kneeling

It has been over 60 years since Eastern schools of meditation became widely known in the U.S. and Europe, and meditation became widely practiced, with over 14% of Americans having meditated at least once. If we include those practicing mindfulness techniques, using meditation apps, and attending yoga classes with a meditation component, this figure goes far higher.

The effects of sitting in meditation

The potential benefits of meditation are well known, and include a calmer, clearer mind, lower levels of stress, better sleep, improved relationships with others, and better mental health. 

From a posture perspective, whether you sit in meditation regularly or are just getting started, you want the experience to be as healthy for your body as it is for your mind. 

Tradition and seated meditation

This North Indian Buddha figure shows healthy form. He has a well-stacked spine, open shoulders, and an elongated neck. (Post Gupta period, 7th–8th century C.E..)

Westerners often try to be “authentic” in their meditation by sitting cross-legged on the floor, as is portrayed in most traditions. This is particularly difficult for people who have not grown up regularly sitting this way. It may be that practitioners manage to cross their legs, but then their pelvis is not able to tip forward. Their hip joints will not have developed in childhood and ossified in their teens for unaided cross-legged sitting to be a truly comfortable and biomechanically available option. 

Common problems in upright seated meditation

With the pelvis tucked, meditators have two options, both of them unhealthy:

1. Sitting on their tail bones in a relaxed but slumped position, which will put their spines into a C-shape that overstretches the ligaments of the SI joints and spine, and compresses the spinal discs and nerves. Such collapsed posture restricts the lungs, stomach, and other organs. It also deconditions the deep inner corset muscles that are there to regulate spinal alignment “in the background” during healthy sitting. 
2. Sitting tucked but holding themselves upright by tensing the back muscles. Many meditators and yoga practitioners are so familiar with this effortful solution to being upright that they don’t realize that they are doing it, or recognize it as poor posture. 

It takes freedom in the hip socket to allow the pelvis a good range of motion, rotating forward (anteverting) around the head of the femurs—then the spine can articulate at L5-S1 to stack upright and the back muscles can relax. You can read more about healthy pelvic anteversion here. 

The man’s notably tucked pelvis is sending his spine into a C-shape. Their upper backs are rounded, compressing the base of the neck and lifting the chin to face forward. Pexels

This man is holding himself up with tension in his back muscles. He can learn to antevert his pelvis to find its natural L5-S1 angle, allowing his back to be upright and relaxed. To get there we recommend a suitable wedge along with some posture know-how. Pexels

This woman is getting some anteverting benefit from the slope of the beach, but is used to swaying her lumbar area rather than having a healthy angle lower down at L5-S1. Unsplash

This Chinese Buddha figure shows surprisingly slumped posture. Note the forward head, absence of a stacked spine, and tucked pelvis. With a tucked pelvis slumping is the only relaxed option for sitting.

The hunched figure above is the oldest Chinese Buddha figure that has survived into modern times. The inscription on its base dates it to 338 C.E., 500 years after Buddhism came to China from India. Why does the hunched posture of the Chinese figure compare so poorly with the Indian figure (top)? It is reasonable to suppose that while crossed legged sitting was the norm in India, a warm country where much of the population sits on the floor to gather, eat, socialize, and more, in China, with its generally cooler climate, sitting crossed legged was consciously adopted for meditation but was not a widely used sitting position.   

Here I am stacksitting on the Gokhale™ Pain-Free Chair—my pelvis is anteverted so my spine stacks upright and relaxed, with a healthy angle at L5-S1. This way of sitting enables you to sit in meditation comfortably for prolonged periods if required, and to breathe well. Like all students on the path of postural improvement, I am a work in progress. . .

Appropriate furniture, props, and seating solutions

Most Zen and yoga centers in the West have become more enlightened about the difficulty many people have in sitting on the floor, providing chairs, meditation stools, and cushions for meditators’ comfort. Some more recently established schools, such as Transcendental Meditation, have always encouraged practitioners to use chairs and sofas rather than wrangle with the difficulties of sitting on the floor and working through the resultant aches and pains. 

That said, seeking comfort and back support from soft and poorly contoured modern furniture can also promote slumping, or lead to problematic remedies such as using lumbar cushions which sway the back. You can read more on finding a healthy back rest here, as well as about gentle traction from our Stretchsit® Cushion.

Traditional and potentially effective solutions to help meditators sit without a backrest include the Japanese Zafu cushion, a high, round cushion that can help the thighs and pelvis to angle down, and a low wooden meditation stool used in a kneeling position. The Gokhale™ Wedge is a modern solution to support stacksitting. In all cases, it is important that the practitioner knows how to anchor their rib cage to resist any tendency to sway, and how to find articulation at the lower L5-S1 junction. 

Four props for healthy sitting (top left to bottom right): a Japanese Zafu cushion, the Gokhale™ Wedge, a kneeling meditation stool, and the Gokhale Stretchsit® Cushion

Healthy sitting makes for healthy breathing

Given that controlled or mindful breathing is part of many meditation practices, it’s surprising how little attention is given to the link between breathing well and sitting well.

Some meditation traditions have mimicked teachers and icons with slumped posture, and teach that the associated abdominal breathing is part and parcel of spiritual practice. This type of breathing, however, results in a soft, expanded belly with low muscle tone, an underdeveloped chest, and inadequate use of the diaphragm and lungs.

Equally problematic is tensing the back to remain upright, which tightens the erector spinae muscles and restricts the diaphragm and ribs at the back. It takes stacksitting with a J-spine to let the breath work its magic—bringing a natural massage to your spine, better circulation, and length, strength, and flexibility to the musculoskeletal parts of the torso.

Chop wood, carry water, preserve your posture

There is a traditional Zen Buddhist koan (puzzle/story): 

The novice says to the master, "What does one do before enlightenment?"

"Chop wood. Carry water," replies the master.

The novice asks, "What, then, does one do after enlightenment?"

"Chop wood. Carry water."

Chopping wood and carrying is part of everyday life for millions of people in traditional communities—and it is done with healthy posture.

Of course there are various interpretations of this koan, including that the most pedestrian of activities are also the most sacred. From a posture teacher perspective, the koan reminds us that in the pursuit of spiritual (or mental) development, we should continue to engage with the physical foundations of life. Not only are the body, mind and spirit intertwined, but a healthy body can also help support our other endeavors.

Breaking free from old habits

Meditators often come to work with us because they are frustrated by their pain and struggle to be comfortable. In our experience, though meditators are extensively trained in matters of the mind, the training of the body lags behind. Our teachers have expertise in identifying and solving systemic postural errors in meditation and other activities, and are ready to support you on your meditation and life journey.  

Best next action steps for newcomers

If you would like insight on your posture, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online, or in person.

You can sign up below to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops.

The healthy posture and positive change that antique images can bring to modern people are potentially transformational. In Part 1 of this series we looked at how learning from old photographs can benefit our upper body posture and in Part 2 the lower body.

Here we are going to focus on what antique portraits can teach us about small bends. The historical paintings for this post come from collections associated with Leland and Jane Stanford, famous for their business acumen, political influence, railroad building, and later, philanthropy as founders of Stanford University in California. 

Leland Stanford c. 1870. His open chest and posterior shoulder position are typical of the fine posture of his day. Wikipedia

How much do small bends really matter? After all, it is the deeper bends, perhaps with lifting involved, that pose a bigger threat to our spine. Here are three reasons to pay attention to small bends:

1. The start of a bend usually sets its trajectory. If you have a problematic start to your bend, it will likely continue that way.
2. Small bends are done more often. Any systematic error in your form can therefore create a significant amount of cumulative damage. They also present more opportunities for training in healthy posture habits.
3. Some people’s backs “go out” even with small bends.

Living on the Stanford campus for decades, I was a frequent visitor and admirer of many of the artefacts in the Cantor Arts Center (formally Stanford University Museum). Many of its artefacts represent the human story from foreign lands and ancient periods of history. But within the museum there is also a collection documenting the lives of the Stanford family, which represents a homegrown heritage that teaches us much of what we need to know about healthy posture. 

Let’s start with a painting of the Stanford family at leisure, celebrating the 10th birthday of Leland Stanford Jr. . .  

“Palo Alto Spring” by Thomas Hill, 1879, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Kiddle

A girl playing croquet bends forward slightly (detail, right foreground). Kiddle

The girl playing croquet is an example of a small bend done pretty well. Notice how she angles forward almost exclusively at her hips, rather than at her waist, and also maintains an elegantly elongated spine. By angling forward at the hip joint, where the pelvis pivots around the top of the thigh bones, her hip joints get to enjoy the rotational movement they are designed for. Her spine follows her pelvis, with her back muscles and inner corset both gently working to keep her entire torso as one piece. 

When the pelvis and torso remain aligned, bending brings beneficial work for the hips,
 deep abdominal muscles, and back muscles (fig a.). 

This is a much healthier way to bend (fig a.) than fixing the pelvis in a tucked position and then rounding the spine to bend forward (fig b.). Rounding loads the discs, compressing them anteriorly and causing them to bulge posteriorly. With frequent repetition the microaggressions of even small bends take their toll on the discs. Rounding also overstretches the spinal ligaments, allowing for increasingly hunched posture. Even a small bend done in this way may be perceived by the brain as a threat and send the muscles into spasm, trying to prevent movement and protect against such misuse and damage. 

Rounding the back to bend squeezes the disc contents back, where they may bulge and impinge on the nerve roots  (fig b.).  

In the painting “The Last Spike” by Thomas Hill (below), you can see a small bend employed in a kneeling position. The two figures kneeling on either side of Stanford could be tucked and rounded, but instead, they are hinging at the hip joint and keeping their backs straight. The woman to their right, leaning on her parasol, also angles forward in a mild hip-hinge.

A late 19th century painting shows Stanford, one of the owners of the Central Pacific Railroad, standing ready to hammer the golden and ceremonial “Last Spike” into the ground at Promontory Summit, Utah, in May 1869. Wikimedia

Small bends can be as subtle as a nod or tiny inclination forward. In the foreground of a different painting below, also entitled “The Last Spike,” the onlooker on the left rounds his upper back as he looks downward. I suspect that his desire or need to show deference, also suggested by his removal of his cap, has overridden the prevailing bending posture of the day. Societal expectations around status and hierarchy are responsible for substantial postural degradation throughout history. More about that in a future blog post.

An alternative composition of “The Last Spike,” showing a less healthy type of small bend. historyisnowmagazine.com

This small degree of rounding is what many people do numerous times in a day to pick things up—perhaps to grab our car keys from a table or move things from the counter to the sink. Any forward movement with the upper back and head will often result in counter-tension in the lower back and/or pelvis to hold you there. Rather than compromise our backs, it is far healthier to keep our necks tall and bend at the hip joint. 

If you would like to practise this important contribution to your back health, join me for a “small bends” Gokhale Exercise class on Friday, November 12 at 9:45 a.m. (Pacific Time). If you have not yet subscribed to the 1-2-3 Move program, sign up now for your 7-day Gokhale Exercise Free Trial.

1-2-3 Move happens daily with Esther or guest teachers at 9:45 a.m. 
Gokhale Fitness with Eric runs Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 7–7:25 a.m.
(Pacific Time), and Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays from 3–3:25 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Gokhale Moving Meditation with Roberta is Mondays at 2 p.m. and with Kathleen is Wednesdays at 12 p.m. (Pacific Time)