Learn How to Meditate: Postures

There are many positions we can meditate in: sitting, standing, walking and lying down, but we're focusing on the traditional posture. The aim of the sitting posture is to balance being upright and alert, with being relaxed.
Keep your back straight

The back must be straight, and the head held high with the chin pointing forward, but not looking up.  An easy way to achieve this posture is to picture a straight line in your spine, and have your head and body follow that line.  As you achieve this posture you will already feel an increase in confidence and independence.

Though the back is straight it is also relaxed.

This may be one of the more difficult aspects to play around with.  If at first your back is unable to fully relax, or feels tired that's okay.  There are several reasons people cannot meditate for long periods of time at first.  If rather than meditate you must spend a few sessions building up your "posture muscles" in and around your spine then it's time worth investing in.  Once you've grown used to the feeling you'll be surprised how powerful it is, and how invigorating.

Let your mind go

When we first start meditating, we constantly want to move around.  The clock in the other room's ticking can become obsessively bothersome, an itch on the arm or nose can suddenly crop up out of nowhere, and the pain in the back can feel at first agonizing even if it's only very minor.  The reason is your mind has nothing else to focus on.  Our minds constantly demand stimulation.  Meditation is not about being content so much as it's about "being" without the body to drag us down.  If at first you feel an itch, and find you cannot ignore it, scratch and move on.  Don't beat yourself up over the small stuff.  Noises are a distraction, but our enterainment programs are specially designed to melt away these distractions and focus your mind exactly where it needs to be.

A great posture for your hands is to lay them on your knees with the palms up and your thumb and forefinger touching.  The hand position isn't specifically important, however, and you can lay them face down on your knees if you prefer.

You can keep your eyes open or closed.

Though traditional meditations happen with closed eyes, this isn't required.  Often people will meditate with a visual aid or simply stare into the room in front of them.  Others meditate while making eye contact with another person, though this can be distracting. We advise beginners to meditate with their eyes closed.

The face is relaxed.

Keep the jaw and all details of the face relaxed during the meditation.  If you have facial jewelry, you might find it distracting at first and should probably take it out ahead of time.

Leg crossed

The legs can be crossed with the feet under the knees, or you can attempt to do another position called the Lotus position.  The Lotus position is similar to leg crossing, but the feet are pulled up over the thighs.  This position is fairly difficult for many people, and care should be taken not to pull any muscles while attempting or practicing it.  Alternately, you can perform a half-Lotus in which only one leg is above the thigh while the other rests comfortably beneath the knee.