I always feel a sense of peace and calm and comfort when I sit down on my meditation cushions. It’s like coming home.
These cushions are the home for my practice. My sacred space. My personal place. A haven. And this sense of sacredness and calm motivates me to come back to my meditation practice, day after day.
I sit on the floor on a set of meditation cushions because I love the feeling of connection to the earth and connection to the ancient practice that this solidly rooted posture gives me.
At the beginning, my legs used to tingle and burn until I learned one of the keys to a successful meditation practice - get comfortable!
It’s important to find the right meditation cushion as well as a comfortable sitting position that allows you to remain alert, and that works best for your body and your practice. First step: find the right meditation cushion.
The purpose of a meditation cushion is to elevate your hips off the floor allowing your lower back to rest in it's natural S curve, keeping your spine comfortably aligned. Your knees should be lower than your hips. If not, you will have a tendency to slump and lose the natural alignment of your spine, which leads to discomfort.At HUM, we offer a variety of shapes and heights to help you find the most comfortable set up for your practice. The round
ANANDA Cushions are available in 3 heights to adapt to your body and your experience:
- If you regularly sit on the floor with ease, the 3" height might be ideal.
- The 5" height is good for most yogis.
- If you are really tall or feel you need the extra height to sit comfortably, perhaps choose the 7" height.
- The HUM CRESCENT Cushion (my favourite) is a little wider, sloping gently down from back to front, with support for the thighs and a space to tuck your feet close to your body.
Try this if you’re not sure what height is right for you: stack some yoga blocks and/or folded blankets until you get a sense of the most comfortable height, where your back is in it’s natural S curve. Then measure. As a general guideline, choose a height that will allow your knees to be lower than your hips. If your knees don't reach the floor, you can prop them up with rolled blankets or soft blocks.
Then when you’ve chosen your meditation cushion, make sure you have a softly padded base.
The coordinating SHAKTI Ultimate Comfort Floor Cushion will ensure that your feet, knees and legs will be comfortably cushioned and protected from the hard floor. So that you can just forget about them and concentrate on your meditation practice! If you can't get this Shakti Floor Cushion you can always use a folded blanket. It's just not as comfy-cushy (or as beautiful!).
How to choose a comfortable sitting position? What to do with your hands? Eyes open or closed? See this HUM resource for MORE TIPS ON HOW TO GET COMFORTABLE FOR MEDITATION.
