I'm here today to show you some ways that you can sit more comfortably for your meditation.

今天要為大家示範幾種 讓靜坐冥想更為舒適的方式

When you're not comfortable, sitting in meditation,

靜坐時如果覺得不舒服

it's a lot harder to relax and bring your mind inward.

就很難放鬆身心進入內在體驗

So our goal today is to show you some ways that you can have your spine upright and

今天的目的就是要示範幾個 能保持脊椎直立

yet the body be so relaxed and comfortable that you can just forget all about it.

並且能舒服地放鬆身體的方法

We'll look at three basic ways of sitting comfortably.

我們會示範三種 基本且舒適的坐姿

Our first position is sitting cross-legged on the floor.

坐姿一 就地盤坐

This is my friend Phouvang

第一個坐姿是就地盤坐

and you can see that when Phouvang sits on the floor unaided

她是我的朋友普昂

her back begins to sag at the bottom of the hips and goes all the way up through the top.

你可以看到當普昂坐在地上 沒有任何支撐時

Her pelvis is tilted backwards.

她的背從臀部的地方開始 彎曲並往上延伸

So what we're going to do to solve that is give her some height under her hips.

她的骨盆向後傾斜

This tips the pelvis forward and makes it very easy to hold the spine upright.

我們的解決方式就是 在臀部的地方幫她墊高

Phouvang has her hands palms upright, close to the trunk of the body. This also helps to elongate her spine.

這樣骨盆就會往前 使得脊椎可以輕鬆地保持直立

Sitting cross-legged on the floor is a wonderful pose for feeling very stable and grounded in your meditation

普昂的手心向上靠近身軀平放 也有助於脊椎的直立

The disadvantage is that many people find their knees begin to hurt or their hips begin to hurt.

就地盤坐是一個很穩定 有助於冥想落實的姿勢

So we're going to show you now a second way of sitting on the floor.

缺點是很多人覺得 膝蓋或臀部會不舒服

The second way of sitting on the floor is on a kneeling bench.

所以我們要介紹 第二種在地上的坐姿

the kneeling bench offers the advantage of the stability of the floor and

坐姿二 使用跪坐椅

the tip to the pelvis that helps to make holding the back upright very easy.

第二種方式就是坐在跪坐椅上

One disadvantage that people sometimes find is that it's hard on

跪坐椅提供坐地的穩定性

The ankles — having the ankles flat on the floor.

且可提高骨盆幫助背部直立

So I'd like to show you a way that you can offer some support to the ankles.

有個缺點就是 有些人會覺得腳踝不太舒服

Put a rolled-up towel underneath the ankles to offer support.

因為要將腳踝平放在地上

One other thing that's helpful for a person on a kneeling bench is for them to have a

所以接下來要示範 如何支撐你的腳踝

blanket or pillow on which to rest their hands.

在腳踝下方 放置捲起的毛巾提供支撐

Having the blanket there as support for the hands helps to take pressure off the back and the shoulders.

另一個有助於使用跪坐椅的方法是

When Yogananda came to this country in the 1920s,

將手放在毯子或枕頭上

he realized that most Americans were not at all prepared to sit on the floor whether

如此可減輕背部及肩膀的壓力

cross-legged or a kneeling bench and so he highly recommended that people do their meditation in a chair,

尤迦南達在1920期間初抵美國時

and that's what we'll show you next.

他發現大多數的美國人 不習慣坐在地上

The third pose we're going to look at is sitting in a chair.

無論是雙腳交叉或跪坐都一樣 所以他鼓勵人們在椅子上靜坐

For many people that's all they need to do to feel perfectly comfortable.

這就是接下來要示範的方式

But I'm going to show you just a few other things you can do to help yourself feel a little bit more comfortable.

坐姿三 坐在椅子上

The first thing we'll do is we'll look at the thighs and the angle of the thighs and the floor.

第三種方式就是坐在椅子上

We want the thighs parallel to the floor. You can see that Phouvang's knees are a little lower than her hips.

這是很多人覺得最舒適的方法

This means that the chair is too tall for her, so in order to correct that I'm going to get some

接下來我要提示幾個 讓你坐得更舒服的要點

blankets and put them under her feet.

首先我們要注意的是大腿 及大腿和地面的角度

Having her thighs parallel to the floor as they are now,

大腿要與地面平行 現在她的膝蓋略低於臀部

actually relieves pressure in her low back.

表示這椅子對她來說太高 因此需要做些調整

The next thing we'll look at is adding a little bit of height

我要放一些毯子在她腳下

under her hips in order to give a little bit of the forward tilt to the pelvis as we looked at in the other poses.

現在她的大腿與地面平行

That forward tilt to the pelvis

得以舒解她下背的壓力

makes it a lot easier for her to hold her spine upright.

接下來要做的是 稍微墊高她的臀部

And then there's one more thing that I like to often add, I use it myself, is

使骨盆稍微前傾 如同前兩個坐姿一樣

adding pressure to the low part of the spine. The pressure at the base of the spine

骨盆向前傾

stops the pelvis from sagging backward and makes it very easy to hold the upper body upright.

能讓她輕鬆地保持脊椎直立

Then there's one final tip that's very fun.

此外我自己常用的一個方式

Sometimes people find that they have pain in their upper back or their shoulders and

就是在下背部增加一點壓力 支撐脊椎底部

it's almost a magical solution to give them some height underneath their palms.

可防止骨盆後彎 也能更便於維持上身直立

As you can see Phouvang has her palms resting upright in her lap close to the trunk, which is a good position,

最後也最有趣的一點

but just to take a little pressure off her shoulders and back. I'm going to put a blanket there.

有些人會覺得上背或肩膀疼痛

This is surprising in how much it allows the spine to relax.

其實只要墊高手掌 就能有效地獲得舒緩

So you have here many different types of props.

她現在手心向上放在近身的腿上 姿勢非常好

As you meditate more your spine will get stronger and your needs may change.

但如果再加上一條毯子 可以更減輕她肩背的負擔

So just experiment. Wherever you have discomfort, try some of these ideas and see if they can help you.

這對放鬆脊椎有驚人的助益

You'll find that when your body is comfortable and relaxed

現在你看到 許多不同部位的支撐

you'll enjoy your meditation much more.

越常靜坐你的脊椎會變越強 你的需求也許會改變

May your meditations bring you great joy.

請親身體驗