Walking the Wall

My legs fall asleep when I try to meditate, or rather, my left leg always falls asleep. So I read about using a seiza bench that lets you sit seiza (on your knees) instead of cross legged and without the pressure of your body on your legs. The seat is tilted forward slightly to make your back align just right. Well, I found some instructions, bought a gorgeous piece of Poplar (you can’t see it in this picture, but it has purples and greens in the wood), and talked my daughter into helping out as she has helped her dad on occasion with wood cutting.

It is far from a perfect little bench in terms of craftmanship, but my daughter cut the wood and sanded the edges, I did some cutting, some routering, and some putting all together and I wouldn’t trade it for anything (although now I want to make one with folding legs for portability). I was slightly skeptical that it could be as comfortable as I had read it would be…but it is! It works perfectly and I have the great memories of working on it with my daughter to make me smile every time I pull it out–which I think I’ll go do right now.

NOTE: I forgot to put a link to the instructions I used (the link goes to a .pdf file), they are very detailed and easy to follow, as is evidenced by two complete novices being able to put one together–although my husband did have to show me how to change the drill bits from “pre-hole” drilling to screwdriver end.