Does folding your hands in a prayer position cause the body to align in correct posture?

Asked by LostInParadise (32216

) February 4th, 2016

I am not a religious person, but I have found that, if I am feeling stressed, folding my hands in a prayer position is relaxing.

Please indulge me for a moment. From a standing position, gently bring your hands into a position of prayer, allowing the rest of your body to adjust in a natural manner. I find that if I do this, my knees bend slightly, I bend ever so slightly at the waist, the base of my spine comes forward and my shoulder and neck move backward, making what I believe is considered a position of good posture.

Do you get the same results? I have no conclusions to draw, but I find this kind of interesting.

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4 Answers

Namasté.

I’m assuming you mean the traditional “praying hands” position, because the church I grew up in prayer usually meant half the people were jumping around like lunatics, half were laying prostrate on the ground, and someone was doing back flips down the aisle.

Seek (34808

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Yeah, it does. All of those little postural adjustments compensate for the extra forward weight of your arms and hands.

It’s considered axiomatic in meditative traditions that this gesture sets up an overall attitude of harmony, partially because of the alignment you’ve discovered, and also because it brings together the two sides in an encircling embrace. Posture elicits attitude just as attitude elicits posture.

thorninmud (20495

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In yoga, that is putting your hands together in the heart center. It is a very centering pose.

marinelife (62485

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I find having my hands in a traditional position of prayer distracting because of the obvious stress it places on the flexor tendons in my wrist.

No, I do not suffer from carpel tunnel syndrome or any distress of my flexor tendons. I just find it more naturally relaxing to have a fist-butt over my heart.

ibstubro (18804

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