Occasionally I post 'mini-reviews' here in the forum of books that I like but don't necessarily want to devote an entire article to reviewing. Today's book is The Posture of Meditation: A Practical Manual for Meditators of All Traditions by Will Johnson.

This is a little book (just 100 pages) focusing on three components of any meditation posture - relaxation, alignment, and resilience. It connects each of these to states of mind, for example, exploring the parts of our body that tense when our mind is busy, and the ways correct alignment aids a natural relaxation. The premise is really that by working with these three aspects of the body, one will discover a natural state where all 3 are balanced, and in this state, the mind is also balanced. This is the entrance point into deeper states of meditation. The author also discusses phases of meditation, and how as new things surface during our meditations we can notice a corresponding reaction in our body, and work to release it there. He offers several exercises for working with these themes.

The book does not give detailed guidance on specific meditation postures from different traditions, i.e. lotus vs. zazen, etc., or guidance on meditation techniques. Instead, it is really focused on ways to discover these three components of relaxation, alignment and resilience in any meditation posture, and on how to use this in tandem with working with the mind. The book also does not put forth a particular spiritual perspective, although I would say it is more Buddhist in its perspective than any other tradition.

So for beginning meditators, this is really a book to be used alongside formal meditation instruction or another book on the meditation. But it is a book that I think anyone meditating within any tradition will find something to appreciate and use.


Lisa Erickson, Buddhism Editor
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