Does anyone have a suggestion for a seiza bench?

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  • Steven
    Member
    • Sep 2013
    • 114

    Does anyone have a suggestion for a seiza bench?

    I have gotten to the point where I can no longer sit in the Burmese position for longer than 10 - 15 minutes before my lower back starts hurting pretty bad. I switch to seiza with the zafu between my legs and butt, but I end up trading back pain for ankle pain. I've looked into some benches on Amazon.com, but I thought I'd ask around here before I made my final decision.

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
  • Jishin
    Member
    • Oct 2012
    • 4821

    #2
    I have a Seiza bench. It is less stable than sitting Burmese. I alternate Seiza with Burmese and this works well minimizing back pain. :-)

    Gassho, John

    Comment

    • Taigu
      Blue Mountain White Clouds Hermitage Priest
      • Aug 2008
      • 2710

      #3
      The answer is not found in the bench or zafu, but what Alexander technique calls your use. Yoga, Pilates, Alexander Technique would be pointers and help you to get the pain out (rather, to get you OUT of the pain zone), that is to say, to allow a natural process and not get in the way with muscular rigidity. It costs. You don"t have to pay Treeleaf a penny because it is our choice to offer free Dharma, AT, Pilates, do cost, because it is the job of these guys to help you ( Jundo is a lawyer, I am a language teacher). If you have the money, seek a good AT or Pilates teacher. If you don't , find out and explore. It is a fascinating journey to meet obstacles, they are the very core of our best teaching moments.

      whatever , good luck.

      I was myself plagued with back pain everytime I sat and for years until I met AT.

      gassho

      T.

      PS: sitting can be performed lying down, see my humble attempt to describe sitting last summer.

      Last edited by Taigu; 11-17-2013, 12:25 PM.

      Comment

      • shikantazen
        Member
        • Feb 2013
        • 361

        #4
        Here is an earlier thread on Alexander technique which has some useful links. I'll probably take this sooner. Not sure how I can find a good teacher who can teach this so that it is useful for my zazen.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdrP_XGEuWI Now, let me be very clear. Treeleaf is not supporting this or that, and by all means, everybody here is free to use yoga, Pilates or anything if needed to sit and live better. All I want is to introduce you to what was presented to me by my teacher years ago and made such a


        Gassho
        Sam

        Comment

        • Steven
          Member
          • Sep 2013
          • 114

          #5
          Originally posted by Taigu
          The answer is not found in the bench or zafu, but what Alexander technique calls your use. Yoga, Pilates, Alexander Technique would be pointers and help you to get the pain out (rather, to get you OUT of the pain zone), that is to say, to allow a natural process and not get in the way with muscular rigidity. It costs. You don"t have to pay Treeleaf a penny because it is our choice to offer free Dharma, AT, Pilates, do cost, because it is the job of these guys to help you ( Jundo is a lawyer, I am a language teacher). If you have the money, seek a good AT or Pilates teacher. If you don't , find out and explore. It is a fascinating journey to meet obstacles, they are the very core of our best teaching moments.

          whatever , good luck.

          I was myself plagued with back pain everytime I sat and for years until I met AT.

          gassho

          T.

          PS: sitting can be performed lying down, see my humble attempt to describe sitting last summer.

          http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...n-in-July-2013

          Thank you for the insight Taigu, I will give it a try before spending money on a bench. However, I face lower back pain whenever I sit, whether it be zazen, driving, or watching TV (I can't even sit in a chair in a meeting at work without intense lower back pain). I spent four years in the military as an infantryman carrying awful loads of weight on my back. I will keep an open mind though and try out your suggestions, perhaps it is something that will help alleviate my pain on and off the zafu.


          Steven

          Comment

          • Jundo
            Treeleaf Founder and Priest
            • Apr 2006
            • 39960

            #6
            In addition to Taigu's very wise and experienced advise, here are a couple of threads on choosing or building a Seiza Bench should you wish to give that a try too.

            Jeffrey built one ...



            Has anyone tried a meditation bench like this? http://www.catizone.com/meditationbench.php (http://http://www.catizone.com/meditationbench.php) It has rounded feet, which means that it's inherently unstable. I can't sit on a cushion easily, and I've tried other benches in the past which don't "rock" like this


            and on posture in general ...

            Hello Everyone, I'm establishing a habit of sitting. After a few days of it, I've noticed that at the end of each session I have tension in my shoulders and sometimes during the middle of a 30min sit it gets quite uncomfortable. Do you think this is a posture problem or is it that I'm just not used to being in that particular


            Postration: That odd sense of frustration you get when you realize your sitting posture is all wrong. It just came to my attention that I am sitting all "wrong" , at least as far as my posture. I am in good health, relatively flexible ( I practice Kung Fu and can do some rather difficult things there for some people)


            Hi Everyone, Although I've been sitting on and off for a while, I've never really had any guidance regarding posture or sitting positions from any of the groups I've sat with. I've used the Web and one or two books for advice. I often find myself questioning my posture and find this little nagging thought floating around - am


            Gassho, J
            Last edited by Jundo; 11-18-2013, 09:06 AM.
            ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

            Comment

            • MyoHo
              Member
              • Feb 2013
              • 632

              #7
              Hi Steven,

              Although I agree with Taigu and think you should explore why you have these complaints, a bench is actually very very easy to make! I have made several in the past. All you need is some wood a few screws and a good saw.

              Make a Meditation Bench - detailed and illustrated construction instructions from The Western Chan Fellowship - Chinese Zen Buddhist practitioners


              hope this helps? Making stuff is also good practice you know?

              Gassho

              E.
              Mu

              Comment

              • Ryumon
                Member
                • Apr 2007
                • 1774

                #8
                I agree with Taigu's suggestion about the Alexander Technique. But I got a wonderful seiza here:



                If you're not in Europe, they won't help however,

                Gassho,

                Kirk
                I know nothing.

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