Proper mokuso

In Japanese, ‘mokuso’ means ‘meditation’.
I ask myself: how exactly do we practice proper mokuso ? What is the physical and mental attitude, what is the posture ?

Although ‘mokuso’ means ‘meditation’, practicing mokuso before and after training refers to a few seconds of “cleansing” the mind from the daily thoughts, for a better focus on the training.
At the end of the training, mokuso calms us and lets us reconnect to the external world, to the day-to-day issues.

Mokuso calms the mind (by eliminating the various excess thoughts not linked to the training) and body (by maintaining a still posture for a short period of time).

The usual posture is seiza (sitting on the knees), with the hands together in front of the Center. The hands may style a sphere, left hand above right hand, and thumbs touching each other’s tip.

About hand posture, here is an interesting excerpt from Aikidoka Magazine:
(Link to the article here.)
“In Aikido, we usually put the left hand over the right hand, thus respecting the greater importance that the Japanese place to the left side, which represents for them the soul, the spirit, life, contrary to the right side that represents the physical body, the material substance, the impermanent character of life.
This aspect can also be noticed at the traditional kamiza, which always has on the right side an old tree or something else that reflects the impermanence of the material substance.
Following this concept, we step on the tatami with the left foot and off the tatami with the right foot.”

What exactly do we do during mokuso practice ?

Professor Peter Goldsbury wrote some time ago in a discussion on the E-Budo forum about the teaching he received from some of the great masters he studies with (or studied with, since master Arikawa has left this world meanwhile):
(Link to the discussion here.)
“The two most eminent aikido teachers I have have given theories of 'mokuso'.
Arikawa Sadateru Sensei, for example, focuses on seiza: in silence you focus on lowering your centre.
Tada Hiroshi Sensei focuses on breathing. After hard training, in silence you bring your kokyu back to a state of calm.
To my mind both ways have the same overall aim.”

In other words, we concentrate on one simple thing, to wash away the other thoughts from our mind.

As a conclusion:
Mokuso is a short meditation performed at the beginning and the end of the training session.
The aim of mokuso is cleansing the mind from a multitude of thoughts, to be able to refill and harmonize with what is next (training, or daily life).
In Aikido, we practice mokuso sitting in seiza, with the hands together in front of the Center.
During mokuso, the mind focuses on a single simple thing, like the Center or breathing.