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hour and half, during which time you will be engaged in a task, such as cleaning the practice
space. 
When sitting a retreat, the forms are a little different in regard to changing posture.
Students who sit for half an hour once a week or once a day, or who might sit two or three rounds
at home or at Dainen-ji are told that they should not change posture while they are sitting. This is
because if we are continuously changing posture, we do not allow the bodymind a chance to
practice the posture. When sitting a retreat, however, if you find that your legs are becoming very
sore you can change posture once during each sitting round and this should be done within the
context of the forms. For example, if you normally sit cross-legged and halfway through a sitting
round find that your knees are becoming so painful that the pain is consuming all of your
attention, making it difficult to practice, you can change your posture to sit in seiza (a kneeling
posture). 
The form for changing posture is as follows:
Bring your hands palm-up out to the upper thigh, pause, and then bring the hands to
gassho (palm-to-palm). 
Bow, straighten, and place your hands in the mudra again. 
Pause for a moment and then go directly to the posture you have chosen without any
unnecessary movement or fuss. 
The reason for applying these forms to a change of posture is that if you use them, you
will really think about whether it is necessary to change posture. If you do not use the forms, then
the tendency will be to fidget and move without particularly noticing that you are doing this – it
won’t stand out. So use the forms. 
If you find that you cannot sit cross-legged or in seiza, you may use a stool or a chair if
you wish. Students often do and there is no problem with sitting that way. What is important is
that in whatever way you sit, you are practising the posture and are clear about what to do while
sitting. 
Student: Is it possible to sit a shorter retreat?
Jinmyo osho: You can sit a full one-day retreat, meaning that you would begin at 6:00 a.m. and
would end at 9:10 p.m. Or you can sit a partial retreat, which might begin at 6:00 and end at 6:00
p.m., or begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 6:00. You could also make arrangements to sit a “modified
retreat” if, for instance, due to ill health you would need to take a rest period during the day. But I
would recommend that you sit for a full day if at all possible as this is much more beneficial.
Better yet, sit a two-day retreat or a four-day retreat. 
Again, we only ever sit in half-hour rounds. If you consider how much time you actually
spend practising during a half-hour round, you will find that there are really just moments in
which you are applying yourself. A retreat provides you with the opportunity to exert yourself
more fully in your practice. 
Student: I would like to sit a retreat, but don’t feel familiar enough with the forms to do them
with confidence
Jinmyo osho: This is actually one of the reasons for sitting a retreat. Being able to sit for a longer
period of time gives us more time to practice the forms. It takes years to learn to not only learn
the basic structure of the forms but to learn how to feel into them, so no one is expecting you to
‘know’ them. Instruction in the forms is provided as needed and there are descriptions of the
forms used throughout the day in the Retreat Handbook. You do not need to be able to do the
forms perfectly. Just do your best and learn from the experience.