However some people have serious back problems — either short- or long-term — and even sitting in a chair isn’t an option. I’ve been in that situation myself because of back pain that surfaces from time to time. By serious problems I mean intense nagging pain that affects your life not just when you’re trying to meditate. If it only affects you when you’re trying to meditate then you probably just need to adjust your posture.
We can learn to work with pain in meditation, but sometimes the pain is overwhelmingly powerful and dominates the mind entirely. And pain is also sometimes a sign that we’re causing damage to the body. So there can be very good reasons for meditating in a supine position.
There are two ways to lie down to meditate: on your back, or (the more traditional method) on your side.
If you are one of those people with serious back problems then you might well want to try lying down to meditate. You’ll need to have your head resting on something firm and yet padded. A thin cushion on a book can work well, as can a firm foam block. A book without padding will work for short meditations but over longer periods the back of your head will start to hurt. Even if you’re on a carpeted surface you might want to have a folded blanket or some other form of padding between your body and the floor.
The best position for lying down to meditate is the Alexander Semi-Supine position (illustrated above), where your knees are bent and pointing to the ceiling. The feet should be flat on the floor and should be roughly where your knees would be if your legs were straight. If your legs tend to collapse outwards as you relax then you might want to try turning your heels outwards a little, keeping your toes in place.
As mentioned, you’re much more likely to fall asleep if you meditate lying down on your back. This danger becomes even more likely if you keep your focus in the belly while paying attention to the breath, so I’d advise you to pay attention to the breath in the upper chest, throat, head, or in the nostrils. This won’t guarantee that you’ll stay awake but it makes it less likely that you’ll fall asleep.
Oddly, very few people seem to try meditating lying on their side, even though images of the Buddha doing this are abundant. This may be because the Buddha passed away while meditating on his side, and then people see this posture they don’t think “that’s the Buddha meditating on his side” but “that’s the Buddha dying.” So the connection between this posture and meditation tends to get lost.
Actually the Parinirvana (death) statues and the meditation statues are different. In death, the Buddha’s hand is no longer supporting his head. In the image above you can see that the Buddha is clearly alive!
This is actually quite a comfortable posture to meditate in. I’ve used this when I’ve been sick, or when I’ve wanted to meditate at the end of the day and have felt physically exhausted. Here are some basic pointers:
In this position you’re far less likely to fall asleep compared to when you lie on your back, and it’s easier to maintain a sense of mental clarity.
Is this a posture you’re tried out? Have any advice? Please feel free to leave a comment below.
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I fit into this category of having chronic back pain that prevents me from sitting for very long at all. I try to meditate while laying down, and yes, I do fall asleep usually. I usually have my eyes closed while meditating. Could I try with my eyes open? I think that might make the difference, although I haven't tried it yet. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi Scott,
I'm sorry to hear about your back pain. In the past I've had to meditate lying down, and in fact several days into an intensive meditation retreat I'm still tempted.
Keeping your eyes open or half-open would undoubtedly make some difference and help you to stay awake. One thing that's perhaps even more important though is to keep your awareness in the upper body -- observing the breathing in the upper chest to head. Paying attention to the breathing any lower than this will tend to lull you into sleep. Oh, I see that's in the text of this page already, but it won't hurt to repeat it, I suppose.
One thing that's not mentioned above is that you can bring some more energy into the practice by using your imagination. For example you can imagine that you're breathing light in and out of the body.
Also, pay more attention to the in-breath. If you're counting the breaths, skip the stage of counting the out-breaths and instead could each in-breath, or say "in" as you breath in (without saying "out" as you breathe out).
If you find anything else to be helpful, please share it with us.
Thank you for posting your advice im new at meditating and will be starting tomorrow and ive been looking into diffrent ways to meditate ill use your techniques. ill also be checking back in for anything new.
I haven't got chronic back pain but I'm new to meditation and thought the idea of meditating sitting upright made total sense.
The trouble is that after about 5 minutes (and after having followed all of your posture advice, hands supported etc) I get pins and needles on my upper back and feel an urge to stretch my neck and shoulders.
Why would that be? I try to be as straight and relaxed as possible.
It really interferes with the meditation.
I've tried to lie down in the Alexander semi supine posture, but that posture is so relaxing that I feel drowsy.
I've looked into the Alexander technique as I must be doing something wrong with my posture, although I do a lot of yoga and have an "ok" general posture (I think, but an Alexander technique teacher might think otherwise).
Unfortunately the sessions are quite expensive and I believe you have to take several for it to have any benefit.
Is there anything else you suggest in the meantime?
Hi, Celine.
This is the first time I've heard of pins and needles in the upper back. The sensation of pins and needles is caused by sustained pressure on a nerve, but I don't know enough anatomy to know which nerve might be affected here.
My question would be, what are you doing with your hands? At what level are they supported, and what are they supported by? I find a lot of people need to have support for their hands above the level of the navel, otherwise the weight of the arms causes problems in the upper back -- although these problems generally involve pain rather than pins and needles.
Thank you very much for your answer. Yes I tried putting a cushion on my lap to support my hands, and they were above the navel (that's sitting upright on a chair by the way), but I still got that problem.
I most definately must be putting pressure on a nerve in my neck, hence the pins and needles.
For years I had a tendency to put my head forward too much, and even though I do yoga, it's still not perfect.
I probably will have to see a professional (like an osteopath or an Alexander technique teacher) so that they can tell me exactly what it is I am doing wrong.
In the meantime I will have to try meditation lying down but focus on the breathing in the chest rather than the belly like you suggested.
I can understand how that would help to feel less like falling asleep.
By the way I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on this website which is fantastic, and so is the french one (I am french), I recommended it to my sister (who only speaks french) and the translation has been done beautifully, especially the translation of the title "L'esprit indompté", what a perfect name for it!!
Merci!
There's a map on this page, just below the heading, "Neck and scapular pain without arm or finger pain can be caused by a pinched nerve," showing the areas affected by the pinching of various nerves in the neck. This might help you to identify which nerve is affected -- if it's pinching of the cervical nerves that's the problem.
This could be an early sign of trouble that could turn out to be serious, so I'd suggest talking to a health professional before turning to an osteopath or Alexander teacher. That's my preference anyway -- get the x-rays and other tests, and then use other methods as supplementary treatment. Your preferences may vary!
Thanks for your kind comments on the French site. The translations were done by various people (none of whom were me), but I'm pleased you like the name of the site, since I'm the one who came up with it!
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
i meditate lying down to help me fall asleep better than any sleeping tablets i do this especially if i am worried .love this site best one on internet
Good evening.
I am new to mediation and have a lot of questions! I realize I can't ask them all here, so I will just ask one.
I am currently meditating specifically to cope with my back and neck pain, neither of which bothers me when lying flat, but both instantly become problems whilst I am sitting upright. Should I sit upright and bring the pain on? How can I 'make friends' with the pain when it isn't there when I'm lying. I can't focus on something which is not there.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Paul (London).
Hi Paul,
I don't think it's either necessary or advisable to "bring the pain on" in order to work with it. If lying down to meditate works for you, then keep on doing that. On the other hand, if you want to try meditating in a seated position because you think your meditation might be clearer and more focused, you could try it for very short periods of time. The difference is the motivation. My view would be that deliberately setting yourself up to experience pain's not such a good idea, while accepting pain as a consequence of sitting upright is fine. But I'll ask Vidyamala, who recently wrote a book on pain and mindfulness ("Living Well With Pain and Illness") to see what she says. She may have a different view from me.