Have you decided to start meditating? Did you find courses, an interesting teacher and like-minded people? Most likely, you will sooner or later ask yourself the question: how to train yourself to sit in a proper posture. Do not worry. Everyone who practices meditation faces the same problems: back hurts, knees ache, legs go numb. How to get rid of unpleasant sensations and enjoy meditation?
Even ten years ago, a meditating Western man was surprising. Now the advantages of meditation have been scientifically proven and many people cannot imagine how they would maintain common sense, good spirits, optimism and a thirst to move forward without it.
We want to calmly meditate, enjoy the results of the practice and develop – but sometimes the body is against it. If during a 15-20-minute, and even more so hourly meditation, you feel pain in your back, knees, feet, believe me, you are not alone.
How to sit?
The ideal posture for meditation is the lotus position. However, it is relevant for those who have been using such practices for a long time. If you are going to get away from the world, devote 8-9 hours a day to meditation, then you need to take the time to stretch and sit in the lotus.
However, if you practice meditation “in the world” without changing your usual way of life, then you do not need a lotus. In what position can one meditate in this case?
- On a chair – if you are just starting to learn meditation, this is one of the easiest options. Sit on a chair without support on the back, the top of your head is pointing up, your back is straight, your hands are on your knees. The main task during meditation is to completely straighten the spine. Then the load on it will be minimal and you will be able to meditate with pleasure, without being distracted by tension in your back.
- In the half-lotus position – if you want to practice meditation regularly, gradually connect breathing energy exercises to “quiet” practices, then it’s time to master the half-lotus position, that is, sitting on pillows with your legs crossed. In this case, the goal is the same: the most straight spine, relaxed back muscles. The straighter, freer and more relaxed your back is, the less unpleasant sensations will distract you from meditation.
And at this stage, as a rule, characteristic problems begin, which, fortunately, can be solved.
What stops you from meditating?
Back pain during meditation distracts, and then from a spiritual and pacifying practice it turns into a fight against suffering. Therefore, if back pain occurs in statics, this is a good reason to start doing this or that relaxation gymnastics, for example, Sing Shen Juang. In my school, this course is a must-have before learning to meditate.
However, if you have already started to meditate, you like it, but the back makes itself felt, I can congratulate you anyway. After all, you have enough motivation to engage in the development of spinal health. What problems may arise during the practice:
- It’s hard to keep your back straight. It happens that a person sits on a pillow, the lower back is rounded, it must be straightened by an effort of will – and this, of course, creates tension, which distracts from meditation. This means that the elasticity of the muscles is not yet enough to sit so low. The solution is obvious: sit higher. Place one, two, three more pillows so that the lower back naturally straightens. As you meditate and practice Sing Shen Juang, you will gradually get used to the sitting position and then begin to remove pillow after pillow. But let it happen without violence and pain.
- The knees do not lie on the floor, which is why they have to be kept in the air, straining the muscles of the thighs. And this again gives rise to tension, which can turn into pain. What to do? Place extra pillows under your knees. As your body gets used to the half-lotus position, you will remove pillow by pillow from under your knees, and they will gradually touch the floor. But again: without haste and violence against yourself.
- Legs numb, numb. I recommend not to delve into the analysis of these sensations and not to worry about whether you can get up after meditation. To all my students who regularly attend quiet practices at my school, I always repeat: if your legs are numb, stretch them out. Without losing the state of silence, change your position, move your feet and return to the starting position. This will be more beneficial for both the body and the practice than constantly returning attention to unpleasant sensations.
As you practice meditation – keeping the care of the body as described above – the body will get used to the static position. And in a month you will easily and confidently sit in the half-lotus position and enjoy every second of the practice.