Information that can help you to be seated in a

beneficial position on a chair (6)

1 Chapter 1 describes how to practice simple yoga when you’re seated on a chair with your feet supported on the floor like when you’re standing. This chapter provides detailed information about being seated on a chair.

How you can be seated in a beneficial position on a chair as described in this text -applies the method of being seated cross-legged in a position that’s as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition -to being seated on a chair, not cross-legged.  To experience a beneficial position of your body when you're seated on a chair as described here, you need to be seated on the chair because you cannot sit cross-legged comfortably in your present physical condition or due to circumstances of your external environment.

Don’t expect that you can benefit from the physical position of sitting on a chair by maintaining the position still. This chapter does not describe how to benefit from the physical position of sitting on a chair by maintaining the position still.

A position seated on a chair is not sufficiently integrated that you can benefit from the position itself by maintaining the position still. A rudimentary seated position on a firm, flat support with your legs extended straight outward in front of your hips and a beneficial cross-legged position that’s as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition are the only positions that are described in this text that can be beneficial to maintain still as long as your breathing is free and your position is comfortable.

Some influences that might not interfere with the beneficial motion and rest of energy in your body when you’re moving can disrupt, block or spend the energy in your body while you remain seated still. Experiencing energy, effort, tiring and rest in the muscles that support your body upright while you remain seated still to benefit from the position of your body is described in Chapter 3.

Every position of simple yoga that’s as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition supports and improves your body thoroughly.

2 When you’re seated on a chair the natural condition of your weight supported by your backbone and muscular effort together is replaced by a condition of most of your weight supported by your backbone and less of your weight supported by muscular effort. You might feel like you’re supporting your backbone upright nearly effortlessly for a while but your backbone will become rigid and your position will become uncomfortable or numb.

The benefit of sitting on a chair is that your legs can rest from supporting all of your weight when you have only a short time to rest or when you cannot sit any other way at that time or place. You might be wearing clothing that’s too tight around your knees for you to be seated cross-legged. Any cloth pressed in the fold of your knees interferes with circulation.

3 Support your posterior (hips and the ends of your thighs at your hips) firmly directly beneath your hips and the ends of your thighs at your hips.  A concave (cup shaped) seat beneath your posterior, even a shallow cup shaped seat, presses the lowest level of your backbone forward harmfully and presses the ends of your thighs at your hips inward harmfully. You can place a low pile of folded natural fiber cloth on the support to raise the height of the support that will be directly beneath your hips and the ends of your thighs at your hips. Don't sit on the front edge of a chair because you might fall from the edge and suffer injury.

The support beneath your posterior and beneath your feet should be firm.  The seat beneath your posterior and the support beneath your feet should not contain even a thin layer of rubber, elastic or foam. Don't avoidably be seated on a chair that contains springs or sponge, nor avoidably support your feet on a rug or mat that contains even a thin elastic layer.

Natural fiber cloth condenses to become a firm and comfortable support. Folded natural fiber cloth such as an ordinary cotton bath towel is not springy or spongy like most synthetic fabrics and cushions. The importance of using natural fiber cloth to provide firm and comfortable support beneath your body is described in Chapter 3.

The support beneath your posterior should be high enough so that your posterior is elevated higher than your knees if possible.  If the support beneath your posterior is too low, you can raise the height of the support by placing a firm cushion or a low pile of folded natural fiber cloth on the surface of the chair. Don't support your posterior excessively higher than your knees.

Your hips should be level one side with the other, as well as the support beneath your posterior allows.  The support beneath your posterior should be level (horizontal) although you can support your body beneficially when the support beneath your posterior is not level. If the support beneath your posterior is far from level, your hips will be far from level one side with the other and your backbone will curve toward one side. You can make the support more level by adding some layers of folded natural fiber cloth onto the lower side of the support.

Don’t press any level of your backbone forward with a cushion between your backbone and the backrest of a chair, nor press the sides of your hips inward with cushions or folded cloth wedges beside them. The back of your body should be free from any pressure from the backrest of a chair or a cushion behind it, and the sides of your hips should be free from any pressure from the sides of a chair or cushions beside them.

4 To maintain a beneficial position of your body when you’re seated on a chair both of your feet should be supported on the floor like when you’re standing, if possible.

Your ankles should be located directly below your knees, your legs should be vertical between your knees and ankles. Your ankles can be located forward farther than your knees if that holds your legs more firmly. Your legs might be more stable when your knees are located a small distance farther apart than your feet, or when one foot is located a small distance farther from your body or pointed farther toward the side. The positions of your legs should be stable and comfortable.

The support beneath both of your legs and feet should be firm.  If your feet are supported on a rug or mat, the rug or mat should be composed of natural fibers and should be firm, not springy or spongy. The rug or mat beneath your feet should not contain even a thin elastic layer.

If your chair is so high that your feet cannot reach the floor you can stack enough layers of cardboard on the floor to raise the support high enough to support your feet firmly.

If your chair is so low that you cannot support your feet on the floor like when you’re standing, you need to support your posterior (hips) firmly -and also support the lower sides of the ends of your thighs at your knees firmly on the surface of the front of the chair, and support your feet and ankles firmly. When the positions of your shins cannot be vertical you need to support the lower sides of your ankles firmly and comfortably. Your ankles should not bend sideways, not even minutely, or the unnatural strain will cause your feet and ankles to become uncomfortable or numb. And in time the joints of your ankles will sprain.

Your knees should be located apart far enough to maintain a stable position. Your knees should be located apart far enough so that your position is held in place securely by the muscles at the sides of your body. If your knees are not located apart far enough when you’re seated on a chair your position won’t be held in place securely by the muscles at the sides of your body. Then the muscles that support your position upright will become tired relatively soon and you’ll tend to fall toward one side.

Your knees should not be too far apart. If your knees are too far apart then many of the muscles that support your position upright ordinarily won't support your position and the muscles that support your position will become tired relatively soon.

5 When you’re seated on a chair as described here your knees are supported firmly because your feet are supported directly beneath your knees on the floor like when you’re standing. All of the positions described in this text support your knees firmly.

Don’t sit cross-legged on a chair. Sitting cross-legged on a chair does not support your knees. The discomfort and harm of remaining seated cross-legged without supporting your knees is described in Chapter 5.

You won’t experience beneficial motion and rest of energy in your body if you sit cross-legged on a chair without supporting your shins as near as possible to your knees firmly.

6 Be seated on a chair that has a strong backrest to protect you if you fall backward accidentally. Don’t avoidably remain seated for a long time on a chair that does not have a strong backrest.

The backrest of a chair does not support any of your weight when you lean on it. The backrest of a chair provides a firm surface behind your body that you can lean on, but your weight is still supported beneath your posterior and feet when you lean on a backrest. Less of the comparatively few muscles that exert effort to support your position upright when you’re seated on a chair, exert effort to support your position upright when you lean on a backrest. When you lean on a backrest the pressure between the vertebrae increases and any excessive curves there might be in your backbone worsen.

7 Supporting your arms on the arm rests of a chair does not help to stand your backbone upright, although supporting your arms on the arm rests of a chair can help to support some of the weight of your shoulders and arms while you’re leaning on the backrest of a chair. Supporting your arms on the arm rests of a chair causes any excessive curves there might be in your backbone to worsen, and the excessive pressure between the vertebrae caused by sitting on a chair increases when you support your arms on the arm rest of the chair.

8 Don’t remain seated still -leaning backward when you’re not leaning on a backrest because that will cause excessive tensions in your abdomen and chest. Remaining seated still -leaning backward even slightly is harmful. The harmful effects of remaining seated still –leaning backward are described in Chapter 5 regarding Support part 7.

9 The benefit of leaning on the backrest of a chair is that your legs, hips and many of the muscles that support your body upright can rest while you lean on the backrest.

Leaning on a backrest for more than a short time causes tensions in the muscles that support your body and in your abdomen and chest.

You can prolong the duration of a session of remaining seated on a chair by leaning on a backrest for a short time -and then standing your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly again when you have rested enough.

Don’t lean on the backrest of a chair if you don’t need to lean on the backrest during a session of being seated on a chair.  It’s more beneficial to move or recline and rest completely if you can than to lean on the backrest of a chair.

10 When you lean on the backrest of a chair, lean your back a short distance below your shoulder blades on the backrest. Don’t lean a lower level of your back on the backrest.

Don’t lean a higher level of your back on a backrest than you need.

You can also lean your shoulders and the lowest vertebrae of your neck on the backrest. You need to lean your back a few inches below your shoulder blades on the backrest first, and continue leaning your back a few inches below your shoulder blades on the backrest while you lean your shoulders and the lowest vertebrae of your neck on the backrest.

Don’t lean your shoulders and the lowest vertebrae of your neck on a backrest, unless you lean your back a short distance below the level of your shoulder blades on the backrest at the same time.  If you lean your shoulders and the lowest vertebrae of your neck on a backrest when you’re not leaning your back a short distance below the level of your shoulder blades on the backrest at the same time, that will cause excessive pressure between the vertebrae in the inward curves of your backbone and will cause accumulating tensions in your abdomen and chest.

Lean backward on a backrest with the smallest pressure that you need.

After you have leaned the levels of your back on the backrest that you want to lean, stand the higher levels of your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly. Don’t lean your head on a backrest, not even for a short time, unless the backrest extends high enough and forward far enough so that you can lean your head on the backrest while you’re leaning the lower levels of your back on the backrest as described here.

Don’t lean on a backrest any longer than you need. Leaning on a backrest longer than you need will cause excessive pressure between your vertebrae and accumulating tensions in your abdomen and chest.

11 To reliably experience a beneficial position of your body when you’re seated on a chair, you need to stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward far enough to press the ends of your thighs at your knees downward, whether spontaneously or by thinking about it and then standing your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly.

You cannot stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly at the same time that you’re leaning on the backrest of a chair.  Leaning on the backrest of a chair props the back of your body on the backrest like a board of wood leaned against a wall, even though your position might be curved or leaned forward slightly.

You can experience a beneficial position of your body for a relatively short time when you’re seated on a chair, because the muscles that support your body upright become tired, stiff or dormant soon when you’re seated on a chair, then the position of your body won’t be beneficial any longer while you’re seated on the chair.

12 You can verify that the position of your backbone is beneficial by adjusting the angle that you curve or lean forward to ensure that the inhalations of your breathing can be effortless. You can verify that your upright position is beneficial by exerting muscular effort to exhale and inhaling effortlessly. As long as you can exert muscular effort to exhale and inhale effortlessly, the upright position of your body is beneficial. When you cannot exert muscular effort to exhale and inhale effortlessly, then you should move to make your position comfortable or rest from being seated upright if you can. How to verify that the position of your backbone is beneficial is described in Chapter 1 and described in detail in Chapter 8.

You can maintain a beneficial position seated on a chair even when you can maintain your position comfortably for only a few cycles of inhaling and exhaling your breathing. You don't need to remain seated still for a long time to experience the benefits of simple yoga. Even a moment of experiencing the best position of your body that you can is beneficial.

Maintaining a beneficial position seated on a chair is a way that you can improve your comfort, energy and awareness during many ordinary experiences.

Back to the Top
Kneeling (7)