4 Ways A Meditation Pillow Can Help Relieve Your Stress

Stress can affect many people worldwide. Mental and emotional stress can sometimes lead to other medical conditions and could affect day-to-day living. Hence, many resort to medications and other over-the-counter drugs to curb stress and its effects. However, continued use of some of these drugs may increase your chances of developing dependence and tolerance.

For this reason, most people are turning to meditation and yoga to improve mental health and reduce stress. But for beginners, meditation can cause cramps, slumping, and other uncomfortable issues—especially if you don’t have the proper gear yet. To avoid this, some people have been using a meditation pillow to maintain a level of mobility in the ankles, knees, and hips, guaranteeing they’re in a comfortable position to focus and relieve stress.

The following article discusses what you need to know about meditation pillows. You’ll learn what a meditation pillow is, how it can help relieve stress and more.

What Is A Meditation Pillow?

In ancient times, a pillow was common among the wealthy and royalty. However, in the modern age, you can easily get a pillow for personal purposes, including meditation. A meditation pillow is a firm but comfortable cushion that you can use to maintain an ideal position during meditation. You can watch this video here to know what meditation pillows really look like.

There are two main types of meditation pillows: Zafu and Zabuton.

Zafu

Zafu cushion is the more popular type of meditation pillow. It’s a rounded, smaller, and firmer cushion that allows your knees to drop below your hips and helps keep your spine aligned. Zafu is usually filled with buckwheat hulls, which actuate the shape of your sitting position, allowing the body to be more relaxed.

Zabuton

On the other hand, the Zabuton pillow is a rectangular-shaped cushion that supports your knees while sitting on a Zafu pillow or meditation pillow. It usually has cotton fillings to give you extra support.

How Can Meditation Pillows Help Relieve Stress

The following are ways a meditation pillow can help relieve stress and other related issues:

Aid With Proper Blood Circulation

As mentioned above, poor meditation posture may leave you cramping and slumping. To avoid this, it’s important to ensure your hips, spine, and knees are aligned correctly, preventing physical misalignment and ensuring proper blood flow. This pillow will ensure you maintain the ideal meditation posture and improve blood flow.

Proper blood circulation has several benefits, including proper mental alertness and clarity. This may help improve the stability of your mental health, relieve stress, and improve overall productivity. With proper blood circulation, your brain and body will get the oxygen it needs to function well.

Improves Comfort

Being comfortable is an important aspect when meditating. It’ll allow you to be relaxed, at ease, and concentrate on your thoughts when meditating.

Increasing comfort is not easy, especially when you’re sitting on a hard floor or surface. Such a position may lead to body pains that might distract you from your thoughts and cause more stress in the process. Thus, you might not fully enjoy the benefits of meditation. However, you can boost your comfort by using a reputable meditation cushion.

The cushion will ensure your knees, hips, and spine are in the correct position and reduce pressure on crucial joints. This reduces the chances of developing body pains, which could distract you from meditating.

Increase Body And Mind Connection

Practicing meditation will help improve self-consciousness. This is the ability to understand the connection between your body and mind. However, achieving self-consciousness is not easy, especially when you’re not comfortable while meditating.

However, a meditation cushion will help ensure you maintain the ideal posture, reducing the chances of body pain. This allows your body to relax and automatically sets the entire nervous system into a self-aware and peaceful mode. Thus, your mind will end up resting while your body is in an active sitting pose.

Improves Endurance

Are you planning to continue practicing meditation to alleviate stress? If yes, it’s important to figure out how you can boost your endurance. One of the major reasons why most people quit mediation is that their bodies can’t withstand it for long. In other words, the body isn’t strong enough to endure vigorous activities. If you find yourself in such a situation, you can utilize the meditation cushion to boost your endurance.

The pillow will ensure you maintain a comfortable position and engage most of your body muscles. This includes the hips, legs, arms, and spine muscles. Engaging most of your muscles improves flexibility and ultimately enhances your endurance.

How Do You Choose A Meditation Pillow

Over the years, there have been several brands you can choose from to purchase meditation cushions. Due to the many options, choosing the right cushion for meditation practices can be challenging. So, make sure to consider the following aspects when you’re looking for one:

• Check The Height

Meditation pillows are available in different sizes and heights. For this reason, it’s important to consider your height and other unique body features before choosing the ideal meditation pillow. For instance, taller individuals should choose taller pillows, while shorter people should consider a shorter pillow to meet their needs and expectations. Getting a meditation pillow that is just right for your height ensures comfort and gives the proper support while you’re meditating.

• Price

Every brand has a different price range depending on the materials they use, the brand name and reputation, and many other aspects. For this reason, it’s crucial to visit more than one vendor to know the average price in your locality. Alternatively, you can browse online for meditation pillows and see if you can get a better deal. Take your time to go through the displayed price range and find out if there are any hidden costs, such as transport fees.

Wrapping Up

As mentioned above, people have been using over-the-counter drugs to manage stress and other mental issues. However, due to the risk of developing dependence and tolerance, most people are now turning to meditation to release stress and worries. The use of an ideal meditation cushion will play a huge role in improving the effectiveness of your session, and ultimately ensure comfort and relieve stress.