Meditation Chair w/ Extra Thick Cushion – Portable Bamboo Meditation Bench w/ Magnetic Locking Hinge – Anterior Tilt Seiza Bench Ideal for Comfortable & Stable Meditation – Sleek Canvas Kneeling Chair

A great meditation bench
I use this meditation bench for my 40 minute morning sits. I previously bought a different bench and returned it, in part because the cushion didn’t stay on. I’ve been using this bench for a couple of weeks now and I’m really happy with it. I’ll note that I’m 5″6 and 67kg. I imagine the comfort and sturdiness of these benches might differ for people based on their height and weight.Pros:-The cushion is comfortable and it doesn’t slip off the bench. It has some kind of special fabric on the underside which seems to keep it in place.-So far it’s been very sturdy.-I’m happy with the quality of wood and materials used.-The bag is a nice addition.Cons-More expensive than other options-It doesn’t seem like the magnets do anything. I don’t think they even touch. I was going to remove a point for that, but quite honestly it doesn’t make any difference. It’s still a great bench and it’s sturdy enough with the legs folded out.

Seats a little low and not very wide
Because of the way the legs fold to the center of the bench, the legs aren’t very long and hence the seat is not very tall. I was surprised by how low it was compared to the benches I was using at a recent meditation retreat. I’ve been wondering if I should return it or just keep it. It does seem pretty sturdy for a 125-pound person. I do wish the seat is a little wider so my ankles have more space to spread out between the legs.

Update: Comfortable, but with some puzzling features
This is an updated review, based on two of these benches, one beige and the other gray. (I accidentally ordered the beige when I wanted the gray.)My mistake has enabled me to have comparison benches, and while I am retaining my original 3-star rating I have further doubts about some aspects of this product.I’ll begin with the positives:It is quite heavy and very solid. The legs cant outwards slightly when put in place which means that there is no side-to-side wobble. The hinges are stainless steel and appear to be designed to last for ever (but see below). The finish of the bench is excellent. The thick cushion is comfortable. There is a zipper on the cushion so the cover can be removed for washing.Now for the things that may need attention from the seller:The benches have magnets to keep the legs in place when opened. In my opinion, these are unnecessary because the legs are canted slightly outwards, and the hinges are quite stiff. It’s probably a good thing that the magnets are unneeded, because on both benches they are improperly aligned – I would estimate that only about half of each magnet aligns with its matching magnet. The overall design suggests that this is a mistake in assembly – the hinges have not been placed exactly where they should on the bottom of the seat. As I say, it doesn’t really matter, but it’s still odd.The benches comes in a matching carrying-bag. With the cushion in place, the benches don’t want to come out of that carrying-bag and probably will be reluctant to go back in, because the zipped opening in the bag is just too small. Without the cushion on, the bench goes easily into the bag. Again, I don’t mind this – my benches lead a hard life and I wouldn’t use the bag even if it fitted – but it’s odd. It suggests that the bag was designed before the decision to put a cushion on the bench.The cushion is secured to the bench using two sets of straps with velcro attached. Strangely, there is no way of preventing the cushion sliding from side to side on the bench because there is nothing that actually attaches the straps or the cushion to the bench. On the second, gray bench the straps were misaligned (see photo).The first bench had legs that made a reassuring clunking sound when folded outwards. This was not true of the second bench. One of the legs seemed to be hesitant to open fully, and when pushed harder into place was not quite aligned with the seat of the bench.The hinges which have been used appear to be door hinges. This is good from a strength point of view, but it means that the hinges don’t (and can’t) lie flat on the legs and seat because of the “bulge” of the pin on the hinge. The result is that the screws can’t be driven all the way home. (See photo.)I would hesitate to call the color of the first version I received “beige.” It is more of a very pale lemon yellow. Similarly, the “gray” is pale and has a touch of green about it.Finally, some minor observations:The box that the first bench arrived in had been through the wars while it was in Amazon’s possession. There was evidence of attempts by Amazon to stick the box back together (see photo), but there was no damage to the bench itself. It might need to be sent in a stouter box.The description of the bench on Amazon says it’s 7.5″ high. I measured it, and it’s actually about 7″ but that’s without the cushion. The cushion is thick but squishable, so the effective height with you sitting on the cushion will probably be about 7.5″ as stated.Conclusion: A generally solid and comfortable bench with some design and assembly issues. I am well satisfied with the one I kept, but the differences in assembly of the two benches suggest problems in the facility that puts them together.

Very comfortable for those with new hips
Very comfortable, helps me to maintain correct posture for meditating. I can’t sit on a cushion cross legged due to a hip replacement, so I really appreciate being able to meditate in an alternate position using this. It comes in a nice carrying bag, and folds up so I can store it when not in use. I don’t have a dedicated meditation spot that I can leave stuff out, so it’s nice to be able to quickly and easily get it out and put it away.

Lindo, solido, util.