Meditating while kneeling, using a cushion or stool
More meditation posture tech-talk
A blanket can also be used to provide support for your hands. Tie the blanket fairly tightly round your waist so that it covers your legs (also keeping your legs warm). Then arrange the blanket so that it provides a little “ledge” that you can rest your hands on, or tuck your hands inside it. A double (full) sized blanket is ideal. Blankets for a single (twin) bed tend to be a bit too small to tie properly around the waist, especially if you yourself are “full” sized.
Meditation benches are very useful. You can buy one, have one made, or make one yourself. We have a design for a simple bench that you can download (you’ll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Some meditation benches have rounded ends on the legs, so that it adjusts to the right angle as you sit on it. Others are at a set angle, which is great if you know exactly what height and angle you need your bench to be cut to. It took me several attempts to get a bench that suited me, and experienced a lot of uncomfortable meditations on intensive retreats before I hit on the right combination.
The only practical meditation bench I know of with adjustable legs that let you change the height and angle is made by Laughing Buddha Trading and sold through Amazon. I have one, and it’s great. I’d never take anything else on retreat with me.
(An aside about terminology: my editor at Windhorse Publications pointed out that a bench is a long seat for more than one person, while a stool is a low seat, usually for a single occupant. So really they’re meditation stools, and not meditation benches. But if you try to correct every meditator who refers to their stool as a bench you may well have a sad and lonely existence.)
The following sites also have excellent meditation benches and seats:
Comments
Comment from Dattaram Gangurde
Time: August 21, 2007, 6:23 am
Give me more information on meditating while kneeling while using a cushoin
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: August 21, 2007, 6:32 am
If you have a specific question I’ll be happy to offer an answer.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
PS. Whatever happened to saying “please”?
Comment from Martha
Time: August 25, 2007, 9:03 am
Thank you for the useful tips. I also would like to know more about the effects of meditating from the stool seated, legs behind position — the only one I seem to be able to take. I wonder what is lost by taking this position and if there are other special concerns, beyond watching the spinal alignment. I wonder if the full effects of meditation can be achieved in this posture. Any further advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: August 25, 2007, 10:45 am
Hi Martha,
Kneeling on a stool is also how I meditate, and it’s been my experience that “the full effects of meditation” can certain be experienced sitting this way. There’s a bit of an unjustified mystique about the advantages of sitting cross-legged that I think is overblown.
There’s a lot you can watch out for including your butt, ankles, knees, and shoulders.
If you’re sitting regularly or for long periods you’ll need some kind of padding for your butt. For short sits a folded scarf will work fine, but if you’re on retreat you’ll probably need some kind of thin cushion. This of course changes the height, so an adjustable stool is very, very valuable. There’s a link to an online store selling these on page 2 of this article.
Knees: well, you just need to make sure you have good padding. A zabuton is ideal, although a folded blanked can work fine.
Ankles: this is mainly a problem when first getting used to kneeling, where the ankles may be uncomfortably stretched. A rolled-up blanket under the ankles can give support.
And shoulders: this actually goes back to the hands, which have to be supported so as not to put strain on the shoulders and on the muscles between the shoulder blades. If you’ve ever experienced painful knots forming on either side of the spine between the shoulder blades this is due to the hands not being supported. I find that in cold weather a blanket tied around the waist (even as high as or higher than the navel) provides something to tuck the hands into. In warmer weather a long scarf does the same job without making your legs overheat.
But there’s no question of this posture somehow inhibiting your ability to meditate.
Comment from Sara Alvarez
Time: February 21, 2008, 12:07 pm
Hello:
I began manufacturing a kneeling stool with my husband, that you can see at my web page http://www.kneelingstool.com. The price is $55 plus shipping by mail. It is very comfortable. I been using it and recommend it. The page is in spanish.
Thanks.
Sara
Comment from Matthew Searle
Time: April 7, 2008, 12:35 pm
Hello,
I have just started using a stool which does give me a very upright and secure posture, but when using it, my stomach muscles feel constantly clentched which affects my breathing. Is this indicitive of an incorrect posture or is just due to the fact that i’m not used to sitting in that postition?
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: April 7, 2008, 5:16 pm
Hi Matthew,
Posture is one area where it can be hard to make suggestions online. Without actually seeing your posture I’m left guessing what may be going on, but it does sound as if the stool is not actually providing you adequate support. It may be that the angle of the stool is wrong, and that you’re having to use the abdominal muscles in order to maintain an upright posture. I suppose the question I should ask is, what happens when you stop clenching those muscles? What does the rest of your body (especially your back) do?
Comment from Maria
Time: May 30, 2008, 5:43 pm
Hello,
My husband has graciously agreed to make a meditation stool for me. I thought I had saved a copy of your simple design (linked above), but I can’t find it on my hard drive, and the link above does not work. Would it be possible for you to make the plan available again?
Many thanks, and Namaste.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: May 30, 2008, 6:21 pm
Hi Maria,
Sorry about that — we’ve made a few changes to the site recently and the link got broken. It’s now fixed however.
In the end I found that particular stool to be a bit small for me, but I’m 6′ tall — it may be that it’s a good height for you.
I must add drafting a new stool plan to my ever-increasing list of things to do!
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
Comment from Maria
Time: May 30, 2008, 6:42 pm
Thank you for fixiing the link. I am over 5′10″, so we’ll take that into consideration when my husband makes the stool.
I am grateful.
Comment from Ross
Time: June 28, 2008, 1:55 pm
I am learning a martial art in which we start the class with a Buddhist meditation. It is this kneeling meditaion, however we use no support (no stool, cusions; nothing). Do you think this unwise? Also, I am unsure of the best way to have my feet (sitting directly on my heels, toes pointed backwards; the same but with toes curled under - can’t explain it any better; or heels either side of me). It is perhaps whatever is most comfortable for me, but I would appreciate some insight from you. Thank you.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: June 28, 2008, 8:00 pm
Hi Ross,
Martial arts are rather outside my field of expertise, but according to this Aikido site one way to sit is with the toes straight back (not curled under) and the big toes crossed. But it appears that traditions vary, so this is really a question for your sensei.
As for whether it’s a good idea to sit this way, I can imagine it could be very uncomfortable to do this for long periods (and even for short periods when you’re not used to it) but it shouldn’t be harmful, especially if you build up gradually. You can expect your knees and the tops of your feet to hurt, and possible the ankles as well, until they get used to the stretch. And your lower legs may well go to sleep. I’d suggest you practice at home on a somewhat softer surface in order to get used to the pressure.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
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