Muktasana

The Gheranda Samhita is unusually generous here: place one heel at the perineum and the other foot above it, and the pose is called Muktasana — the liberated pose — which gives perfection even to the ordinary practitioner. Mukta means released. The classical meaning is practical: this is the seat that asks the least and gives the most, the posture for those who cannot yet hold Siddhasana or Padmasana for an hour. The tradition insists the liberation comes not from the difficulty of the seat but from the stillness it allows. For pranayama and meditation, a modest seat held without pain surpasses a glorious one held with suffering.

1. Sit with the legs extended, then bend the left knee and draw the heel in to rest against the perineum.
2. Bend the right knee and place the right heel in front of or just above the left, both feet resting close to the body.
3. Sit on a folded blanket if the knees lift high; the spine should rise easily.
4. Rest the hands on the knees or in the lap, close the eyes, and settle the breath.
5. Sit for five to twenty minutes, alternating the front foot between sessions.

Muktasana is mechanically a gentle cross-legged seat — mild external rotation of the hips, one heel drawn in. Its virtue in research terms is sustainability: studies of posture and meditation consistently find that comfort and symmetry predict the length and quality of sittings better than any specific geometry. It is an excellent entry seat for practitioners whose hips are not yet open enough for the classical meditation postures.