Vajra means thunderbolt, or diamond. The posture is a kneeling seat: shins folded under, sitting back onto the heels, spine upright, hands resting on the thighs. It is the third of the three postures on the school’s video channel, and by some distance the easiest to fit into an ordinary day.
The exception to the rule
The standing rule in hatha yoga is two hours between eating and practising. Vajrasana is traditionally exempt, and is in fact recommended after a meal, held for a few minutes while digestion begins.
This is not a loophole to be clever about. It applies to Vajrasana sat quietly, not to Vajrasana as a gateway into a sequence of back bends.
How to sit
- Kneel with the shins parallel and the tops of the feet flat on the floor.
- Let the big toes touch behind you, heels apart, and sit back between or onto the heels.
- Stack the spine upright. The weight should travel down through the pelvis, not slump into the lower back.
- Hands on the thighs, shoulders released, chin level.
- Breathe evenly. That is the entire posture.
When the knees or ankles complain
They will, at first, for most adults who have not knelt regularly since childhood. Two fixes, both legitimate:
- A folded blanket between the heels and the seat, which takes the knee flexion down to something manageable.
- A rolled towel under the ankles, if the front of the ankle is what is objecting rather than the knee.
Build the time up gradually. A minute that is comfortable is worth more than five that you spend counting. If you have a knee injury or have had knee surgery, ask a teacher and a doctor before making a habit of it.
What it is for
Traditionally, digestion. It is the posture prescribed after eating and associated with the abdominal organs, and it is also one of the standard seats for pranayama and meditation, because it holds the spine upright with very little effort once the ankles allow it.
The practical case is simpler. Almost nobody sits well. Vajrasana is a few minutes a day in which the spine is stacked properly and the breath is unobstructed, and it can be done in work clothes on a carpet without anybody thinking anything of it.
A note on health. The digestive benefits described here are traditional and are not medical claims. Nothing on this page replaces advice from a doctor.
Using it as a seat
Once you can hold Vajrasana comfortably for five minutes, it becomes the doorway to the rest of the practice: pranayama, and the meditation that the school treats as inseparable from the physical work. Both are taught from the first month in Classical Hatha Yoga.
If you are working around a knee or an ankle, the custom class builds the seat around your history instead of asking you to fit the posture.