5 Meditation Positions for Good Body Posture

Your meditation position focuses your mind and prepares your body for reflection. The goal of meditation is to reach a state of mind and body connectivity. To achieve this heightened level of inner peace, your body must relax and feel comfortable. Thus, your position serves as a foundation for your meditation practice.

Posture is also an essential part of your meditative position. Good posture promotes attentiveness and comfort. Your back should remain straight, and your shoulders should stay relaxed during meditation. Both your meditation posture and position should encourage mindfulness.

Before your meditation session, perform a quick body scan to focus on balancing different body parts and reach a comfortable position.

• Hands: You can play with your hand position to find a placement that feels comfortable. Try resting both hands on top of your knees or placing your right hand on your chest. Some forms of meditation use mudras, symbolic hand formations that accompany a yoga pose.
• Jaw: A beginner meditator can hold tension in their jaw without realizing it. To avoid tightening your lower mouth area, rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth and open your jaw a bit to part your lips. Positioning your jaw like this relaxes the muscles and promotes healthy breathing.
• Shoulders: As you inhale and exhale, focus on keeping your shoulders even. The tops of your shoulders should remain relaxed. Rather than tensing your shoulders up toward your ears, gently drop your shoulders to open your chest and practice deep breathing.
• Spine: Your back posture is also key in centering the rest of your body during meditation. Avoid slouching or arching your back; instead, focus on aligning your back with the natural curve of your spine. Use your breathing to strengthen your back and maintain a straight spine.

Sitting is one of the most common meditation poses since it prevents feelings of sleepiness. Some people, however, feel more focused with other meditation techniques. Consider trying these different meditation positions to determine which form is best for you:

1. 1. Lying down: Known as corpse pose or savasana, lying down meditation is one of the four main postures according to Buddhist meditation. If you have back pain, consider meditating while lying flat on a yoga mat. Lying on a flat surface with your legs hip-width apart eliminates any pressure on your lower back. You can place a meditation cushion or yoga block under your legs to support your back as you meditate. For some people, lying down meditation is challenging since they are more prone to falling asleep.
2. 2. Kneeling: Some people prefer kneeling over a cross-legged meditation position. The kneeling position is a common practice in Japanese meditation, known as seiza. To kneel during meditation, place a cushion or soft pillow on the ground and position your knees shoulder-width apart. Gently lower your thighs, so your hamstrings rest on the back of your calves. This meditation position centers the lower body and promotes focus.
3. 3. Sitting: There are different variations of seated meditation according to the flexibility of your hips. For example, the full lotus pose is a cross-legged position in which both feet rest on the opposite thigh; whereas half lotus, quarter lotus, and the Burmese position are variations that require less hip mobility. You can also use a chair or meditation bench to meditate in a sitting position. As a general guideline, situate your lower body on the edge of the chair to promote attentiveness and prevent slouching against the back of the chair.
4. 4. Standing: If you practice tai chi or qigong, standing meditation might feel most natural and comfortable for you. As with sitting meditation, there are different ways you can position your body while practicing standing meditation. One way is to place your feet hip-width apart with your knees slightly bent and hands in front of your chest. Alternatively, you can place your hands directly on your stomach area to feel your body move as you inhale and exhale with each breath.
   
5. 5. Walking: Meditating while walking is a simple way to combine physical activity and mindfulness. Walking meditation encourages individuals to focus on their surroundings rather than passing by without thinking. As you walk, observe your body movements to notice how your feet and shins feel during each step. One meditative technique for walking is to focus on how your body feels, so you can create a natural pace between your right foot and left foot.

Find something comfortable to sit or lie on, grab a MasterClass Annual Membership, and dial into the present moment with Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of the Western mindfulness movement. From formal meditation exercises to examinations of the science behind mindfulness, Jon will prepare you for the most important practice of them all: life itself.