Meditation is a process that demands great concentration. In order to ease the process it is advisable that a person follows certain set standards of practice. It is also essential that the body is kept in a situation of optimum comfort so that the mind does not distract towards the element of physical discomfort existent somewhere in the body. The practice should also be such that it has a static quality to it. This means that the sessions should not be undertaken in a hurry and enough effort should go into the planning before actual execution finally happens. This has been covered in ‘Physical self in meditation’ and ‘Preparation for meditation’. But no matter how much a person plans there is always on course correction involved. While meditating certain discomforts and wrongdoings will definitely emerge, because only when something is attempted all its implications make their emergence. Therefore changes will always be desired after a few practice sessions and discoveries during those sessions. Some basic and common mistakes that the people often make are hereby covered so that an overview of them to the beginner can save him the trouble of trial and error.

Origin of Discomforts in the Back:

This is perhaps the most important reason for discomfort in today’s world. Most of the people suffer from some sort of disorder of the back. Since during meditation a person has to sit still in the same posture for longer durations of time it is necessary to give the back adequate support and not cause any distress to it. It is also seen that most of the people keep following the same posture without realizing that it is causing them any discomfort. This situation has aggravated so much because there is quite a lot of ignorance about correct postures even for walking, sitting and other normal activities, leave alone meditation. While meditating in any position care should be taken that the nose and the navel are in a straight vertical line.

While sitting on a chair additional burden of choosing the right chair crops up, so it is important to follow certain basics. It is mandatory to choose a chair that is neither too high backed and nor too low backed. Because if the chair is too high backed the person droops into a position where the back becomes hollow and if the chair is too low backed the person develops a posture with a bulging back. Both positions cause sufficient discomposure to cause enough disruption in the process of meditation.

Origin of Discomforts in the Position of the Head:

Head should be properly aligned with the nose and the navel in one vertical line. The ears should be parallel to the shoulders. The neck must be kept straight. The head should neither be hung backwards too much nor should it be stopped forward too much. This is important because the position of the head affects the thought process and can really play havoc with the thought process. When the head is hung down it can cause boredom and bring about drowsiness during long session of meditation. If the head is pulled backwards then the thought process gets charged up with tremendous flow of thoughts and it becomes difficult to control them for the process of meditation to successfully complete.

Origin of Discomforts in Learnt Sitting Positions:

The natural position while sitting is that the head should be in line with the neck and back. There should be no pressure on the shoulders and they should be kept in their natural stature. The people in the defence services and security related professions are taught to walk or sit in a posture that is so completely unnatural. They walk or sit with their head and shoulders up and back absolutely ram rod straight. There is no doubt that this posture is very indicative of smartness and alertness and is also very aesthetically appealing. But it should be remembered that it is not natural. It is a learnt behaviour where the person is taught to carry the weight of his body on the basis of his strength. If this same posture is followed during meditation it causes considerable harm because in this position the body is carrying too much stress and it becomes difficult to concentrate the thought process.

Origin of Discomforts because of Position of the Hands:

Hands should be sufficiently rested on any position that is compatible to the control of the thought process. If the hands are not kept in a rested position the shoulders bear all the weight and additional burden comes on them while meditating. It can be argued that the hands are normally also in the hanging position as compared to the shoulders. But in the mediation process the goal is to relax so it is necessary to keep the hands rested.

Struggling Against Your Own Posture:

It is important to understand one thing, which is at any point in time during meditation the person should not be struggling with his own postural difficulties. This will considerably enhance the effort involved in calming the mind. The process of meditation is such that the vital goal is to make the mind become completely oblivious to the body. If the mind is constantly distracted by any physical discomfort, attainment of this goal becomes difficult.

To ease out the process of meditation it is important to keep the body in a state where the mind and the body are not working against each other.

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