Common Meditation Posture Mistakes

1. A hollow back
   When the chair or the cushion is too high you easily begin to sit with a hollow back. Solution: adjust the height or put a book under your shoes so that you can sit up straight again. See to it that the tip of your nose and your navel form one vertical line.


2. A bulging back
   When the chair or the cushion is too low you easily begin to sit with a bulging back. Solution: take another chair or cushion or put a cushion on the chair to make your sitting position higher. See to it that the tip of your nose and your navel form one vertical line.


3. Your head hangs too far forward or backward
   If you draw back your chin too far and your head hangs forward you may get sleepy and bored. When you let your head hang too far backward your thoughts often become more active and more restless. The tip of your nose and your navel should form one vertical line and your ears should run parallel with your shoulders. Hold your head up straight with a chin that is a little drawn back and radiate alertness, acceptance and confidence.


4. You sit bolt upright on the basis of strength
   This is not a natural position. In the army men are taught to walk up straight like real marines. Shoulders backward, chin up high and radiate strength. This way of walking up straight costs a lot of energy and few people can do it for a long time. There is also a natural way of sitting up straight. Sit down with the idea that the top of your head is hanging on a string and that your back is drawn straight from the head and the neck. In this manner we sit straight in a natural way and this posture does not cost us a lot of energy or strength.


5. Fighting against the inconvenience of your posture
   "What you resist persists" View the discomforts like the passing by of a car or noise that distracts you when you are meditating. Observe how body and mind react to each other. Learn to accept the discomforts and learn to stay relaxed while you are experiencing them. If you accept the ache its character and its intensity will change. If the ache is too painful, you can always change your position.


6. The hands are not supported
   When the hands do not rest on something the shoulders have to carry everything. The result is that the shoulders may start to hang forward, the back may become more bulging and it may get harder to relax.


7. During the meditation we are no longer aware of the relation between body and mind
   When the mind is active the body responds. When the body draws our attention there is often something that happens in our mind. For instance: when we are bored the body often starts to sag. When we experience aches we often get easily distracted. In an optimum meditative state body and mind are one. Be aware of the relationship and learn from it.

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