Posture
In virtually all Buddhist meditations, you are required to take a specific posture. Put on some comfortable clothing and take off your shoes. Sit with your legs crossed, in lotus (legs crossed with each foot on the opposite thigh), or half lotus (one foot on the opposite thigh and the other foot folded on the floor) position if you can. Put the zafu underneath you and sit forward on it so that your knees are touching the ground, if possible. You can also put the cushion between your legs or sit on a special small bench and kneel with the majority of your weight resting on the cushion so your legs don't fall asleep. This is called sitting seiza. If you are flexible enough, you can also sit Burmese-style (both legs folded and flat on the floor with either the right or left foot forward), or seated in a chair with back straight and feet firmly on the floor. If your knees do not reach the floor you may want to place a towel or another cushion underneath to support them. Make sure you are in a quiet space with no distractions such as television, radio, or other people who are not practicing.
For thousands of years, yogis have perfected postures for supporting meditation. The ultimate of these is the lotus position. The lotus position is not readily attained, but if you are interested, sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front, slightly apart. Place your right foot on your left thigh with the sole facing up. Your right knee should now rest on the floor. Take your left foot and place it high on your right thigh with the sole facing up. Your left knee should now rest on the floor. This will be difficult at first and you should be careful not to strain yourself.
Keep your spine as straight as possible and the top of your head pointed toward the ceiling. Rest your hands in your lap, palms up, with one hand cradling the other. Touch your thumbs gently together. You can also rest your hands palms up or palms down on your thighs. Your lips touch lightly and your tongue can gently touch the roof of your mouth. Make sure you are not holding tension in your shoulders or anywhere else. Your eyes can be open or closed. If open, try to relax them and loosen their focus.
Set a time limit for your meditation and use a bell, timer, or incense to indicate when time is up. You can start with very short periods, such as ten minutes, building up to longer periods of sitting as you continue practicing.
When your timer goes off or your sitting time is over, be careful that you do not jump to stand up. Often your legs can go to sleep and if you stand up quickly you might fall over. Take your time, shake out your legs, and then stand slowly. You may want to bow to honor the practice you just completed.
It may help to do light stretching before getting into your meditation position. If you go to a practice center you will get further instructions.
