Breath and posture

In this lesson: how to sit in a chair or on the floor, how to breathe slowly without strain and a simple counting practice to begin with.

Two things make the biggest difference when you begin to meditate: how you sit and how you breathe. Neither needs to be fancy. A comfortable, upright position and an easy, unforced breath are all you need, and getting them right means you can sit for five minutes without fidgeting or feeling faint.

Posture

You do not need to sit on the floor in a lotus position. A chair is perfect. Sit towards the front edge so your back can be upright without leaning, feet flat on the floor, hands resting on your thighs. If you prefer the floor, sit on a firm cushion so your hips are higher than your knees. You can also lie down, though you may fall asleep, which is fine if sleep is what you need.

The idea is to be alert and relaxed at once. Imagine a thread drawing the crown of your head gently upwards, then let your shoulders drop.

Posture in the traditions

Historical The Yoga Sutras attributed to Patanjali, compiled around the early centuries CE, say very little about postures. One short line (2.46) defines posture as sthira sukham asanam, usually translated “posture should be steady and comfortable”. That is still the best rule. The elaborate yoga poses familiar today mostly developed much later, many of them in the twentieth century.

Historical Zen Buddhism describes seated meditation, zazen, in detail. The Japanese teacher Dōgen (1200 to 1253) wrote a short text, Fukanzazengi (“Universal Recommendations for Zazen”), which advises sitting upright, “not leaning to the left or right, forward or backward”, with ears in line with shoulders. Traditional postures include full lotus, half lotus, the Burmese position (both legs folded in front, not stacked), and kneeling seiza on a bench or cushion. In the Christian tradition, people prayed kneeling, standing or prostrate. In modern secular courses, sitting on a chair is completely standard.

A posture checklist, from the ground up

Start with your feet flat on the floor, about hip-width apart, if you sit on a chair. Let your knees be a little lower than your hips; a folded blanket on the seat can help. Sit toward the front of the chair so your back is not slumped against it, or use a cushion behind your lower back.

Let your spine rise naturally, imagining a thread lifting the top of your head. Relax your shoulders down and back. Rest your hands on your thighs or in your lap. Tuck your chin very slightly. Let your eyes close, or rest them softly on a point on the floor about a meter in front of you.

If you lie down, bend your knees with your feet flat to protect your lower back, and know that you may fall asleep, which is fine but not meditation. If you use a wheelchair, the same principles apply: a stable base, an upright but relaxed spine and soft shoulders.

Breath

Most of the time you do not need to change your breath at all. Simply notice it: the cool air at the nostrils, the rise of the belly, the small pause before the next breath. If you want to slow down, let the out-breath become a little longer than the in-breath, for example breathing in for a count of four and out for a count of six. Never force it.

The teacher Thich Nhat Hanh’s little book The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975) is full of simple breath practices like these, and Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Full Catastrophe Living describes the breath as an anchor you can always return to.

More breath practices

Historical Attention to breathing is ancient. The Buddhist Anapanasati Sutta, “Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing”, teaches the practitioner to know when a breath is long and when it is short, simply observing. Indian yoga developed pranayama, breath control, with many techniques. Christian hesychasts, monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church from about the fourteenth century, linked the Jesus Prayer with the rhythm of breathing.

Modern Today there are several simple breath patterns you can try. Counting breaths: count each out-breath from one to ten, then start again. Box breathing: breathe in for four counts, hold for four, out for four, hold for four. Longer out-breath: breathe in for four and out for six or eight.

A small 2023 study in Cell Reports Medicine by Melis Yilmaz Balban and colleagues found that five minutes a day of cyclic sighing, a double inhale through the nose followed by a long exhale through the mouth, improved mood more than mindfulness meditation in the same period. It was one study, but it supports what many people notice: lengthening the out-breath feels calming.

Caution: breathing very fast or very deeply can cause dizziness and tingling, signs of hyperventilation. If that happens, return to normal breathing. If you have asthma, a heart condition or are pregnant, avoid long breath holds.

An old description of a meditation seat

Historical Advice about where and how to sit is very old. Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita describes a meditator’s seat in some detail. In Sir Edwin Arnold’s translation of 1885, it asks for “a fair, still spot”, a seat “not too much raised, Nor yet too low”, and a body held steady: “holding immovable Body and neck and head”.

What strikes me is how practical this is. A quiet place, a seat at a comfortable height, and a body that is upright without strain. That is still the core of posture advice today. The same chapter also warns against extremes, saying that practice is not for one “who too much fasts Or too much feasts”. Moderation is part of the method.

Sitting with discomfort

Some discomfort is normal when you sit still: an itch, a tight shoulder, a foot that starts to tingle. A useful approach is to notice the feeling for three slow breaths before you move. Often it changes or fades. If it does not, move mindfully: shift your weight, straighten a leg, then settle again. Moving is allowed.

Sharp pain, numbness that does not pass quickly, or dizziness are different. Stop, change position or lie down, and if the problem keeps coming back, talk to a doctor or physiotherapist. A chair is always a good choice. There is no prize for sitting on the floor.

Breath practice variations

Counting to ten. Count each out-breath from one to ten, then start again. If you lose count, and you will, simply begin again at one. This old practice is common in Zen teaching and gives the busy mind a small job.

Longer out-breath. Breathe in for a count of four and out for a count of six. Many people find a longer out-breath calming. If counting makes you tense, drop it and simply let the out-breath be a little slower.

Hand on belly. Rest one hand on your belly and feel it rise and fall. This is a good choice if you find the breath hard to locate, and a quiet way to practise lying down before sleep.

Questions beginners ask

Should I breathe through my nose or mouth? Usually the nose, which warms and filters air, but use your mouth if your nose is blocked.

What if focusing on breath makes me anxious? Some people find this. Focus instead on sounds, or on the feeling of your feet or hands.

Do I need a meditation cushion? No. A chair, a sofa, or a folded blanket is enough.

Myths to drop: You do not need to sit in lotus. Holding your breath is not more “advanced”. And there is no single correct way to breathe in meditation.

A worked example

Imagine you sit down, set a five-minute timer and start counting out-breaths: one, two, three. Somewhere around six you realise you are thinking about a conversation from yesterday. That moment of realising is the practice. You do not scold yourself. You go back to one. By the end of five minutes you may have reached ten only once, and that is completely normal.

Try this

On three different days, sit for five minutes and count out-breaths from one to ten, starting again whenever you lose count or reach ten. Write a line in your notebook after each session: what time of day it was, where you sat and how easy it felt.

Journal prompts: Which posture let me stay alert and comfortable? What did I notice about my natural breath? Which breath pattern calmed me most?

A beginner’s worry, answered. “Focusing on my breath makes me anxious.” This happens to some people. Try placing your attention on your hands, your feet on the floor or the sounds in the room instead. The breath is one anchor among many, not a requirement.

A worked posture check. Imagine someone sitting on a kitchen chair after work. Feet: flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Hips: slightly higher than the knees, so she slides a folded towel under her sit bones. Back: upright but not stiff, not leaning on the chair back. Hands: resting on her thighs. Shoulders: she lifts them towards her ears, then lets them drop. Chin: slightly tucked. Eyes: resting on a spot on the floor a metre away. The whole check takes thirty seconds, and then she starts counting breaths.

A variation for lying down. If sitting is painful, lie on your back with a pillow under your knees and your arms a little away from your sides. Lying down is a full posture, not a lesser one; simply notice if you get sleepy.

Recap

A chair is a perfectly good meditation seat: upright, feet on the floor, shoulders relaxed. Notice your breath rather than controlling it, and if you slow it, make the out-breath gently longer. Losing count and starting again is the practice itself. Stop if breath work makes you dizzy.

What next

You can use this breath at your altar before any ritual, and it is the first step of my grounding and centering practice. Next lesson: the body scan and grounding.

Further reading: Dōgen, Fukanzazengi, translated in many Zen collections and online by Sōtō Zen organizations. Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (North Point Press, 2009).

Sources

• Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living (Delacorte, 1990).
• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Meditation and Mindfulness: What You Need To Know (NCCIH, updated 2022).
• Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (Beacon Press, English edition 1976).

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