How to Find Good Posture for Meditating & Back Pain ⋆ Earth and Water

Correct posture is something we should all know and do but very few of us succeed at. Myself included.

I’ve been working on keeping correct posture for about a year and a half now and it’s only just starting to really stick.

Good posture is important and I’ve noticed a significant difference in the back pain that’s plagued me for as long as I can remember. Yeah, even when I was a kid.

Correct posture is essential to our well being. It allows for chi (energy) to flow uninterrupted up the spine and for proper breathing. This helps us detox and heal as well as clear the energetic blocks in our chakras so that we can manifest and maintain our best life.

In meditation, posture is emphasized for this reason.

How to Find Good Posture

This position is specific to posture for meditation but is hugely useful no matter the activity your engaging in.

The back should be straight but not forced into this position. We don’t want to create tension or discomfort just avoid slouching.
The shoulders should be relaxed, back and down.
Hands should be supported. You can place them in your lap or where ever is comfortable. This helps release tension in and relax the arms and shoulders.
The chin should be tilted downwards to provide for alignment and energy flow.

Imagine a string pulling you upwards from the crown of your head. Don’t tuck your chin so much that you’re looking at your lap.

Know correct posture but don’t be concerned with being a perfectionist about it. Adjustments are okay as not everyone has the same flexibility or capabilities. Be mindful when you adjust and move so that it isn’t simply restlessness or agitation.

When sitting on a chair, don’t lean back as this will create an arched back. Support yourself instead of allowing the chair to do it for you. Some contact at the lower back is fine and can help support a good posture. Feet flat on the floor.

Of course, I myself never have my feet flat on the floor. In meditation, contact with the floor adds more of a connection to the Earth’s energy. It’s grounding and can help with anxiety.

For posture purposes, if you’re trying to avoid back or hip pain, however you sit, make sure your hips are always higher up than your knees.

If you have back problems, find the help of pillows, remembering to be mindful of keeping your back straight and not curved.

Good Posture When Lying Down in Meditation

If you must lie down for meditation, your head needs to be supported by a blanket, cushion or block so that your chin still remains in the aligned position as it would with sitting.

Knees can be bent with feet flat on the floor. This is called the Alexander Technique or the Alexander Semi-Supine position. Heels may be angled to prevent the knees from leaning or falling in the relaxed state.

The face is relaxed with a slight space between the teeth. The tongue resting on the roof of the mouth. In Taoist meditation, it’s believed that the tongue connects two main meridians that go up the front and back of the spine.

The Du Meridian starts at the perineum, traveling up the spine and over the head to end at the roof of the mouth. The Ren Meridian starts then at the tongue, traveling down the front via the throat, chest, abdomen and then back to the perineum.

The hands may be placed on the bottoms of the feet if sitting in full lotus. This completes the connection of chi pathways. This position helps to ground the body which is a great start to working with Kundalini.

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Be patient with yourself

Correcting a lifetime of bad posture is going to take some time. It may even be a bit painful and uncomfortable at first. Like a new stretch with muscles that have never moved that way.

Stay focused and it WILL get easier, better and eventually, second nature. You’ll notice more and more when you need to correct and you’ll begin to become aware of the tiny twinges in your body that make themselves known when posture is lacking.

In time, it will become part of who you are without effort. Just as slouching had been.

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