/or there is soreness for an extended time after the
sitting period.
B) Slouching
The other most common unhelpful
posture is the SLOUCH – where the pelvis tips back,
the back rounds, the shoulders &
head slump forward. (See Photo.)
This usually leads to unconsciousness (especially if youıre tired), and
the back of your neck & top of your back
will take the brunt of the stress.
Arched Back
Slouch (a)
Slouch (b)
Efforting Head
The human head weights between 10-15 pounds. Thatıs about the size & weight of a
bowling ball. Now if you took a
bowling ball and held it out at armıs length, it wouldnıt
take long for your arm to get tired, cramped, and pretty
unhappy. Well, if the bowling ball
represents your head – your arm represents your neck – which
explains a lot of the neck pain going around. Most of us spend a good deal of our lives, whether at the
computer
or driving or watching TV, slumped with the head forward & not
balanced on top of the spine.
(No wonder our necks are usually tight & achy.)
When you combine this physical habit with long periods (or
frequent shorter periods) of meditation, the back of the neck, top of the back
& jaw develop extra tensions to cope.
Sitting in a chair can be especially conducive to slouching. The most helpful way to sit in a chair
is with the feet on the floor and either sitting on the front edge of the
chair, or pad the space between your back and the back of the chair to create
the straight spine. This is often
the most preferable option for older people. (And donıt forget about padding that seat, if need be, to
help the hips be higher than the knees.
A straight spine = a cured slouch.)
C) Efforting Headı
Another more subtle problem is that of what I call the ³efforting
head² - i.e. we have some idea that we want to connect to something higherı
and/or weıre tryingı to be the good meditation student, and the head reaches
up and forward with an elevated chin. (See photo above.) Just learning to focus your mind can be
a kind of effort youıre not used to and that can manifest physically in the
head pushing forward or up as youıre trying to keep your awareness on the
object of meditation.
Like the slouch, this places the head slightly forward and
encourages a crunching up at the back of the neck, which will lead to the same
neck tension as our bowling ball example above. This tendency is also often accompanied by tightness in the
chest and jaw (as the body is in effortı or controlı mode.) I highly encourage relaxation,
especially on the breath out, letting the jaw drop down towards gravity as the
head lifts up and straightens the spine.
Shinzenıs favorite way of encouraging a straight spine is to say,
³Create a central column – and let everything hang from that.² I like that. You can visualize each vertebra stacked and balanced upon
the one beneath it - creating this column (which is actually the case), and
letting the body HANG from that is a nice way to get the support and relaxation
or ease that is preferable for sitting practice. And, again, you may also allow the HEAD to LIFT
LIGHTLY UPWARDS (as if itıs a helium balloon or a string is attached to the top)
with the BODY & JAW HANGING down from it. The more you
practice this, the more it will become a natural habitı that will take place
without your attention (while youıre attending
to your meditation.)
*A note: Donıt
underestimate the power of the posture itself as a meditation practice. Shinzen has often spoken of
sleep-deprived Zen sesshins where all he could do was repeatedly say to
himself ³Back straight. Eyes open.² And there are meditation practices that do nothing but
focus on ³Just Sitting.²
D) Legs Falling Asleep?
Discomfort from the Posture?
I donıt know anyone who hasnıt dealt with this, and Iıve already
mentioned that any kind
of lotus will knock out all sensation for me from the hip down
(usually within 20 minutes.)
So what does one do about that? Well, unless youıre at a very strict Zen sesshin or
deliberately practicing ³strong determination² sitting (where you do not move a
muscle for long sitting periods), itıs usually fine to make some minor
adjustment to make your body more comfortable should pains arise (as long as
you can do so without disturbing others meditating near you), HOWEVER, I would
suggest NOT giving in to every urge or impulse
to move.
A large part of the benefit of meditation comes from the STILLNESS
OF THE BODY. Even if you are
not implementing any particular meditation technique, by just stilling the
body, you are allowing the deeper mind to process & sort in a way that it
cannot with the constant input of our lives & movement. So my suggestion is to sit with any
discomforts or urges to move, at least for a little while (ideally noticing
your emotional responses without attachment), before making adjustments to your
sitting posture. And then do so
slowly & quietly, keeping mindful of inside & outside.
E) Falling Asleep?
Iıve already explained in detail how the straight spine keeps the
mind alert. So the first thing you
should do, if you find yourself nodding off or your awareness sinking into
pre-dream-land, is to STRAIGHTEN the SPINE.
The 2nd thing you might try (and this will depend on
what meditation technique youıre doing) would be to OPEN YOUR
EYES. Some meditation
practices always have the eyes open.
Most of what weıll be doing, especially early in our practice is
eyes-closed meditation (mostly
because external vision can be distracting while we are still developing those
lovely concentration muscles.
Thatıs the reason we donıt have televisions, newspapers, telephones or
conversation at retreats - to keep distractions to a minimum to promote the
concentration and examination of our subjective experience.) But itıs better to be AWAKE and
distracted, than asleep (at least in terms of developing concentration &
meditation techniques that foster insight, purification, ease &
well-being.)
If youıre still falling asleep even though you are
doing your best to maintain a straight spine with eyes open – STAND UP. Yes, thatıs right, just stand in
place. At first you might feel
self-conscious (which right there will wake you up), but very few people fall
asleep while standing and it will help bring energy & alertness to your
body & mind. You might stand
for a few minutes or the remainder of the sit. Whatever works for you. (Just be sure, as with movement to adjust posture, that you
move slowly and are mindful of those around you as you get up & sit down.)
And last but not least, if youıre just so sleep-deprived that you
canıt sit up and youıre doing the ³Zen Lurch² (see p.4) – leave the zendo
and TAKE A NAP. Maybe your body
just needs a bit of rest. Longer
naps will tend to make you groggy, but a short nap can be rejuvenating.
More experienced meditators know that you can actually,
eventually, RE-ENGINEER SLEEPINESS into ENERGY. You may have to log in a lot of hours of meditation before
you experience that, but maybe not.
If youıre on retreat, you might want to explore this by doing a YAZA, or
all-night sit. DO A YAZA, and youıll
jump start that re-engineering.
MUDRA.
Okay, Iıve mentioned it so let me quickly and briefly describe
what a mudra is. In Hinduism &
Buddhism, there are various gestures made with the hands & fingers that are
called mudras.ı For our
purposes, weıre not going to delve into different mudras and their meanings,
but to simply acknowledge a few positions of the hands that are helpful and
commonly used.
The most common one, is a circleı (or Dyhanaı mudra which
represents contemplation and is said to symbolize the Buddha in a state of
meditation) by placing both hands on the lap (or held over the belly.) The right hand rests on top of
the left, with both palms facing upward and thumbs just lightly touching to
form a circle. (See photo
below.) But it is definitely not necessary
to hold any kind of mudra. You can
simply hold your hands loosely together.
Iıve heard a couple of other teachers make a point to tell us not to
interlace our fingers, but Iım not sure of the reasoning there (and I doubt
that there are Mudra Police that will give you a ticket if you do.)
There are many mudras that have specific symbolic meanings and/or
are meant to evoke certain qualities or aspects of experience, and if you are
interested in exploring them, Google away. The most common mudra described above is demonstrated
in the photos below.
A respected Buddhist nun once told me that the left hand on the
bottom (as described above and as most of the meditators in Vipassana & Zen
retreats seem to do) signifies compassion, while the right hand on the bottom
signifies wisdom. Iıve never heard
any other teacher make such a distinction about this mudra, but I remember
finding it interesting that, if this were true, the hand placement I had
learned doing Vipassana (which is an Insight/Wisdom practice), would be the one
she described as for the cultivation of Compassion. (The spiritual path is often described as a bird whose two
wings are Wisdom & Compassion – i.e. they are the complimentary
aspects of the path.) So, it
seemed to me a lovely balance, to be holding some symbol of compassion with
your hands as you practice Mindfulness or Insight (Wisdom) practice. But again, I have no other reference
for that interpretation of which hand is on top, but have included both
versions of the mudra in the photos below. However, as I said, a mudra is definitely not integral
to your sitting posture so do what works for you. Your hands can simply rest on your lap. Period.
Left hand on bottom
Right hand on bottom
hands just resting loosely
The most helpful point I can make here, is to suggest that whatever hand
position you use, that it be comfortable and not pull your hands too far
away from the body. When the
elbows are beside your body (with a bit of space between them and the body), it
is much easier to sit up straight, but when they are pulled forward of the
body, theyıll tend to pull the shoulders forward and encourage the Slouch.² If
you can find a way to meditate with each hand on a knee, for example, and palms
up (as is the practice in other traditions) without pulling the shoulders
forward, go for it (and you probably have very long
arms...) Otherwise, Iıd recommend
finding a position of the hands close to the torso to create a more relaxed
experience of the straight spine.
And last, but not least, why not do a...
Post-Meditation STRETCH. Youıre
probably going to want to do this anyway, but stretching after long (or short)
periods of meditation is definitely highly recommended. The back, the legs, the neck are all
things that will benefit from being stretched after periods of stillness. Whether you do yoga poses or simply
hang over forward, it will probably be beneficial and thus I mention that here
(even though itıs not directly related to meditation posture.) You might want to bend over forwards
and reach your hands as far forward as you can, then reach the right hand over
to the left, and the left hand over to the right – just to ease out the
lower back. And just allowing the
head to hang upside down is one of the nicest things you can do for your
neck. (A little massage to your
knees might be appreciated by the recipients, as well.)
Questions?
If you still have questions about Posture, Positions, Pitfalls or
the Practice – Please consult a facilitator or teacher to address them in
Person. Otherwise, I hope these
pages have helped illuminate the issue of how the body participates and
supports the meditative process.
On the last page, Iıve created a cheat sheetı, of sorts, called
³Posture-at-a-Glance.² It is
basically an outline summary of the major points presented in this article, and
should work
as a quick reminder.
And here is where I congratulate you (and thank you) for doing
this practice – at all.
As Shinzen says, ³A good meditation is one you did.²
And some Footnotes to entertain you...
1 ²Zafu² is often translated from Japanese to mean
³sewn seat², but actually "Za" (座) means "seat", and "fu"
(蒲) means cattail. As a word,
"zafu" means a seat made out of cattails. The origins of the Japanese
zafu (座蒲) came from China
where these meditation seats were originally made out of cattail – which is no
longer the case.
2 A zabuton (座布団) is a Japanese cushion for sitting. The kanji characters 座布団 literally translated are "seat-cloth-sphere". In meditation, practitioners sit on zafu which is typically placed on top of a
zabuton. The zabuton cushions the knees and ankle.
3 Straight Spine. The spine has a natural & flexible curve in the lower back
& behind the neck.
When we say ³straight spine² we mean in alignment & balanced
(i.e. one vertebra balance on top of the one below) without any
extra unhelpful distortions,
pressures or tensions.
(See: Illustration of spine
in body.)
.
4 The reticular activating system is the name given
to part of the brain (the reticular
formation and its connections) believed to be the center of
arousal and motivation
in animals (including humans.) The activity of this system is crucial for maintaining
the state of consciousness.
It is situated at the core of the brain stem between the
myelencephalon (medulla oblongata) and mesensephalon (midbrain.)
5 Sitting with no Cushion. I only addressed this possibility
in passing because it is uncomfortable
for most people and almost always leads to a rounded spine (see
³slouch² on p.6) But a
friend who recently returned from India noted that ³ in the Hindu practice,
sitting on the floor is considered ³normal² and the way we are first taught.
Cushions are not discouraged or anything, but neither are they seen as the
"normal" way to meditate.² ³Fascinating cultural note: In India people sit
on the ground constantly -- whether meditating or doing almost anything else --
and actually grow a thick little pad on the side of their ankle bone, like the
kind you would normally get on the sole of the foot if you walked barefoot all
the time. After living there
for six months and sitting like that all the time, my ankles started getting
them too. So if you sit on the
ground long enough, you actually grow your own natural meditation
cushions!²
We are, however, going for the most comfort we can with a
straight spine and thus, unless youıre really interested in padded ankles, you
might want to rest on a cushion, bench or chair (with that lovely straight
spine.)
*PHOTOS by PHILIP WEI
Posture-at-a-glance
1. FIND MOST COMFORTABLE POSITION
a.
Lotus (full, half, quarter)
b.
Seiza (zafu, bench)
c.
Chair (edge, padded, ergonomic)
d.
Other options:
Standing, Lying down, Walking
2. HIPS HIGHER THAN
KNEES
3. STRAIGHTEN SPINE
(allow head to be balanced on top
of spine)
- ALLOW BODY TO HANG (from upward lifting head)
