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Meditating in Comfort?

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Hi to all

 

I'm hoping that some of you have answers for a problem that is affecting me.

What is the most comfortable and effective position for meditation? I can do

it ok lying down in corpse pose, or sitting in a chair, but if I try and

use, say, easy pose, to help my grounding, I find after a few minutes that

my legs start to become uncomfortable, and that is after doing all the

normal preparatory leg stretching exercises.

 

What advice can you give?

 

Sat Nam!

Gordon

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Hi Gordon,

 

I love what happened to this list!

 

I've got the same problem. I use pillows, I sit on a small cushion and

I have wool blanket folded under me so the hardness of the floor isn't a

problem. Experiment with the position of your legs to find out which

is more comfortable for you! Personally I have always found the half

lotus much more comfortable than easy pose. Easy pose always hurts my

ankles. Experiment with which leg goes on top , also which leg is

pulled in toward yourself first. The benfits of sitting on the floor

are excellent, it locks you and grounds you like a tipod, and helps keep

the spine straight. Be pataint and keep working with it until it

becomes more comfortable. Of course one can sit in a chair and

meditate, but in my opinion sitting on the floor is more benficial, and

with diligence can be accomplished. I reached the point where I was

sitting in perfect comfort, and had been doing so for many years, then

my left knee (blew out I'm a runner)and I had to rearrange everything

when I sit to be able to meditate but I was able to do this by just

slightly altering a few things and by putting a small pillow under my

kneee when I sit.

 

Experiment with slightly different variations, have patience and

diligence.

 

Good luck! This was a big problem for me for years until I just sat

down and made myself do it. Sitting on the floor isn't a big thing in

Occidental culture we aren't used to it.

 

 

Namaste

 

Larry

--- gordon lamb <gordon wrote:

> "gordon lamb" <gordon

>

> Hi to all

>

> I'm hoping that some of you have answers for a

> problem that is affecting me.

> What is the most comfortable and effective position

> for meditation? I can do

> it ok lying down in corpse pose, or sitting in a

> chair, but if I try and

> use, say, easy pose, to help my grounding, I find

> after a few minutes that

> my legs start to become uncomfortable, and that is

> after doing all the

> normal preparatory leg stretching exercises.

>

> What advice can you give?

>

> Sat Nam!

> Gordon

>

>

>

------

> Ideas on how we can improve ONElist?

>

> Check out the Suggestion Box feature on our new web

> site

>

------

> To from this list, go to

> ONElist Member Center, or

> Kundaliniyoga-

>

 

_______

 

Get your free @ address at

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>"gordon lamb" <gordon

>

>Hi to all

>

>I'm hoping that some of you have answers for a problem that is affecting me.

>What is the most comfortable and effective position for meditation? ...

>

>What advice can you give?

 

Gordon and all,

 

I agree with Larry's advice advice about the blanket and cushion. When I

first began working with a Zenish group that did an hour of sitting in the

early morning, I'd thought I'd die. :( Or hoped I would before the hour was

over. :)

Now, what I recommend to students is that they either sit upright in a firm

chair (if they are old or infirm) with their hands, palms up, on their

thighs or, if they are reasonably fit but not quite up to full lotus, that

they sit in easy pose or half-lotus for as long as they comfortably can.

*Then* the work starts.

 

When you reach the point where the discomfort is interferring with the

meditation, focus on the discomfort itself. See is you can allow the muscles

and tendons around the discomfort to relax. Just imagine them as becoming

warmer, softer, more elastic, more relaxed. Spend maybe 3 or four minutes

doing this. I know it interferes with your regular meditation, but you won't

have to do it forever - just while you are stretching out these muscles.

 

This is also how I was taught to practice yoga - go to the edge of real

pain, relax into it as much as you can, and then back out again. That way

one's limits keep expanding until they really aren't limits any more. The

same principle is at work here - go to the point of pain, relax into it as

far as you can, and then, gently retreat again into comfort.

 

After you've reached that point, I recommend that you continue and complete

your meditation time in the chair position. It really isn't a good idea to

meditate in corpse pose or other reclining positions. The reticular

activating system (RAS) at the base of the brain has spent years becoming

conditioned to the idea that lying down = sleepytime. The RAS has a switch

that takes the nervous system into sleep mode then, and it is very difficult

to meditate *alertly* while lying down. It really makes it much easier to

have the spine erect, but not tense, and the neck very slightly flexed so

that the eyes are naturally looking slightly downward rather than straight

ahead. Experiment to make sure your position is well-balanced because that

will produce the least physical stress in the long run.

 

I suppose I should mention that there are special meditations (like Yoga

Nidra) that are to be done in the corpse pose, but they are for special

purposes and don't take the place of upright one-pointed type meditations

(or vice versa).

 

After a while of this kind of practice, you will find that you can sit

comfortably in this half (and eventually full) lotus for your full

meditation time.

 

HTH!

:)

Jesa

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Larry and Jesa

 

Thanks for coming back to answer my query - you've certainly given myself,

and, hopefully, some other rs, quite a lot of food for thought.

I'll try out the various suggestions that you

have both made and see how it goes from here.

 

I'm glad you're enjoying the list. It is progressing well - not always

immediately evident on the surface, but we have a lot of new stuff coming

through very shortly.

 

To everyone else, please keep the posts coming - the more folk can talk

through things on here the more we can all learn from their experiences.

 

Sat Nam!

Gordon

 

>laurence beyer <larbeyer9

>

>Hi Gordon,

>

>I love what happened to this list!

>

>I've got the same problem. I use pillows, I sit on a small cushion and

>I have wool blanket folded under me so the hardness of the floor isn't a

>problem. Experiment with the position of your legs to find out which

>is more comfortable for you! Personally I have always found the half

>lotus much more comfortable than easy pose. Easy pose always hurts my

>ankles. Experiment with which leg goes on top , also which leg is

>pulled in toward yourself first. The benfits of sitting on the floor

>are excellent, it locks you and grounds you like a tipod, and helps keep

>the spine straight. Be pataint and keep working with it until it

>becomes more comfortable. Of course one can sit in a chair and

>meditate, but in my opinion sitting on the floor is more benficial, and

>with diligence can be accomplished. I reached the point where I was

>sitting in perfect comfort, and had been doing so for many years, then

>my left knee (blew out I'm a runner)and I had to rearrange everything

>when I sit to be able to meditate but I was able to do this by just

>slightly altering a few things and by putting a small pillow under my

>kneee when I sit.

>

>Experiment with slightly different variations, have patience and

>diligence.

>

>Good luck! This was a big problem for me for years until I just sat

>down and made myself do it. Sitting on the floor isn't a big thing in

>Occidental culture we aren't used to it.

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Favorite sheepskins - Always ~~~~~~~~ Trees and Wateredge Standing - Grace of

God Movement ~ Frog post for elimination process. Bann U.S. tradtitional

toilet.

Sat Siri Akal! Whae Guruji Ka Khalsa S A T N A M mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Breath - (hi gordon)

gordon lamb wrote:

 

> "gordon lamb" <gordon

>

> Hi to all

>

> I'm hoping that some of you have answers for a problem that is affecting me.

> What is the most comfortable and effective position for meditation? I can do

> it ok lying down in corpse pose, or sitting in a chair, but if I try and

> use, say, easy pose, to help my grounding, I find after a few minutes that

> my legs start to become uncomfortable, and that is after doing all the

> normal preparatory leg stretching exercises.

>

> What advice can you give?

>

> Sat Nam!

> Gordon

>

> ------

> Ideas on how we can improve ONElist?

>

> Check out the Suggestion Box feature on our new web site

> ------

> To from this list, go to

> ONElist Member Center, or

> Kundaliniyoga-

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