Sit Up and Take Note

If you're having difficulty meditating because of back pain, you could be sitting incorrectly.

By Judith Lasater

If your forearms are close to a vertical position, place a folded blanket under the hands to elevate them. When the forearms are more horizontal, there will be less weight pulling through the arms and straining the shoulders and neck.

Position the head so that you are looking straight ahead, then slightly drop the skull so that the eyes fall about three feet in front of you on the floor. Some meditation systems teach you to keep your eyes open, others keep the eyes closed. Whichever you choose, this position of the head will be comfortable.

Once you have established this position for floor sitting, you will find that you already feel meditative. I sometimes wonder whether the mind-state of meditation creates this bodily position or the bodily position creates the mind-state.

If possible, try to translate this floor position to your everyday chair-sitting posture. When you learn to sit with the spine long and curved and the pelvis in a neutral position, sitting will become not only pleasant, but also a source of comfort and ease.

Judith Lasater, Ph.D., P.T., author of Relax and Renew (Rodmell, 1995) and Living Your Yoga (Rodmell, 2000) has taught yoga internationally since 1971.

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