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How To Make A Meditation Stool
by Bruce 01/03/07
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How can you meditate or pray for 20 minutes and not fall asleep? How can you sit comfortably with your back straight to let that meridian chakra energy flow? Read on and make yourself a kneeling stool or seiza bench.
You will need a piece of wood, roughly 82 cm x 12 cm x 1.2 cm. I found an old shelf in my garage that I used but anything roughly the right size will do. You will also need a saw, screwdriver, pencil and some sort of hinge or bracket to attach the legs to the seat (that is if you’re not up to dovetail joints).
Measure your wood and mark it with a pencil so that you get a seat and two sloping legs that will be just high enough to get your legs under in a kneeling position. I used these measurements for my bench.
Next, using the saw, cut your wood along the pencil lines. At this point you might want to find some sandpaper to smooth off the edges; splinters when attempting meditation can be distracting. Then fix the legs to the seat using the fixed brackets. Alternatively you can use hinges on the inside surface to allow the bench to fold flat.
Lastly find a place where you can use your stool every day. Ideally this should be away from any disturbance or loud noises. Also choose a place that you keep to every day as you will begin to generate a thin place. Sit on your stool with your back erect and your right hand, palm upwards resting in your left hand and your thumbs gently touching.
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Embody is not funded to produce these resources so your help in spreading the word is appreciated. Thanks, Bruce.
Hi Bruce
I will most certainly recommend your website to ALL of my friends and also visit again. Thank you very much for being so generous and willing to share. Kindest regards Elise
I visitied your website once to explore the instructions for making a meditation stool. What an absolutely fantastic website
I’m about to set about making one - have been trying to buy one - but at over £50 I’m very excited to have found this place! (oh and Greenbelt 08 was great)
An absoluty faboulous idea. thank you for sharing and being so genrouse
Thank you for the useful tips. I also would like to know more about the effects of meditating from the stool seated, legs behind position — the only one I seem to be able to take. I wonder what is lost by taking this position and if there are other special concerns, beyond watching the spinal alignment. I wonder if the full effects of meditation can be achieved in this posture. Any further advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks.
Hi, I’m so happy I came across this webpage. As I am 6 months pregnant I’ve been thinking of getting a chair to get me in the right position to help my baby position itself for birth. I been going to yoga for about six weeks and have not used there meditation stool until yesterday. Wow what I’ve been missing. Not only did I feel my sitting posture was improved, but It gave me the same effect I was looking for in a preggy chair. I’m encouraging my husband to help me make this stool this weekend. Thank you so much for these helpful instructions.
I thought that these only existed on that small French hillside….
Small French hillside?
I meant the Taize community, they are very popular there. The Brothers use them every prayer time and they also make and sell them. I’ve seen them there many many times but never anywhere else; until now!
great, thanks. i need one for working in a primary school, the little chairs are hurting my hips xx
Hi
Thank you much this is exactly what I have been looking for. I am on my way look for the wood.
May you be happy and well!
Hey i dnt like that im looking for a stool to make a bit more practical sorry but yeah im challenging my self not making it easy for me
Live long and PROSPER
HelloSunshine
Great. Simple instructions that even I can follow!
Very useful instructions! I made it today, it works great! it is very comfortable. thank you very much.
Just got done building mine out of some scrap wood (small cabinet doors from my trailer). It was a breeze. Looks great. Works great. The legs are about half an inch thick so I was able to just screw them on instead.
Thanks for the awesome instructions!!
Really nice & clear instructions - off to get some wood today. Thanks!
thanks for the plans, I’ve been looking for them for ages. Pass that axe Eugene!
Nice plans - easy & simple! Thank you.
Thank you for the clear instructions. I do have a question ... why you cut the bottom of the legs at an angle? I realize that the ‘seat’ needs to be inclined so the front edge of the bench doesn’t end up cutting into the back of one’s thighs, but I have trouble understanding how cutting the legs your way compares to cutting the top of the legs at a bigger angle and leaving the bottom square ... just curious ...
Thanks for making the information freely available and very easy to understand. Much appreciated.
Gracias Bruce por este fantastico asiento para meditar. Me servira mucho tus claras instrucciones!!!!. Gracias.
Thankx Bruce for this awesome meditation stool. Thank you for easy intructions you made
.
I’ve been wanting to make a prayer stool for so long and now I have everything I need, thank-you and may you continue to live the abundant life!
Besides the prayer bench, I’ve recently constructed a candle holder out of an simple Broomstick of 30 cm. It helps me to read the psalter at sunrise or dawn and allows much more space for noticing the change of sunlight during morning of evening prayer because it much weaker than electric light.
Thank you Bruce.
Much appreciated
Thanks so much for these easy and simple instructions. I just made this meditation stool out of some really nice wood for someone else.
They loved it.
Cheers to you!
awesome….thank you.
Thank you for your free advice! I am ready to make my own personalized stool thanks to your help.
Thanks so much for the explanation and directions of how to make this. It seems like it will be much more comfortable. And your pictures really help to explain exactly what to do!
Thank you my other half is going to have a go at making one for me. Will let you know how he gets on
Hi! I´m from Brazil and I was searching in the internet how to make a meditation bench,thank you for your help.
Perfect and simple. Thanks. Exactly what I needed to help me NOT fall asleep while mediating. I made the legs about 1.5 inches longer and the angle a little bigger.
How do I put hinges on for folding? Seems it may fold over while I’m sitting on it.
Thank again
Easy and clear instructions. I used hinges instead of brackets so the bench could fold for travel. Thanks for sharing.
Hahaha! Thank you , I have just made a meditation stool, with relative ease and it works too . I will pass on the details for this site . Go well in peace with love in your heart ...
I am glad to find these wonderfully simply directions for the meditation bench. What is the angle of the bench? I am not clear on that construction point in the directions.
Thank you.
You can get the angle I’ve used by measuring the dimensions in the plan. However, the point of the plans was just to illustrate the general idea, it would be best if you made yours to your own need.
Thank you!
very helpful resource and clear instructions. thank you
Dear Bruce: Thank you kindly for your plan for making a meditaion bench. It is exactly what I needed to make 10 benches for our new meditation center in 29 Palms CA (dhamma.org).
Metta,
Lonnie
Just finished mine!! Was so easy and I feel more at peace than buying one for $50+! Thanks!!
Excellent site. Looking forward to creating my own
Gracias…
thanks for this, great stool and works well
Thank you for providing these instructions. I have just joined a Christian Meditation group in Bristol and this will be very useful for me.
Muy bueno! una gran idea para todos los que nos queremos iniciar en la meditación sin tener que gastar mucho dinero. Gracias.
Very good! a great idea for all of us want to start in meditation without spending much money. Thank you.
I made it!!! Actually I made two! For a long time, I wanted to get this manual. Finally I found it here and made it today. Thank you for your instruction.
Thank you for sharing your idea that is helping me personalize my meditation space even further.
Just what I was looking for! This is a super stool for sitting meditation. Economical, comfortable and easy to make (thanks to a friend adept with saw etc.) Thanks very much for putting this “out there”.