If you practice sitting meditation, which position do you use?

[thelerner]

I've found practicing in a hot dry sauna, hugely increases my flexibility.

[joeblast]

kl shakes the whole damned thing though

[Vitalii]

In my school we use special Dao Yin exercises to make the body more powerful and flexible. Considerable attention is paid to work with spine, allowing to correct the body structure and open hip, knee and ankle joints, which prepares a person to sit in meditation in a lotus position.

However, notwithstanding an active work with the body during exercises, the main role of Dao Yin is to work with energy that is directed to balance Yin and Yang, enhance the overall energy potential, and also to cultivate virtuous qualities of a human soul.

 

[doc benway]

Warning with full lotus though. if you aren't yet a master at it, you can injure your knees if you pull yourself into it without proper stretching first. It can give ya' a limp for a few days. Ouch!

 

Lotus can be achieved by most people who are motivated.

It's simply a matter of stretching the hips, slowly over a matter of months.

 

Here's a great book if you're into it:

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Lotus-Martin-Faulks/dp/1885928181

 

And free resources:

http://zenmontpellier.voila.net/eng/lotus/lotuseng.html

http://ayo.no/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/How-to-Grow-a-Lotus.pdf

 

I personally don't think it matters that much whether one sits seiza, lotus, half lotus, burmese or on a stool.

I know people who have used all of these with great success (and failure!)

On the other hand, some do think it makes a difference and I respect their preference.

[silent thunder]

I've found practicing in a hot dry sauna, hugely increases my flexibility.

I routinely use a small Far Infrared Portable Sauna before cultivation sessions.

The affect on my joints is staggeringly yummy!

I highly recommend them.

 

http://www.rakuten.com/prod/infrared-ir-far-portable-indoor-dry-heat-spa-sauna-comes-with-1-year/216084981.html?listingId=89091694&scid=pla_google_HealthandBeauty&adid=29963&gclid=CP3U1tiS_L4CFU5afgodyJcAnw

[joeblast]

that thing's funny, but I dig it

[SonOfTheGods]

I routinely use a small Far Infrared Portable Sauna before cultivation sessions.

I have a Microwave

Edited June 15, 2014 by SonOfTheGods

[Lataif]

seiza

[thelerner]

I dig the zero gravity position. Laying down, head and upper back slightly up, knees up. There are message chairs and Lazy Boys that get you into the ideal position. Or you can just put a pillow under you knees, a pillow lengthwise under your back to your head, and a third normally positioned for you head.

 

I don't use it for meditation, but for listening to music or guided meditations its very nice. Great with a pointy Spoonk mat underneath too.

[joeblast]

heh, I got one of those last christmas. my brother & his wife said here, you'll be masochistic enough for this

Edited June 18, 2014 by joeblast

[Satya]

From practising kriya yoga, raja yoga, and various yogic traditions, as a default legs-crossed sitting position, I tend to always sit in siddhasana.

I know this is the Tao lounge + Taoist discussion section, but, siddhasana is a pretty common sitting position in various traditions/schools.

[allinone]

"natural squatting position"

[soaring crane]

"natural squatting position"

 

I like that. Squatting is a natural position for human animals. Except for kneeling, none of the traditional seated meditation positions are natural.

 

Have you actually practiced squatting? Flatfooted with the butt all the way down? I've been working on it.

[allinone]

I like that. Squatting is a natural position for human animals. Except for kneeling, none of the traditional seated meditation positions are natural.

 

Have you actually practiced squatting? Flatfooted with the butt all the way down? I've been working on it.

 

yep, flatfooted and butt all the way down. Im pretty skinny. But i also use little variations, i don't use any strict rules.

 

besides its comfortable, it saves warmth, its excellent for when there is too cold.

 

2nd favourite position or variation is "soles of the feet together position" with legs 45 degrees from the ground(or how much you bend).

While first is hands around feet then other is legs are outside and hands inside.

 

one is when there is cold other is when there is warm.

[Mark Foote]

This is really interesting: please find the article

 

I can practice full lotus very very comfortably for hours in a row, but I think it is a bad posture because it straightens the spine with the muscles of the back, neglecting the abs. Thus creating imbalances.

The big-belly syndrome common for meditators (especially dan-tien people).

 

So, I'm working for seiza which is better for the spine... but really hard at the present moment: I can sit for no more than 30 minutes with unbearable pain.

I wonder if it is really possible to seat that way for at least a couple of hours.

 

To read that article would be very inspiring.

 

My inspiration, Kobun Chino Otogawa, said he never had pain or numbness in the lotus. He started sitting at 7 or 8 years old, son of the abbot of a Zen temple in Japan, and I know he sometimes sat three 7-day sesshins in a row.

 

He said he did have pain in seiza.

 

Don't know what to say about the abs. I have a pot belly, but I always have had, even when I was the second most physically-fit guy in my high school class (the coach was keeping track of everything for his masters or phd or something). I only sit once or twice a day, usually 30-40 minutes in the morning, and a short sit before bed.

 

The support for the back I think comes from everywhere, including the fascial envelope under the skin. Sort of like a Buckminster Fuller dome. It's usually simultaneous with my experience of a singular sense of place that is free to move. That's always with me, I guess, yet I experience it as waking up or falling asleep to right where I am.

 

[Horus]

Chair, Full-Lotus, And Half-Lotus.

[Jox]

"natural squatting position"

 

This?

 

[Jox]

Chair, Full-Lotus, And Half-Lotus.

 

Whic position for what kind of work ...?

[idiot_stimpy]

Any position that is comfortable in the moment.

[soaring crane]

 

This?

 

In my case, narrower, and with feet not turned out as far (but still far from parallel), and also arms between legs but with hands on opposite elbow (one over, one under).

 

The pic you posted is what one of my teachers used to call the Shaolin Tea Break, lol.

 

I do it to stretch a little. It's a good position to practice resistance stretching (aka isometric stretching). Basically, in that position, squeeze the knees inward against the arms, for 15-30 seconds, then release slowly. Breath in harmony with the exercise.

[allinone]

This?

 

 

 

from http://www.toilet-related-ailments.com/squatting.html

 

"In the natural squatting position, the entire weight of the body rests on the feet, and the thighs are pressed against the abdomen. "

[soaring crane]

from http://www.toilet-related-ailments.com/squatting.html

 

"In the natural squatting position, the entire weight of the body rests on the feet, and the thighs are pressed against the abdomen. "

 

this not so easy:

 

 

I have to have my legs wide enough that my arms fit between them, and feet pronating somewhat.

Edited June 24, 2014 by soaring crane

[ChiDragon]

This?

 

 

No offense....

This is the worse position for breathing. Please be advised do not take this as standard practice.....!!!

[soaring crane]

 

No offense....

This is the worse position for breathing

 

why?

[ChiDragon]

why?

"the thighs are pressed against the abdomen" which restricts the movement of the abdomen from expansion and contraction for the UMB.

 

 

Note:

UMB: the Ultimate Method of Breathing.

Edited June 24, 2014 by ChiDragon