Meditative asanas aim at the mental well being of a person. Yoga stands for "union" and aims at the realisation of the unity of one`s whole being. A person aiming at achieving a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility must practice these poses. Thus this form of Yoga asana is hailed as one of the many ways to attain spirituality. Meditative asana or poses establish in the body such physiological conditions that the mind ceases to be disturbed by any stimuli received from the body. In fact the body stops entering into consciousness altogether. All this becomes possible only if the Meditative asanas are practiced continuously for a period of at least six months. At times a particular meditative asanas might require one or two hours of practice without any break. If this is done regularly, appreciable results will follow in six months and the mind will be left to itself without any interference from the body. Meditative asanas also help in balancing and harmonising the basic structure of the human mind, which is why they have a range of therapeutic uses too.

Meditative Yoga asanas involve mental actions like Padmasana, Siddhasana and Sukhasana. While performing Meditative asana, it is best to keep in mind the five essential principles of bending the body, retaining the posture depending upon individual capacity, control of breathing (exhaling, inhaling, retention after both inhaling and exhaling), attentiveness of the part of the body being stretched and awareness regarding concentration centres, since Meditative asanas are strictly meant for meditative purposes. Meditative asanas imply sitting postures, which sustain the body in a balanced and comfortable status. By various alignments of the legs and hands, various meditative asanas can be acted out. The typical feature of meditative asanas is to keep the head, neck and trunk perfectly erect.

Meditation is a state of concentration of mind leading to higher states of awareness resulting into sharp perceptions. This process is initiated by the Meditative Asanas. To achieve this state one needs to still the mind, control the thoughts and balance the emotions. The process of meditation takes long preparations, one need to be comfortable for longer time duration. So the meditative postures should help the practitioner balance his/her body and mind. These asanas are cross-legged sitting postures which allow the person to sit upright and relaxed for a longer time. They provide a stable seat for meditation. The aim is to train the body so the person can sit a long time without moving any part of the body. This is important if the person is practicing meditation or Pranayama and wants to come to a deep concentration. The individual should select the posture that is most comfortable and start practicing it for 15 minutes. He or she can increase the time span gradually.

There are five Meditative asanas, namely Padmasana or lotus, Swastikasana or locked-ankles pose, Siddhasana or adept`s pose, Sukhasana or easy pose and Vajrasana for people who cannot sit cross-legged. All the Hatha Yoga experts recommend Padmasana (Lotus pose), Swastikasana (Auspicious pose), Siddhasana (Perfect pose), Bhadrasana (Gracious pose) and Simhasana (Lions pose) as meditative positions. They are considered the best Asanas and the remaining yoga postures are to prepare the body and mind to sit in these positions for longer duration, around 3 hours.

The above mentioned Meditative asanas offer a firm triangular base to the spine. The spine is kept erect and all the body parts are relaxed. Hands in Dhyan Mudra or Chin mudra rests on knees comfortably; Dhyana or Chin mudra helps the mind to become relaxed and thus concentration is easily attained. In the Meditative asanas, all the physiological activities go on normally. Physiology says that these postures create proper balance posture for digestive organs, heart and lungs. These vital organs work at best possible level; result in increased efficiency and reduce stress. To maintain the balance in these yoga asanas, brain and other parts (hypothalamus, pyramidal tract, extra pyramidal tracts, cochlea, neuro-muscular junctions) have to work the least. Gravity and anti gravity muscles need not work hard to uphold the pose as the firm triangular base provided by crossed legs reduces the work. Closing the eyes is also possible without loosing the balance. In Meditative asanas, abdominal muscles, diaphragm and muscles in the chest are stressed to the minimum level. Production of carbon dioxide is curtailed so that process of breathing is minimized and non-stop movement of diaphragm and ribs do not disturb the condition.

Meditative asanas are such that the brain and nervous system experiences minimal stress, so that mind is peaceful and relaxed. However, the mind remains alert but relaxed. Only the lying down position is more relaxed than the meditative positions, but there is a possibility of falling asleep in horizontal positions in meditative asanas. The pelvic region gets the affluent supply of blood; thus resulting in toning up of sacral and coccygeal nerves. Probably, awakening of Kundalini, which is located in pelvic region, is affected because of these physiological conditions offered by meditative positions. While practicing these asanas, the blood from the legs can easily arrive at heart, reducing the efforts of heart and lungs. Yoga psycho-physiology says that erect spine position of such yoga asanas offer least resistance to the Pranic energy that travels up to the brain, which is awakened through the meditation.

It is always recommended that the beginner should start practicing the meditative asanas with basic crossed legs position for few minutes and then carefully learn the advance positions of these asanas like padmasana, siddahasana, swastikasana and so on. There is always a danger of damaging the knees if the person is over stressed while practicing these. The meditative asanas offer absolute peace of mind and relaxation throughout the body if done regularly.

However it must be remembered that all the physiological advantage will not help a spiritual culturist in a substantial degree in concentrating his mind, if he or she does not scrupulously and zealously take to the observance of Yama and Niyama. Meditative poses will, indeed, free the mind from physical disturbances, but its wandering propensities will never stop and it can never be brought to a point unless it becomes free from emotions mild or intense. So in the case of spiritual culturists, the practice of Yamas and Niyamas on the largest possible scale is an absolute necessity. Besides this, a person practicing meditative poses should find a place for practicing the asanas in a place where he can concentrate properly. Hence it is desirable that he or she chooses a thoroughly ventilated room which is free from mosquitoes etc. and where he would be left to himself. As far as the seat is concerned, the traditional arrangement of seating is excellent. A carpet of Kusa grass, with a well tanned deer-hide spread on it, the hide in its turn being covered with a daily washed piece of thick khaddar, makes a very comfortable seat. The pleasures of such a seat are especially useful for those who seek salvation through Yoga.