The first step towards meditation is to choose the correct sitting posture. The most preferred position is to sit cross-legged with your back straight. However if you cannot, then you can choose to sit on a hard armchair with your spine upright and your feet at right angle to the ground. In case your feet are not lying flat on the floor try using cushions, books or blocks for the purpose so that you are firmly grounded. Sitting bolt upright on a hard chair is termed as the Egyptian position

. You can rest your hands on your lap , palms up with hands one upon the other . If you are sitting on a chair then you can rest your hands on the arms of the chair with palms down and the forearms comfortably supported.

You can even adopt the Buddhist  position to meditate where you place a cushion of about six inches high and a foot or so across underneath you and kneel up with your kneels apart and sit astride it. The knees and shins rest on the floor each side of the cushion with your feet pointing behind you. Sit with your back straight with hands on your lap and palms up. You can even join the tip of your thumb and forefinger and keep the rest of the three fingers loose.

Another alternative is the kneeling position where you sit down on you heels from simply kneeling and place your hands on your lap in any of the positions mentioned above.