Padma Seat

it is somewhat shocking that this type of product hasn't proliferated around all meditation and yoga centers yet. if i am correct about how good this strap is, i believe it eventually spread around all meditation centers, just as many of them have cusions of all sorts and sometimes various props.1) i came to this product years after getting into meditation. I am VERY skeptical of props and such in meditation . my experience is that proper back allignment is necessary to achieve a truly calm yet active state of mind. corpse pose and seated poses do not allow my mind to focus. i need to be in a sitting legs crossed pose. I also don't like legs under pose, childs pose, or using the wooden zen bench pose. for me my hips must spread out for spine to be alligned to achieve the particular calm but vigilant mind.2) when i first started meditating i had tried using sheets to wrap myself. 'wrapping' is a well known practice to help get back support when in lotus or burmese pose. i had hurt my back ---which made it far more difficult to meditate without distraction, as well as simply to sit for extended periods without overbearing pain. i have tried MANY THINGS. and then basically gave up meditating for years because of the hopeless low quality of my sitting sessions. i went online recently to look exactly for some sort of brace, and i found this product. like magic.3) this product fits me perfectly as a i sized myself according to their instructions. the fabric creates a pit to surround each knee and this creates a lot of stability . the back side wraps nicely around the back. the straps come from the knee parts to stretch across and lock in making a perfect and simply triangle connection, locking you in snuglly but only as tightly as you want.4) the strap is simple and robust and easily adjusted with one hand while in mediation pose. the total package size and weight makes this truly transportable. you could carry the entire thing in a large pocket, easily in a small purse.5) it's a true shame amazon doesn't have videos to demonstrate how a product is used in action.6) this product is perfect for anyone starting out in meditation, or for people like me with back problems. it DOES NOT act as a seat or a cushion . it acts to help you adjust your own position to the best of your abilities while making use of your own abdominals and back muscles to allign your spine as you normally might do without the product.

I wanted a more comfortable way to meditate for longer periods of time. Thought this might help. Maybe it would if I learned to use it. But I tried for months and always felt this cutting into my back somewhere or the plastic clip pressing too hard on my knee. It just never felt really right. I’m looking for something worth which I can comfortably meditate for two hours or more. That’s a tall order. If you sit for shorter amount of time then this will probably work fine. I had no problem with it for up to about 45 minutes.

If the Padma Seat were available since I started meditating in the late 1960s I'd be enlightened by now! But, seriously, what an ingeniously, elegant aid! It's easy to use, and quite noticeably keeps one's seated foundation in the best configuration to allow for the optimal, straight spine from coccyx to base of the skull. The Padma Seat's design utilizes the symbiotic relationship of the legs and back creating a triangulation of simpatico forces among the points of this triangle: the two knees and the back. The Padma Seat pulls the legs in toward each other and in so doing necessarily flattens the lower back, comfortably. The pull from the back toward the knees prevents the tendency to round the lower back which could prevent the easy flow of energy up the spine from lowest chakra to highest. The breath is allowed to flow unobstructed because the meditator's posture is optimal and clear throughout the windpipe. Keeping the posture comfortably erect and the airflow clear prevents dreaded drowsiness. The Padma Seat allows me to sit in full Lotus, effortlessly, for extended periods of meditation. I can't recommend the Padma Seat enough!

A little unsure of how to use it but will work it out.

Although this may be a 5 star item for many people, for me it was a 3 star and I figured I'd share my story in case others are in the same boat.I had been meditating on my cushion and zafu for a month, and although my practice was going pretty well, my legs kept falling asleep and the normal cross legged position was starting to hurt my knees. I'm 6 foot and 220lbs, and I'm not all that flexible. I came across the Padma Seat while searching for benches to see if I could change my position.I was excited about the padma seat, and while I do think it's a cool product, it didn't prevent my feet from hurting or falling asleep. It took some pressure off of my knees though, and it did support my back. I was hoping that taking the pressure off the knees I would no longer have any foot pain and that they wouldn't fall asleep, but alas it didn't happen.I think for someone with back pain or knee pain only, this is a great device. It does help you feel secure and kind of locks your lower back to your knees for support which is nice. However if you're just looking for some pressure release off of your feet, this didn't really do the job.Ultimately I just don't think cross legged meditation is for me, and I'll be moving to chair meditation from now on.Also, while I may have rated this perhaps a 4 star for the innovation and quality of the product, I had to take a star off for the price. 35 dollars made this a no brainer to return. If this was 20 bucks or so, I probably would have just kept it, but $35 is a pretty solid investment and you would expect it to work extremely well. I also recently purchased this hammock Bear Butt #1 Double Parachute Camping Hammock *START UP COMPANY "Shaking The Eagle Out Of The Nest Since 2015" - which is an entire hammock made out of the same material as the Padma Seat, and the whole hammock with straps etc cost me the same amount. The Padma Seat isn't that much fabric (picture attached of the folded up size), and it's maybe a tenth of the hammock at the same cost.