If You Don’t Get a Zafu Now, Your Lower Half Will Despise You Later

Meditation Cushions Configure the Spine for Optimal Meditation

Finding the right height to accommodate physical comfort in meditation can be achieved with meditation cushions. When someone is learning meditation, understanding the nature of posture becomes important. Since the mind and body are not separate, body posture is relevant for experiencing steadiness and peace of mind. Specially designed cushions for meditation provide support so the body will be properly aligned. These meditation cushions configure the spine so that the lower back is tucked inward keeping the spine straight, reducing stress and distraction. Additionally, the neck should be curved in slightly and the head level.

Taking care of your body with a zafu and zabuton will give you a better meditation session

Stability – Knees and Hips

The key to finding the right cushion is to determine which cushions, or combination of cushions, allow for the knees to rest lower than the hips when sitting. This position allows a connection to the earth and a grounded condition of the body. A firm foundation is crucial to ensure a successful practice session. The ability to meditate in any sitting or kneeling poses is usually influenced by the flexibility of the ankles, knees and hips. Support of these joints is needed in order to sustain meditation in a comfortable manner since the body will surrender to the shape of the surface that it is resting on.

–Check out these comfortable buckwheat-filled zafus

You Could Even Use Exercise Mats to Avoid Discomfort

Those people new to meditation sometimes find sitting postures uncomfortable, especially in a cross-legged position of the Full Lotus Pose or even the Half Lotus. Energy must be allowed to flow freely through the body during meditation. If there is misalignment or deep discomfort, then focus will be lost, breath-work will not be substantial and energy will not move to all parts of the body.

What the Heck is a Zafu?

The Zafu is the traditional pleated meditation cushion that is designed to raise the hips under the body so the legs remain comfortable. The thighs then slope downward reducing tension on the sit muscles. When using the Zafu, the hips are rolled forward as the practitioner sits on the edge of the cushion. This ensures the natural curvature of the spine. Those with an average range of flexibility and of normal height can use Zafus easily. Taller people might feel more support with additional cushioning underneath the Zafu or a specialty meditational cushion such as the Cosmic Cushion. Zafus are generally filled with either kapok, a soft, natural fiber, or buckwheat hulls. The covering of zafus range from silk to cotton duck.

Zabutons – A Meditation Mat

Zabutons are used for cushioning the legs, knees and ankles. These mat-like cushions soften the impact of hard floor surfaces. Zabutons are a larger, thinner cushion that lie beneath the meditation cushion like the Zafu. Many times the Zafu and Zabutons are sold in sets.

–Here is a great example of a quality-made zabuton by HuggerMugger

Gomdens – With the Firm Foam Core

A Gomden meditation cushion is a six inch tall cushion designed to keep its height during meditation. This further reduces the strain on the knees and ankles. These cushions are constructed using a firm foam core instead of the traditional fillers of kapok or buckwheat.

Cosmic Cushion – The Fortune Cookie Meditation Cushion

A variation of the Zafu, the Cosmic Cushion is shaped like a fortune cookie with a built in slope to support the back of the thighs. They have heel cutouts which allow the feet to be placed closer to the body. For people who are less flexible, this meditation cushion is a wonderful tool since requires very little stretch in the gluteal and hamstring muscles.

Kneeling Meditation Benches (Seiza Posture)

Some people prefer a kneeling position to a cross-legged meditation position. This is referred to as the seiza posture. The seiza posture can be facilitated by a kneeling bench where the body rests on top of the bench and the legs slip underneath the bench. This position produces less stress on the hip joint as well as little strain on the adductor muscles since the thighs remain together. Benches are commonly made out of solid hardwoods for durability. For longer meditation sittings, a bench cushion and a zabuton placed underneath the bench provides the greatest comfort.

–See how a bench and cushion work together

Kapok Filling vs Buckwheat Hull Filling

Kapok is a fibrous material found in the seed pods of the Kapok tree in Asia. It looks similar to cotton and has been used in meditation cushions for thousands of years. This light material can be fluffed up in a flattened meditation cushion by squeezing and fluffing the cushion itself. One of the drawbacks to a kapok-filled meditation cushion is that the amount of filler shouldn’t be altered. Once the interior material is either removed or added to, the cushion becomes lumpy and uncomfortable. A newer filling for meditation cushions are Buckwheat hulls. They act as like sand inside the cushion, conforming to the position of the person meditating. This filler can be added to or removed in order to receive the greatest benefit and the cushions never flatten over time. These cushions, however, are twice as heavy as the kapok filled ones and the hulls are noisier when the cushion moves. Some folks have switched from the noisy buckwheat hulls to the super quiet millet filling.

Meditation requires very few tools, but using a cushion or chair will bring much more pleasure than the financial investment made. You owe it to your body to simply provide good support.

Yours truly,

P.S. The Bolster Guide (listed in Product Guide menu) at Hugger Mugger is a perfect directory to walk you through the assortment of support devices related to meditation.

P.S.S. If you’re ready to spend some real money on a meditation chair, check out this ergonomic lightweight rattan beauty of comfort and sustainability.

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