How to Use Easy Pose (Sukhasana) to Practice Meditation ⋆ Earth and Water

I start all of my classes in easy pose, or sukhasana. Which, isn’t always as easy for my students as it sounds.

Resembling the traditional cross legged sitting position, easy pose is more one leg in front of the other rather than stacked. You want to try and be as flat as possible in your legs, but don’t concern yourself with that aspect if you’re not there automatically. Just know that that is the goal.

Where ever you are now is perfectly fine. As that is exactly one of the biggest things yoga teaches us. Where you are now is fine. With practice, you will progress.

This pose is mainly used as a mental configuration station anyway. It does lend some stretching to the hips for most people, but is predominantly used to calibrate our minds to the class we are beginning. Remember, yoga is just as much a mental / meditational practice as it is a physical one.

We start class here so that we may transition from the hustle and bustle of getting to class, socializing before it begins and anything else we’ve been giving our attention to, into the calm focus of being here for the allotted time to practice together.

@earthand_water
it’s admittedly not easy for everyone. I didn’t name it 😅 #lotr #easypose #meditationpractice #meditative #meditateeveryday #meditateanddestroy
♬ original sound – Savannah Shea Blake

Configuring the Mind to Class

There’s a calm focus that yoga calls for. Not everyone is looking for this aspect, that’s true. For those looking for a deeper meaning to their life or practice, however, there’s a mood we ideally shift into at the beginning of our practice and aim to maintain throughout the class.

So, to do that, I instruct everyone, in every class, always to begin in easy pose. From there we:

Check in with our posture.
- Spine tall, elongating all the way through the crown.
- Shoulders back and down.
- Heart center open.
- Relaxing everything down.
Check in with the breath.
- Focus on bringing the breath down into the belly (shallow chest breathing is a stress response).
- Expand the lungs fully, engaging the diaphragm.
- Seek to sync the breath to the movements, aiming for equal lengths inhales and exhales.
Check in with the senses.
- We want to be as present as possible, which means bringing awareness to everything we see, hear, feel, taste and touch.

Grounding ourselves is also a great practice to add here. These are all of the mental things we’re working on in easy pose as we rock, shift, sway and stretch in all of the directions our hips allow. Switching sides by changing whichever leg is in front to the back and doing it all over again so that we may stay balanced in our stretching.

The Benefits of Easy Pose

Sakhasana is the Sanskrit name for this pose. “Asana” means pose. “Sakah” can mean easy, joyful or happy. Easy pose offers us a number of physical and mental benefits. Some of it’s physical benefits include:

Improved posture:
- Easy pose helps to strengthen the back muscles and improve posture. This can help to reduce back pain and other problems associated with poor posture.
Increased flexibility:
- It helps to stretch the hips, groin, and inner thighs.
Improved circulation:
- Easy pose helps to improve circulation throughout the body which can also help to reduce fatigue and improve overall health.

Some of the mental benefits of easy pose include:

Reduced stress:
- Sukhasana is a great pose for reducing stress and anxiety, helping to calm the mind and promote relaxation.
Improved focus:
- Great for anyone who has a hard time with that.
Increased self-awareness:
- Self-awareness is what we’re always striving for in our practice. Through paying attention to our thoughts, emotions and physical sensations, we can reshape our life, improving all of it’s aspects and healing on all levels of who we are. This is the magick of yoga.

Stay in Sukhasana for as long as you feel comfortable. I always encourage my students to listen to their body instead of trying to mirror my example. Learning to listen to what your body is trying to tell you is a key aspect of thriving in life. It’s always speaking to us, albeit not in words. Most of us don’t listen until it’s screaming and too late.

We generally spend about 4 minutes here. Two minutes for each leg in front. Feel free to gradually increase the amount of time you spend in the pose, practicing your meditative focuses. Props such as yoga blocks, pillows and blankets can always be used to help make the pose more comfortable if needed.

Join Our Patreon