Many people practice the art of meditation on a daily basis, and for most of them, it has become a permanent part of their life. For some, meditation is a way of transforming the mind where they learn the habits and patterns of their mind, while for others, it is a means of achieving mental and emotional peace and calm.
As relaxing and comforting as it sounds, meditating surely requires a lot of hard work. Imagine having to sit still and motionless for 30 minutes or more, trying to gain awareness of the self and of the environment. Although some people are able to do that effortlessly, doing so can be especially hard for those who can’t sit comfortably for long periods of time. If you aren’t fully comfortable or relaxed, you won’t be able to enjoy your meditation practice.
This is one of the reasons why experts recommended meditation chairs and meditation cushions (zafu). Accessories and pieces of equipment like these can greatly help increase your comfort levels and also ensure a wonderful meditation experience. Meditation chairs, in particular, have been found to be exceptionally beneficial for back support especially lower back problems.
Contents
- Benefits of Meditation Chairs
- They Ensure Great Convenience
- They Help Fix Your Posture
- They Allow You to Create a Dedicated Meditation Space
- Types of Meditation Chairs
- The Back Support Chair
- The Full Chair
- The Bench
- Top Options for Meditation Chairs
- Alexia Meditation Seat
- Gaiam Rattan Meditation Chair
- Friends of Meditation Relaxing Buddha Meditation and Yoga Chair
- Seagrass Harmony Meditation Chair
Benefits of Meditation Chairs
One of the key and essential aspects of the best meditation practice is good posture. The importance of adopting the right kind of posture during a meditation session cannot be emphasized enough. The way you hold or position your body while sitting down for such long periods of time can significantly influence your whole practice session.
They Ensure Great Convenience
When you are sitting on the ground and are in the process of trying to relax your mind and focus on your surroundings, it is likely that after a few minutes, your back starts to ache. Needless to say, this disrupts the entire cycle. During such instances, your legs and back can cause great discomfort as you struggle to readjust your body.
Meditation chairs help combat any such kind of inconvenience and bring in a great amount of comfort and ease. They also allow you to focus on your mantra and your breathing without any back pain or leg issues getting in the way.
They Help Fix Your Posture
As mentioned earlier, a good posture is vital in order to have a successful and comfortable meditation practice. These chairs are almost like a meditation seat or a meditation bench that promotes a natural alignment in various sitting and kneeling positions.
They are specially designed in a way that they help you fix your meditation posture so that your back is as straight as it should be, and that there is a constant flow of energy in your body throughout the whole session. For instance, an ergonomic chair will keep your spine aligned and will give you enough support to be able to do that.
They Allow You to Create a Dedicated Meditation Space
If you have been practicing meditation for a while now, you will understand the need to have a separate space that is decorated beautifully and is perfect for you to practice your sessions. Be it an entire room or simply a corner of a room dedicated to meditation, a meditation chair helps you make it all the more special by letting you have some peaceful, alone time where you are free from all the distractions of the busy world.
Types of Meditation Chairs
When it comes to the types of chairs, there is a whole variety that you can choose from. However, you must bear in mind that the type of meditation chair you get depends on a number of factors. Some of these key factors include things like your physical needs, the need for extra upper back support, and your meditation position, for instance, will you be sitting in a lotus position, a half lotus, or cross-legged?
These are some of the most common types of meditation chairs with different features, prices, and target areas of the body.
The Back Support Chair
As the name suggests, this kind of chair comes with an attachment that gives adequate support to your back, which is one of its main features. It is easily foldable which also makes it portable and easy to carry around. The chair is also ideal for different types of meditation positions, particularly the basic sitting position.
The back support chair has numerous versions ranging from very simple to luxurious where each type is made with a special material that serves different purposes. For instance, some chairs come with memory foam that molds to the shape of the user’s body while others may have a cotton cushion that allows extreme comfort while sitting.
The Full Chair
This is the most expensive type of meditation chair that is well-suited for a variety of different positions and meditation techniques. However, it is worth the hefty price tag is given how sturdy, durable, and comfortable it is.
The full chair for meditation provides the full kind of support throughout your meditation practice and also targets different areas of the body including the legs, upper back, and lower back. In other words, it caters to the needs of all the right places of the body that need additional support.
One downside of this chair, though, is that it is too heavy due to being robust which means that it is not exactly portable and is ideal for meditating at home.
The Bench
Unlike the other types of meditation chairs, the Bench is specially designed for kneeling positions. It is ideal for those people who find it hard to meditate in a cross-legged position or when they are kneeling down.
Most of these chairs come with an ergonomic tilt that allows you to sit properly without adding any kind of pressure on your knees or legs. These are high-quality bench-chairs that allow meditators to engage in a good meditation retreat by ensuring proper alignment of the back and a comfortable resting position for your knees, ankles, and legs.
The best way to use the bench chair is to make sure that you adjust it to an appropriate level in order to get the perfect angle and height for sitting or kneeling. Since the bench basically supports the entire weight of your body, you should rest your ankles flat against the lower surface of the bench.
If, however, you feel that you are unable to comfortably position your ankles flat on the hard floor, you can use a cushion or a blanket to make them flexible enough and also to support your legs.
Top Options for Meditation Chairs
Now that you know all about the different types of meditation chairs, you must also familiarize yourself with the most popular and the best meditation chairs in order to make it easy for you to decide.
Alexia Meditation Seat
This has to be one of the most commonly used meditation chairs with an ergonomic design that takes it to a whole new level. It has a unique design that promotes the concept of the ergonomically correct posture in order to prevent wear and tear of our muscles.
The Alexia Meditation Seat majorly targets and supports the lower back, knees, feet, ischium, and instep. It comes with a lotus design that is further enriched by the use of rich, vegan leather in its manufacturing. Furthermore, it has a foam seat and is handcrafted with top-quality materials and an in-built light metal skeleton that provides adequate to the whole of your body in the correct manner.
The only apparent downside of this meditation seat is that it cannot be easily moved around so it is ideal that you place it in a fixed position or in a particular meditation room.
Gaiam Rattan Meditation Chair
If you are not fond of meditating on the hard floor, the Gaiam Rattan Meditation Chair is the perfect choice for you. It has proven to be an excellent alternative to yoga and exercise mats and provides ergonomic support to meditators.
This chair comes with a seat cushion that allows you to seat easily and comfortably in a cross-legged manner for an extended period of time. This utmost ease and comfort come from the fact that it has a generous, extra thick seating area that is filled with a sustainable kind of kapok, a plant fiber that is extracted from a tropical tree.
The chair weighs around 28 pounds which is an ideal type of weight for a meditation chair, not too heavy or too light. The only downside of the gaiam rattan chair is that it is not ideal for outdoor meditation because rain and humidity can greatly damage the materials used in the chair.
Friends of Meditation Relaxing Buddha Meditation and Yoga Chair
This meditation chair has truly been made with the intent to allow meditators to find their inner peace with success. It comes with extra-long back support that makes it easy for practitioners to carry out numerous poses and positions including cross-legged postures, the lotus, and ardh siddasana.
Some great features of the Friends of Meditation Relaxing Buddha chair are increased back support, enhanced capacity and ability to sit on the floor, comfortable prolonged sitting, and ease inflexibility.
This is a great choice of meditation chair for beginners because when you are new to meditation or yoga, one of the main challenges that you are likely to go through is sitting in a cross-legged position for a long period of time. The comfortable seating surface of this chair allows you to that with great ease and convenience without any added strain or pressure.
Seagrass Harmony Meditation Chair
If you are looking for a meditation chair that provides equal support to both your knees and back, this is the right one for you. This chair is made from seagrass and has a curved design in the seat that is spacious enough to support your knees as well as your feet, especially during those times when you are sitting in a cross-legged position.
One of the most distinctive features of this chair is that it has a beautiful creamy white color which looks amazing in any meditation space, be it your living room or the porch. Another key feature is that it has been designed at a very low height which is low enough that you can sit on the chair and also cross your legs on the floor at the same time.
Needless to say, meditation chairs are one of the must-have relaxation tools in order to make your sessions truly memorable and soothing. With these chairs, you can say goodbye to all your back and leg problems and can look forward to finding your inner peace with great success and happiness.