Course XIX - Teaching 9: Seated (Vegetative) Posture

Most likely, our ordinary seated posture is a legacy from the ancient Egyptians, who exalted and perfected it to the utmost. The cultural level of a people, or of an individual, is proportional to his concern for perfecting little daily habits. This constant and healthy concern dispels tedium from the soul, and affirms a continuous trend toward spiritual elevation within.
To sit down correctly is an art, and quite seldom we can find around a good example of this posture. We shall see rather seated postures that, for a critical eye, reveal how much they hinder any inner craving for progress, when they do not become seriously harmful for health by repeating them stubbornly. On the contrary, the Son must reveal through this posture an example of absolute control, serenity and composure. So, he can teach the souls not uttering a word.
This posture, like all the rest, starts as soon as one assumes it. So, you should stand with your legs in light contact with the front edge of the chair, and incline the trunk forward just through the upper joint of the muscle; that is, you should not bend the spinal column in any sense, but on the contrary, you has to keep it naturally upright, and to bend your knees simultaneously. You should not lose the control of your balance at any moment, until your body is leaned on the chair; just then, the spinal column assumes the respective position.
It should be added that, though the act of sitting down must be performed in a serene, controlled and paused way, when you stand up –whose description is unnecessary because becomes exactly the inverse of being seated down– you must do this with vigor, by reflecting the ever-young disposition of the soul. You get the vegetative seated posture by distributing evenly the weigh of the upper area of the body over your buttocks, but keeping the latter in proper contact with the chair. In certain way, this impedes the use of the chair back, which is not a disadvantage, because you shall find soon that the backs of chairs and easy chairs are the main responsible for bad postures. You should keep your knees somewhat apart, but never more than twenty centimeters; so you can get a better plane of support on the chair. You should lean your legs vertical on your feet, which must remain parallel, apart, and in contact (by the whole sole of the foot) with the ground. Later you shall find the most natural and relaxed form to place legs and feet, which coincides with our description. The lower area of the spine must be almost in contact with the lower area of the chair, and from there your spinal column raises upright, and looks for a position that can be kept with the least efforts possible. Generally, you find this position by inclining your spine, entirely and naturally upright, somewhat forward.
Of course, the chair back cannot be used in this position, but those who refuse to do without it in certain occasions can lean on the chair back by contacting with the latter the area of the shoulder-blades, that is, they must lean the trunk on the chair back, avoid the common tendency to curve it, and remain naturally upright. The head rests freely on the neck, or in poetic words of the ancient masters, “the head is held by your neck, like the corolla of a lily by its stem”.
This posture should be often practiced, and in daily life there are a lot of places for it; for instance, transportation vehicles, theaters, waiting-rooms, working places, home, et cetera.