#### Mediation Posture Our posture helps us orient and attune to our [[🕯️ Meditation 🧘|Meditation]] practice. ##### Posture of Body The ideal meditation posture allows us the body and mind to be still in an effortless but wakeful kind of way. Effortless, but not sleepy or dreamy. The most important elements: 1. Feel comfortable 2. Have a straight spine 3. Feel both alert and relaxed The way most of us can achieve all three is to sit upright with our knees resting lower than our hips. Normally we're told the ideal chair height is at the point where our knees are at a 90 degree angle. We want to be a bit higher up by raising the chair, sitting on a pillow, or scooting to the edge of the chair so that our knees are a bit lower than our hips. When we do this, we’ll notice our spine will naturally lengthen and straighten, we will feel more relaxed, more [[☀️ Confidence|☀️ confident]], and more alert at the same time. If we are efforting to straighten our spine, we’re using muscle to maintain our posture — we’re not relaxed. Having our knees below our hips alleviates those muscles. We can also try sitting on a the floor either cross-legged on a pillow or in Half Lotus or Full Lotus. We could try a Zafu and Zabuton or sit Zeiza Style, with a cushion or bench. Some of us may not be able to sit like this for one reason or another, and that’s okay. We can lean back in a comfortable chair and still have a straight spine, or lay down in the [[🛠 Constructive Rest Position]] — we can even sit or lay down normally, if those aren’t available. If we're ever uncomfortable, we can adjust. We are not trying to power through unnecessary pain, it's important that we [[🔑 Listen to your body|🔑 listen to our body]]. ###### Advanced - Let the legs relax and settle - Rotate the pelvis forward or back, so there’s a slight curve in the lower back - Lengthen the spine - Pull the shoulders back to open the chest - Center the shoulders over the hips - Relax the arms and hands - Tuck in the chin slightly, and lengthen the neck—as if a string were attached to the top of the head and pulling gently. - Relax the face. ##### Posture of Mind Meditation isn't the time to figure anything out. There may be [[💡 Parts|Parts]] of us who want to and continue trying, but we can let go of intentionally trying to figure things out. Analysis keeps us at a relatively superficial level of mind.