Back Support Help During Seated Meditation on a Cushion or Zafu

This is a companion post to "Back Support with a Meditation Bench (Seiza)"  I alternate between a bench and a zafu to move around the stresses on my body.  Other than the impact on my back I find that sitting on a cushion tends to put more stress on my ankles and sitting on a bench puts more stress on my knees...so I mix it up.

Back Support on Meditation
Cushion in the Normal Position

Similar to the bench, I use the back support cushion in 2 positions.  When fastened in the front the Normal
support position provides a cushion for arm support at the wrist.  The length of most people's upper arm is shorter than their torso.  During extended sitting "dangling" arms put stress on the back, especially if you have a weak or injured back.

The other meditation position I call the Aggressive back support position.  The straps are designed to also create arm loops that allow the cushion to rest firmly against your back.  I put a gazillion button holes in the straps to make it very adjustable. (Velcro would have been great except that unstrapping velcro in the zendo after zazen is not very sangha-friendly.)

Back Support on Meditation
Cushion in the
Aggressive Position

You can adjust how much pressure you want by how close you make the arm loops.  I have found that short periods in the Aggressive position allow me to go back the Normal position and be comfortable for quite an extended time.

So far, the benefits of the back support seem to be identical whether I'm using it on the bench or on the cushion.  I find that I use the back support in the Normal position about 3 out of 4 zazen sessions.

Namaste and Friendly Bows _/|\_