In this day and age of busyness and almost frenetic efficiency, people find themselves spending a lot of time sitting. This is not, however, the yogic sitting that empowers us to build our resilience and develop discipline in our practice. Nor is it the powerful sitting that enables us to be with our feelings and experiences in order to release them. The sitting that we do in daily life is neither physically nor spiritually restful.

From a physical point of view, how people sit during the day impedes the body from developing a balanced and resilient posture. This makes a seated meditation asana more uncomfortable and less sustainable. Our meditation is therefore less powerful in bringing us into the moment and out of time.

Sitting at a desk, driving a car, watching TV—these forward flexion positions put a strain on the muscles supporting our spine, and freeze up our hips throughout the day. Maintaining what should be a neutral and natural upright position consequently becomes tiring and painful during our yoga practice. 

In order to deepen our seated meditation practice and re-align our physical bodies, thereby creating open channels for spiritual alignment, our asana practice can strengthen our spines and increase the flexibility of our hips. This will make our seated meditation practice more physically sustainable and spiritually empowering. 

From a more spiritual perspective, intentional sitting is a gift to ourselves. By taking the time to sit with our feelings, to acknowledge them, we realize that all they really want is to be felt so that they can move on. 

When we sit 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, when we set our feelings aside to deal with later, they eventually manifest as health issues. But when we truly 𝐒𝐈𝐓, and receive our feelings as the Earth receives the rain, they bless us with their transformative powers before flowing to the Ocean.

𝑺𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒎.

Below are some recommended practices to help you cultivate the power to sit with intention:

https://www.innerdimensiontv.com/classes/setting-intentions-before-your-day/

https://www.innerdimensiontv.com/classes/answer-the-call/

https://www.innerdimensiontv.com/classes/spinal-mobility-flow/

https://www.innerdimensiontv.com/classes/gentle-meditation/

By Jenny