how do we sit.

[Miss Hepburn]

Walking into an SRF meditation room shocked me...being a traditionalist...
half lotus with a slight pillow under the butt, straight spine.
They had chairs! Huh?
WELL, turns out Yogananda did this adapting to Americans...you sit a bit fwd on the chair,
not using the back ...hands on your lap....WELL!
I could sit there (and did) for hours and hours!
Very practical for older knees.
He also likes placing wool under you...something about energy..I dunno.

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Walking into an SRF meditation room shocked me...being a traditionalist...
half lotus with a slight pillow under the butt, straight spine.
They had chairs! Huh?
WELL, turns out Yogananda did this adapting to Americans...you sit a bit fwd on the chair,
not using the back ...hands on your lap....WELL!
I could sit there (and did) for hours and hours!
Very practical for older knees.
He also likes placing wool under you...something about energy..I dunno.

Yogananda supposedly made various adaptations to traditional Kriya meditation practices to cater for Westerners. To be fair, he began teaching in America in the 1920s when few Westerners would have had much experience with Yoga. If he was teaching nowadays he might not have made these adaptations.

Regarding Yogananda's recommendation to sit on wool (or silk). It is traditional in India to sit on darbha or kusha grass, which is recommended in the Bhagavad Gita and also used in fire rituals to block negative energies. Kusha grass is not available in the West, so presumably wool or silk are the next best thing. Wool and silk are said to break the downwards pull of earth energies.

Peace.

[anthony c]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Walking into an SRF meditation room shocked me...being a traditionalist...
half lotus with a slight pillow under the butt, straight spine.
They had chairs! Huh?
WELL, turns out Yogananda did this adapting to Americans...you sit a bit fwd on the chair,
not using the back ...hands on your lap....WELL!
I could sit there (and did) for hours and hours!
Very practical for older knees.
He also likes placing wool under you...something about energy..I dunno.

I can see that wool could help with energy but not sure.

I usually sit in a crossed legged position (which i heard someone call 1/4 lotus were i put my leg on my calf and not on my waist like half lotus) when meditating and def found that causes a energy sensation which helped me in my meditation but killed my legs still to this day but i feel the energy is worth more than the uncomfortable pain in the legs but that is just me.

I am so use to sitting in the 1/4 lotus position that sitting in a chair is uncomfortable to me lol.

i do not see any thing off

with wiggling our toes as exercise

to release one self about over with.



i enjoy them hand fans ready in the

least.



it be not that complicated.


better to feel great about.


i'd rather have this medicine.


i like that as a new.


better to be carefull

about some thing

different.

[Melantha77]

I prefer to lay down, that way I can place crystals over my body, and try to keep some on my chakras

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

Favouring meditation as an unending continuum of becoming, the doing if any being simply inviting & allowing the divine energy to awaken & enliven nodes within in a synergy, synchronous with the That Oneness, recognising too that we are actually the formlessness occupying momentary form, then any time, all time meditation is the favoured orientation with non-doer doing simply being magnetic attention accentuation, nonchalantly, trustingly & playfully, without sizing or ritualising.

Whoops! Omission of posture is purely intentional!

***

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

Favoring meditation as an unending continuum of becoming, the doing if any being simply inviting & allowing the divine energy to awaken & enliven nodes within in a synergy, synchronous with the That Oneness, recognising too that we are actually the formlessness occupying momentary form, then any time, all time meditation is the favored orientation with non-doer doing simply being magnetic attention accentuation, nonchalantly, trustingly & playfully, without sizing or ritualising.

Whoops! Omission of posture is purely intentional!

I love this...


(sorry I started to change the Brit spelling to American ...then I stopped.)

[jdenina]

I like to sit upright with my legs crossed :)

[peteyzen]

we can sit how we want, or lay, its true. we have free will. Meditation is many things to different people there are those who simply want some alone time focusing inward or some want the esoteric , some are on the final great path to go home. What I would say is this, for those who are trying to develop, then correct posture and mudras will enhance what you do. Initially it will be harder but that`s like trying to get fit and doing it your own way, or going to a trainer and following his plan, the results come quicker but you will ache more early on.
Very clever people have worked on meditative postures in yogic and buhddhist and toaist systems for millenia, to get them as effective as possible, you can either enjoy the benefits of their hard earned knowledge or you can wing it and let your own mind be in control of you practice, ignoring the sensible best methods and watch it limit your progress, as it has done for thousands of years. Free will, the choice is yours.

[FairyCrystal]

I sit in my comfy deskchair. Comfort is more important than a position. I have back and neck issues, but even before that I wasn't able to sit on a cushion and be comfortable. No need to torture yourself in order to meditate.
I sometimes feel that in the past it was important in order to get a good energy flow going, but these days people are so much more awakened and have a higher vibration that we don't need all the extra bells & whistles anymore to get things going.

No leg or arms crossing either. That blocks energy flow. Feet on the ground. Works a treat!