Meditation postures

Dr. David N. Snyder (full lotus)

Choose a posture that is comfortable to sit in for 45 minutes to an hour. Do not force yourself to sit in one of the lotus postures if it is too painful. “If pain was our goal we would be sitting on a bed of nails.” (S.N. Goenka)

Pain is one of the meditator’s chief obstacles, so don’t encourage it. Acceptable postures include full, half, and quarter lotus, American Indian, Burmese, kneeling, or in a chair. The goal of practice is to obtain mindfulness / awareness / equanimity during everyday life, 24 hours a day, every day. Thus, eventually there will be mindfulness / awareness / equanimity even when we are not sitting, when we are working, eating, walking, etc. Therefore, clinging to a particular posture as the “one and only right way” is not necessary.

You may place your hands in your lap or wherever is comfortable. The point is to be relaxed and not in a tense position with the legs, hands, or the body. A common placement of hands that is popular is to put your right hand, palm up, under your left hand, palm up, and have the thumbs lightly touching each other.

Don’t struggle with pain when it arises in the legs. Observe the pain and do not put any resistance to it. If the pain is still too strong, change your posture. It is okay to change your posture in the meditation hall during the sitting, just mindfully note the change in posture and then make the change in your body position.

See also

• Walking meditation

References

• The Complete Book of Buddha's Lists -- Explained. David N. Snyder, Ph.D., 2006.
• http://www.thedhamma.com/
• http://www.the4nobletruths.com/