Hello and welcome to finding your meditation posture.
Hopefully you are in a space that is quiet and safe,
Calm,
Comfortable and secure,
Where you can relax without being disturbed,
Distracted or interrupted.
Please also make sure that the temperature feels right for you.
You may want to get a cushion or blanket put on your lap to rest your hands on.
If you are wearing glasses,
Please place them aside.
You can loosen clothing if you desire,
For example unhooking your belt.
We're going to set up a posture where we can sit comfortably for the duration of our meditation period,
A posture of alertness,
Relaxation and dignity.
We're opening up our body's channels of energy to allow our breath and our life force to flow naturally,
Comfortably,
Fully and freely.
In his book The Posture of Meditation,
Will Johnson said,
The defining marks of an ideal sitting posture are a sense of spaciousness,
Clarity and calm in the mind,
And a feeling of subtle but vibrant energetic flow in the body.
To start out with a solid foundation to your posture,
Please ensure that your hips are higher than your knees.
If your knees are higher than your hips,
You may want to get a cushion,
A pillow or a folded blanket to sit on.
If you are sitting in a chair,
Please find the right height by also making sure that your feet can reach and be planted flat on the ground.
Please have your feet hip widths apart,
Parallel to each other and underneath or forward of your knees.
Now that your hips are higher than your knees,
Your pelvis is angled slightly down.
This will provide a stable base of support for your upper body and will help you to extend your spine and sit up straight.
Sitting up straight with an extended,
Lengthened spine creates an alert and livened uprightness.
This will create vitality and wake up your entire body.
Energy will flow more freely and you will be able to sit more comfortably.
We're creating a natural quality of buoyancy,
A feeling as if we're being gently stretched upwards.
You can imagine a golden cord anchored in your sacrum and pulling your spine up towards the heavens.
Or you can imagine bringing the front of your spine,
The part that touches the rest of your body,
Upwards towards your head and the back of your spine,
Downward towards your tailbone.
You can also envision dropping the bottom of your shoulder blades down towards your tailbone.
All of these visualizations will help you to extend and elongate your spine in a healthy way.
I invite you to stack your ears,
Shoulders and hips vertically on top of each other perpendicular to the ground,
The lower parts of your body supporting the upper parts.
This will let your neck,
Back and your core muscles relax and be at ease.
Or you can think of your spine and neck as like children's blocks stacked on top of each other or as a column of coins that you do not want to tip over.
Your weight is evenly distributed,
Not slouching or arching,
Not leaning forward or back,
Not swaying to the left or to the right,
But finding a midpoint of upright balance.
Your body is aligned and naturally relaxed.
You're able to hold yourself up with grounded balance instead of muscular effort or strain.
And now the soft parts of your body are hanging relaxed and loose off of your strong upright spine.
Balance your head on top of your neck and torso like a marble ball supported on top of the middle of a bubbling fountain,
Lifting up with the crown of your head,
Pushing up as if you're supporting the sky with it.
Your chin is slightly tucked and it is level with the ground,
Not rising in arrogance or agitation or dropping in shame and drowsiness.
Breathe through your nose with your mouth closed.
As we sit fully upright,
Our belly becomes open,
Uncompressed and relaxed and we are able to breathe fully,
Deeply,
Naturally and with ease.
Your arms are relaxed,
Hanging off your spine of their own weight and slightly away from the body.
Create some space under your armpits to allow deeper breathing and allow air to circulate.
If you have a favorite meditation hand position that you would like to take,
I invite you to take that now.
If you don't,
I invite you to let your hands rest loosely on your lap or legs,
Face up and not face down.
This will help you to roll your shoulders back,
Open your chest and sit even taller.
At this point,
You may wish to allow your eyes to drift lightly closed or,
If you prefer,
You can maintain a focused but comfortable gaze with a soft rooting on a single spot in front of you,
Whatever feels most comfortable to you.
And now that you are settled in an upright and comfortable meditative posture,
I invite you to set your intention for this meditation period.
What technique do you intend to do?
Make a commitment to yourself that this is what you will actually engage with during this upcoming time.
I also invite you to remind yourself of your motivation.
What is your sincere reason for meditating today?
Bringing that to mind will help you to give your best effort.
I also invite you to congratulate yourself for taking the time to meditate today.
Give yourself some respect and appreciation for engaging in self-care and self-development.
Now,
You have made a transition from your normal everyday life to the alert and relaxed posture in the sacred space of transformation that is your meditation practice.
