Zafu Articles

Zafu Meditation Cushion

The human body has an extremely intricate, structural make up that is not flat or predictably curved, as everybody's body shape and vertebrae strength and posture is different. When meditating, your body needs the proper support in the specific areas that are strained or misaligned, and that is what makes the Zafu and Zabuton so unique. The combination of the Zafu with a Zabuton, will improve your meditation posture so the pain in your legs, hips, spine, shoulders, and head just melt away.

The Zafu will increase your overall comfort and support during meditation, and the more you relax, the more you will experience during your session. Your mind will be able to just expand and enter realms of complete relaxation and meditation. There are several different meditation postures, all effective, but it is important to find the meditation posture that creates the most natural bodily alignment that will allow you to be more comfortable and thusly more successful in your meditation practices.

In some cases and postures, you may find that you need more support, or certain support in different areas, allowing you to completely relax. The complete alignment of your head, spine, shoulders, and hips creates more comfortable meditation experience, and in most cases, a Zafu and Zabuton set gives you the support that you need and more importantly, where you need it. This is because the Zafu raises the hips and upper body, and relieves pressure on your legs and lower back, so you are able to sit and meditate for longer periods of time. The most commonly used postures include the traditional Full Lotus, Half Lotus, Seiza, or kneeling, chair sitting, lying, or Savasana postures.

Depending on the different postures that you use during your meditation sessions, it is very important that you get the mats or the meditation cushions that are perfect for your chosen style of meditation. This is why the Zafu and Zabuton set is a great tool for your posture and meditation training. The Zafu is a smaller, firmer, pillow shaped, buckwheat Hull filled cushion that works in combination with the Zabuton, which is larger, thinner, flatter, and softer than the Zafu.

The two used together are like the Yin and Yang of the meditation cushion world. A firm foundation is crucial when sitting in a meditation posture like the Full Lotus of Half Lotus and kneeling postures like the Seiza. This is where a Zafu can be the best cushion option for you, because they are the most firm and they help create the 'S' curve, which is the proper positioning of the spine, whether you are meditating or not.

Your spine should be erect, with your upper back curved out slightly and your lower back curved in, with your head sitting level and evenly over your shoulders. This 'S' curve reduces stress on your head and spinal column. In the Lotus position, the Zafu and Zabuton is the combination of meditation cushions that works best for most people and will most definitely be good for flexibility training, and helps align your entire spine from tail bone, all the way to the base of your skull.