When starting out, sit however is most comfortable for you without dozing off. That may be a chair, the floor, or even in bed with your head propped up by a few pillows.

Keep your teeth slightly separated, and your jaw unclenched. You may rest your tongue where the front, upper teeth meet the roof of the mouth.

Over time, and if your physicality allows it, you may wish to sit in the more alert position of either full or half lotus pose, also known as Indian style. This position is done on the floor, on a couple of pillows if you like, with legs crossed and a straight back. Hands are placed folded in your lap or palms on your knees.

Some people prefer sitting on their knees with their heels against their bottom. This is also a fantastic position. Others enjoy placing their hands in certain positions known as “mudras.” These have been passed down for thousands of years and are believed to have certain energetic properties. The most famous of mudras is with the palm up and connecting the forefinger to the thumb.

There is no wrong sitting posture for meditation for beginners. Be sure to listen to your body.

Sit in a position that is comfortable to you. Don’t be too hard on yourself with your seating posture. You don’t have to sit on the floor lotus pose. You can sit in a chair, you can sit in a couch, you can prop your head up in your back up against the headboard of your bed with some pillows and do what’s comfortable for you.

Can I Sit in a Chair While Meditating?

Should I sit up straight on the floor? 

Can I use a chair? 

Can I lie in bed? 

Do I have to be super rigid and strict, or is it okay to do it on the couch? 

These are some of the many questions that come up when starting out in meditation. A lot of people wonder if it’s okay to meditate while sitting in a chair. And the answer to that is, if that is what your body needs, if that is what you feel comfortable with at this moment, then 100% absolutely, yes. 

There’s no wrong position, and if you want to be a yogi and sit in yoga pose one day, then work towards that slowly, but most importantly, do what is sustainable and know yourself to know what that is. So if you’ve lived your whole life sitting in chairs and sitting on the floor is weird, then sit in a chair, over time you can move to the floor, but just know your body knows your limits. 

One thing we have to remember is, as much as we want to sit in the perfect Lotus Pose with our feet upside down on top of our thighs and sitting on a floor with no pillows, being a perfect yogi, it’s important to remember that people from the East are used to sitting on the floor all the time. Many don’t have chairs or tables.

In most parts of Asia, people sit on the floor, eat on the floor, and do everything on the floor, including cooking and chopping vegetables. So, this is a comfortable position for them, and they’re used to it.

Americans, Westerners, we’ve got back issues; we have a hard time getting on the ground and getting back up. This is one reason it’s actually a great practice to sit on the floor or crouch often; it’s beneficial for your legs, back, maintaining mobility as you get older, and your knees. So, really, it’s not a problem.

If you have issues sitting on the floor, it is absolutely acceptable to start out sitting on a chair. If you feel called to sit on the floor, try it out. Begin by sitting on a pillow at first or with your back against the wall. You can slowly progress to that perfect yogi, full lotus pose.

There is nothing wrong with listening to your body, trusting yourself. You don’t want to add anxiety or stress to something like meditation. Be gentle with yourself; there’s no wrong way to do it. Just sitting in meditation is perfect. All of the posture, the length of time, how long you can focus on your breath or your mantra – those are the icing on the cake. 

Meditation is not about the outcome; it’s just about the moment. So, just sitting in meditation, you’re meditating perfectly. 

Some people have injuries, and sitting on the floor is not for them. However, you can sit, the bare minimum is trying to prop your head up if you have to lie down in bed so you don’t fall asleep. The best thing is just to try not to fall asleep, unless you’re meditating to help you get sleep due to sleep issues, then it’s a wonderful thing to do when you’re going to bed. But other than that, nothing to worry about. Do what’s right for you.

Slowly, if it calls to you, you can move towards that perfect yogi pose. And I know that you’ll get there if that’s what you’re hoping for.

Can I Meditate Standing? 

Can I meditate while standing? 

Driving? Biking? Walking? Talking??? 

I’m sure you can meditate even while standing. I’m not so sure you should. 

Because when we’re standing, we’re not actually truly able to meditate; we’re also having to maintain our balance. Our body is constantly shifting, and we are constantly making adjustments. We’re not really as still as we are when we’re sitting still.

When we’re sitting firmly rooted into the ground, in a very strong base and posture, that stillness of the body translates into a stillness of the mind. It has a calming effect on its own. When we’re standing, we’re still using a lot more energy. We’re not fully able to allow our body to reach that rest, digest, recover phase, where the body can enter when it’s very relaxed state, because standing is a much more alert kind of position.

If you have the option, I highly recommend doing any kind of sitting for meditation. Sitting is that in-between state between lying down and standing or walking. And that’s appropriate because meditation is that center, balancing line between alert and relaxed. You’re fully alert and aware, but you’re also fully in deep peace. Meditation trains us to approach all of life like that. Whatever occurs, we’re alert and attentive to it.

But we are not disturbing our inner peace about it. Everything we experience falls under this perspective of happy or sad, love or hate, and every positive has its negative. But peace, that deep inner joy and peace that comes from nothing at all, whether it’s good or bad, it’s just always this inner peace, which is the center. It has no opposite.

We can be at that center point of peace forever because there is no swinging back the other way for a balance to occur; we are in full balance. I think that’s really what gives the seated posture its power because you really become deeply grounded in that position.

In meditation, you can really relax deeply into your practice when you have that strong base of support. Not so relaxed that you might fall asleep, but not too effortful that it disturbs your inner peace. In this position, you can let go in the most maximum way without worrying about falling asleep or getting tired and being drowsy. 

I will say this: while I don’t recommend standing meditation, I do recommend turning standing into a meditation. So, what I mean by this is, anytime you’re standing, whether in line for something or waiting for something, try observing your thoughts. While you’re thinking, notice the nature of your thoughts.

Then bring your attention to you and yourself standing in this space, and try to stay there for as long as possible, fully being wherever you are. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve never been there or if you’ve been there 1000 times. There’s always so much to observe in the present moment. No two moments are alike. 

Whether we’re standing and trying not to fall over in addition to meditating, or if we’re biking or walking, and we want to try to meditate while we’re doing that, but really, we’re making sure we don’t get killed by a car or bump into something. 

So, these activities can be very meditative in that they bring us into the present moment and give our minds time to process our thoughts and experiences. But meditation is about taking away all that activity and focusing just on the experience of being in the present moment.

This is what trains our mind to be able to do that behind the scenes in whatever we’re doing the rest of our day. So the more we can get rid of all the doing in our meditation, the more we can put our mental power towards developing the skills of focus, insight, gratitude, and awareness, and all the other benefits that meditation produces.