Why sitting upright matters for focused attention
Posture plays a surprisingly important role in meditation. How you position your body directly influences how alert, stable, and engaged your brain can be during practice. While lying down is perfectly fine for relaxation, it often works against focused attention.
Why posture affects the mind
When you sit upright with a straight but relaxed spine, your nervous system receives subtle signals of wakefulness and readiness. This helps keep alpha levels from drifting too high, which would otherwise signal disengagement or drowsiness.
Lying down, on the other hand, encourages the brain to slide toward sleep. Alpha and even theta activity increase, making sustained attention much harder. That is why Attune recommends sitting for the Focus Protocol.
Two goals, two postures
In the Focus Protocol, you are training executive control over attention. This requires a balance of relaxation and alertness, which is best supported by an upright posture.
In the Relaxation Protocol, however, the goal is different. Here, increased alpha is rewarded and deeper letting go is encouraged. Lying down can be helpful because it allows the body to fully release tension.
How Attune fits in
Attune’s EEG feedback makes the effect of posture visible. If you lie down during a focus session, you will often hear more feedback because alpha rises. When you sit upright, it becomes easier to stay in the attentive state that Attune is training.
The Takeaway
Choose your posture based on your goal. Sit upright to train focus. Lie down to train relaxation. Your brain responds to the body more than you might think.
