One of my meditation challenges is that my lower back hurts. Apparently that is a common discomfort for the practice. And the cause is because my posture is off. For one, “the knees should be lower than the hips, allowing the lower back to balance without strain.”
You see, when I sat cross-legged on a yoga mat, my knees fly up like a pair of bat wings, higher than my hips for sure. In part, my hips are tight from running. As result, my body tends to slump after a while which causes my pelvis to roll backwards and tuck under.
Bad, bad, posture, particularly, for long meditation. And the problem gets worse when I overcompensate by trying to force my lower back forward. Strain maximum. Is it any wonder that my lower back hurts?
So what am I going to do? Well, eventually I will find my comfortable posture once my spinal muscles are strengthened. In the mean time, I will alternate my sitting meditation either on a chair or a cushion as long as my knees are kept lower than my hips.
Do you have lower back pain?
Running with Buddha 