MEDITATION POSITIONS: SITTING UPRIGHT

If you are starting to meditate for the first time, try sitting on a mat or cushion on the floor in the cross legged position (as above). Keep your spine comfortably straight in a dignified upward posture, your hands resting palms upwards on your thighs/upper legs, your face slightly upturned, eyes closed with a gentle focus between your eyebrows (the third eye area).  If you need to use a backrest, then you can, but do not use a headrest unless you have a particular need. 

If you prefer to sit on a chair, then a dining chair is more beneficial than an armchair. Position your feet flat on the floor, approximately hip-width apart.  (If you have short legs, then you can rest them on a cushion on the floor. Conversely, if you have long legs, then you can place a cushion on your chair.)

If you prefer, you can lie down, but it is easy to lose awareness and fall asleep! Alternatively, if we sit in an alert position, we are more inclined to remain awake, and be able to focus on something, be it an image,  a color, a chakra, a mantra, or the way our breath flows in and out... [1]. 

.So How Does the Meditation Actually Work?

This incredibly beneficial ancient practice is all about stilling our mind, while simultaneously keeping our body awake and in a relaxed state. So what is the key? The first thing to do is to ground ourselves. - This means feeling attached to the earth.  (You may like to imagine roots going from the base of your spine down to the middle of the earth).  After this, check that your spine is in a wonderfully upright position, and then take an in-breath as you stretch it a little higher (from its base upwards). Keep your body still, and know that when this happens, mental stillness follows.

Soothing a Busy Mind

If you are new to meditation, you will most likely find that your mind will be all over the place. - Thoughts about what you are going to have or buy for dinner, an issue that is troubling you, concerns about future plans, and a million other scenarios can come in here. So if they do, rest assured that it is completely normal to have a butterfly, or monkey mind. And remember that we all have our own pace - and the more we go with the flow and avoid being consumed by how we are progressing, the better it will be.

Focus is Paramount

By focusing our mind on a single thing, for example: feeling grounded to the earth, using a mantra, visualizing a symbol, or focusing on the gentle rhythmic movement of the breath going in and out, concentrating on our belly region, or counting 1 2 3 4 etc., on the out-breaths (either out loud or silently), we can calm our mind. These practices can be done over a few minutes at the beginning of a meditation session, and at any point when you are overwhelmed by thoughts. 

Do not be hard on yourself if you find that calming your mind is difficult. - Give yourself some loving kindness, and be mindful that we have all been programmed to have constant thoughts. We will always have them, but the secret to mediation is to simply let them drift in and out without engaging with them.  - Think of your thoughts and emotions from a remote viewer's perspective.

Whenever our mind dances and engages with our thoughts and becomes overloaded with thinking, we send energy to this habit and thus make it even stronger. Conversely, if we focus our mind on something neutral, such as breathing, counting, and the other suggestions described above, we thereby empower ourselves to withdraw the energy we expend in dancing and engaging with our thoughts and feelings.

Reference

[1]. Stibich, M. (2020). "How to Sit When Learning Meditation." VeryWellMind

.https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-sit-when-learning-to-meditate-2224121#:~:text=Sitting%20is%20the%20best%20position,where%20to%20put%20your%20feet).

Note: only undertake meditation if you do not have any contraindications (including being in a meditative posture)