Sitting Meditation with Stateev

Overview of Sitting Meditation & Yoga Practice with Stateev as an Alternative to Lotus or Cross Legged Meditation Posture

We've all seen the photos of the Buddhist Monks and Hindu Yogis sitting in Full Lotus position with a perfectly straight spine.  Purportedly, experienced practitioners can sit on a cushion undisturbed in these positions for hours in a state of quiet meditation.  Lotus and Half-Lotus provides several advantages during meditation. 

The slightly forward attitude of the pelvis, combined with the position of the legs offers several things at once:

• Stability.  The triangulated position of the sit bones, feet, and knees provides a stable base.  This allows for deeper meditation, because you can withdraw your focus from your body and focus on quieting your mind.

• Alignment.  The slight forward rotation of the pelvis helps align the spine and promotes an erect posture.  This alignment promotes better posture even when you are not in a meditative posture.

• Energy Flow.  Your spinal/brain system can be likened to an antenna.  When correct posture and alignment is achieved and maintained, you can feel physical sensations of energy moving through your nervous system.

While attaining the necessary flexibility and strength to sit in Lotus is a worthy goal, for many it is a daunting task that requires months (if not years) of stretching practice with no guarantee of success.  In addition, injuries and other predispositions may render such an undertaking impractical (if not impossible).

Our experiences and search for knowledge have inspired the Stateev design as an alternative solution to those who take their meditation practices seriously, but don't foresee the ability to sit in Lotus position in their near future.

Stateev Benches can offer similar advantages to sitting in Lotus.

• Stability.  The bench is designed to be completely stable.  The forward 5 degrees of "Float" terminates on a stable platform.  Because of the geometry of the bench, it can't tip forward past the 5 degrees designed into the support legs.  By simply moving your sitting position farther forward or backward, you can have a completely stable horizontal seat position, a completely stable 5 degrees forward seat position, or a "floating" rocking position in between the two.  This allows you to very simply adjust your pelvic alignment to your own needs.

• Alignment.  The slight forward rotation of the pelvis helps align the spine and promotes an erect posture.  This alignment promotes better posture even when you are not in a meditative posture.  Since the bench has no back, you must physically hold up your body with your core strength.  The attitude and position of your spine, shoulders, arms, neck and skull all should be consciously maintained.  With time and practice, this will improve your core strength and overall posture.

• Energy Flow.  Your spinal/brain system can be likened to an antenna.  When correct posture and alignment is achieved and maintained, you can feel physical sensations of energy moving through your nervous system.

Sitting Practice Recommendations:

Always consult your physician before embarking on any type of physical exercise routine!

Stateev believe that less is more.  Start slowly.  Even 5 or 10 minutes at a sitting can be challenging if your body is unfamiliar with sitting with an unsupported erect spinal posture. 

Contrary to popular opinion, Pain does not equal Gain!  Pain is a signal from your body to stop doing what you're doing!  Listen to these signals!

5 or 10 minutes twice a day is a good place to start.  If you're more experienced and you are not experiencing discomfort, then longer sessions might be appropriate for you.

After several months of practice with the Stateev benches, our testers report that several daily sessions of between 20 and 40 minutes yield improved core strength, and improved stillness during meditation.