(1) Before One Prays, One Needs to Wait: containing 4 s'ifim.
One should wait one [halakhic] hour before he rises to pray [the Amidah] in order to focus his heart to the Omnipresent. And [one should wait] one [halakhic] hour after the prayer, so that it should not seem like a burden to him, that he is quick to leave it.

(2) One should stand to pray with reverence and humility and not in the midst of laughter, frivolity or purposeless matters, and not in the midst of anger. Rather [he should pray] in the midst of joy, like the words of comfort from the Torah, for example those that follow the redemption from Egypt [i.e. the blessing after the Recitation of the Sh'ma] or that follow Tehila l'David [i.e. Psalm 145], where it is written in it "He will do the will of those who revere Him" [and] "Hashem guards all those who love Him." [Psalms 145:19-20].

(3) We do not stand to pray in the midst of (ie. immediately after) judging a case, or in the midst of [studying] Jewish law, so that one's heart will not be troubled with it (ie. he will be distracted by it), rather [we stand to pray] in the midst of [studying] conclusive Jewish law. Rem"a: For this is also like being in the "midst of joy", because of [the verse] "the precepts of Hashem are upright, delighting the heart" [Psalms 19:9] (Tur, Orach Chaim 93:1)

(4) One who is engaged in communal needs is like someone who is engaged in Torah, meaning, in regards to standing in midst of it to pray, that it too is a joy for the one who is engaged in communal needs. And there are those who explain that this [comparison] means that one does not need to interrupt [serving communal needs in order] to pray.

(1) When he gets up to pray if he was standing outside the Land of Israel, he should return his face toward the Land of Israel and focus also on Jerusalem and to the Temple and to the Holy of Holies. If he was standing in Jerusalem he should return his face to the Temple and focus also to the Holy of Holies. If he was standing behind the (Ark) he should return his face to the (Ark)....

(2) If one prays [facing] one of the other directions, one should turn one's face to the direction of the land of Israel if one is in the Diaspora; and to Jerusalem if one is in the land of Israel; and to the Temple if one is in Jerusalem. Gloss: And we who turn our faces to the east, it is because we dwell to the west of the land of Israel, and so our faces are towards the land of Israel (Tur, Orach Chaim 94:1 and Sefer Mitzvot Gadol). We do not make the place of the ark [in our synagogue] and the direction of prayer exactly opposite the sunrise because that is the way of the heretics; rather we direct [ourselves] opposite [the direction of the sun] in the middle of the day (Hagahot Alfasi haChadashim) And one who wants to uphold their saying (i.e. that of the Sages): "The one who wants to gain wealth turns northward or to gain wisdom turns southward", nevertheless should turn one's face towards the east

(3) One who is not able to determine the [compass] directions, [should] direct one's heart to one's Father who is in Heaven.

(1) The Position of One's Limbs at the Time of Prayer, containing 4 s'ifim
One should position one's feet next to each other as though they are one, in order to imitate angels, as it written regarding them: “their feet were a straight foot” [(Ezekiel 1:7)], which is to say their feet appeared as one foot. (Some say when one stands to pray one should take three steps forward in the way of coming close and approaching a matter that must be done.) (Rokeach)

(2) One should bend one's head a little so that one's eyes will be downwards to the ground and one should consider oneself as if one is standing in the Beit Hamikdash, and in one's heart, one should direct [oneself] upward towards the heavens.

(3) One should place one's hands over one's heart, as if bound (i.e. as if connected), the right [hand] over the left, and stand like a servant before one's teacher with terror, awe, and fear. And one should not place one's hands on one's hips, because that is the way of haughtiness (and see below in the beginning of Orach Chayim 97).

(4) It is proper to position one's feet [together] also at the time one is reciting Kedushah with the prayer-leader.

(1) That One Should Prevent All Distractions in Order to Concentrate, containing 2 s'ifim.
When one is praying, one should not hold in one's hand tefillin, and not a book of holy writings, and not a full plate, and not a knife, or money, or a loaf [of bread] because one's heart is [focused] on them that they should not fall, and one will be distracted and will lose one's focus. And [regarding] a lulav at its time [i.e. performing its mitzvah]: it is permitted to hold it in [one's] hand, [and] since the holding [of it] in one's hand is the mitzvah, one will not be distracted because of it.

(2) It is permitted to hold a prayerbook in one's hand at the time that one is praying, [and] since one is holding it for the purpose of the prayer itself, one is not distracted [by it]. It is similar to [holding] a lulav, that since its "taking" is the mitzvah, one is not distracted. Gloss: Nevertheless, if [the prayer book] was not in one's hand before one started [praying], one should not go looking for it during [the middle of the] prayer [i.e. Amidah] to pick it up, unless it is the case that it was in a particular place which one prepared. Then it is permitted to pick it up, even in the middle of the prayer, in order to pray from it (Rabbeinu Yonah - [Tractate Berachot - Chapter 3] "Mi Shemeito")