Sitting

Funny, I wanted a picture of this but alI could find is photographs of naked guys doing it, which didn't appeal to me today.

Wandering through oriental knickknack and spiritualish stores I kept seeing a very odd statuette mixed in amongst the Buddahs and elephants.  It was of a rather thin but muscular guy sitting cross-legged but curled in a ball with his head in his lap and his muscles straining.

I wondered for ages what the heck this thing was supposed to be, and why it was there, of all places, quite out-of-place with serene-faced buddahs, incence burners and dancing Goddesses.  One day I was picking things up (as I tend to do, love feeling things instead of just seeing or listening to them) and found one with a tag on the bottom.

"Meditation"

interesting    :)

I'd often felt like that while meditating but always thought you had to sit in some strange lotus position with your back ramrod straight in order to "do it properly".

Well, the lotus position is OK for peple who have sat like that since they were three, and seldom have backs on their chairs to lounge against.  But me?  Too western, and really the start of my 5th decade seems a poor choice of time to suddenly start twisting myself into pretzel shapes for half an hour at a stretch with an eye towards extending it for hours. 

Often it also"feels wrong", western easternism is probably a lot more mystical and less disciplined than eastern easternism (I laugh when I get peeks at what eastern westernism is like).  "Authentic" is really meaningless to me, this is all made for human beings and I happen to be one, so "you're doing it wrong" seems the statement of someone who doesn't trust themselves to do it right.  Some day I'll get around to giving my lecture on how "political corruption of spiritualism gives rise to religion" and you'll get the rest of that argument ad-naiseum.   =:-O

I have a couple successful meditation poses.

Originally I was sitting upon a chair with my hands on my legs, but that gets old for my shoulders and my back gets sore.  Putting your arms on the arms of an armchair, or on a desk is better, though I still get a sore back.

I sometimes sit cross-legged on the floor on a couple folded towels (blankets are too thick and a yoga mat is way too thin) and this is ok if I arrange my feet properly so they don't get sore.  Oddly this is easier on my back if I remember to sit forward a bit and it helps balance to put my wrists on my knees.

When I feel bad I curl around my meditation buddy on the bed.  It's a dolphin pillow my daughter was going to get rid of, nice sized and plushy to wrap my arms around and hold on tight.   :)
For 20min or a half hour this is actually the most comfortable position.  Haven't tried longer than that.

When I feel really really bad I sit cross-legged and curl over like the mysterious guy (only not naked, well, not yet anyway), it's a lot more comfortable than it looks, and your tears tend to go on your arms instead of your face so they don't itch.  Also good for "locking out" the world around you.

I have also tried laying down,  this is ok if you've got insomnia or something, it'll put you right out, and is an interesting way to taste your dreams before you actually drift off     :)

Have Fun   :)