Squatting

In many parts of Japan there are still two kinds of toilet, the Japanese style squatting toilet (和式) and the western style sitting toilet (洋式).  And in mainland China, squat toilet is much more common except in major cities.  Some of those in the West who like to experiment with Eastern natural-healing methods are now using toilet converter to convert their family sitting toilet into a squatting toilet!  For those (in East and West) who still like to enjoy a sitting toilet can still get the health benefits of squatting by putting one or two squatting stance in their training routine.

In "Golden Turtle" stance (金龜式), a practitioner squats with his back level to the ground.  One well known yoga master in Taiwan (madam Chen YuFen, author of an interesting book "positive yoga" (正位瑜珈), whose root is Iyengar) uses a Squat Down Pose, almost the same "Golden Turtle" stance, in her basic pose. Under madam Chen's system, this pose is to align and strengthen a practitioner's knee joints.

If more simplicity is preferred, a natural squat can also serve the purpose (hands together in praying position for better alignment).  The initial requirement is simple meditation in the squatting stance, like doing zhan zhuang.