Brian Summer, creator of the Cosmic Cushion TM, didn't start out to start a company. Back in 1990, he was merely in search of a solution to a personal problem shared by the hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of people on the planet who meditate. Brian's problem was this: while he was aiming to stay "reposed" for longer and longer periods of time, he found that after about 15 to 20 minutes, his spiritual side began to waver as his backside began to ache!

He tried a number of different meditation cushions on the market, including the traditional zafu; he tried pillows, blankets, rolled-up clothing, almost anything he could get his hands on. But nothing ever allowed him to sit in peace for very long.

He finally gave up and decided to start over, to design something from scratch.

A licensed massage therapist, Brian was well-versed in how the bones, muscles, nervous and circulatory systems all came together, so he carefully observed what was wrong with existing products and started designing his to address those problems.

He explored shape, looking for something that would fully support the thighs, for starters, instead of leaving them to the mercy of gravity. His solution: something that resembled a whale fin, or perhaps half of a butterfly, complete with a special indentation at the front to cradle the heel of the foot of the sitter.

He experimented with stuffing of numerous kinds and discarded one after another, for cotton matted down almost immediately, and acrylic wasn't much better. Then one day he found what he was looking for at a tag sale when he discovered an unfamiliar kind of stuffing poking out of a torn pillow. It turned out to be "kapok," a natural fiber, grown in Malaysia that once filled many of the flotation vests sold in this country. As it turned out it was also perfect for supporting bodies on land.

He experimented with outer covers and finally decided on heavy-duty cotton twill. He added a zipper, to make it washable, and a carrying strap, to make it more portable. Then a friend asked him to make one for her and then another one for her friend, and gradually through word of mouth, more and more people came to Brian and asked him to make them cushions. Within a year the Cosmic Cushion TM had become so popular that Brian decided to patent the unique design and go into production. So Sun & Moon Originals started out as a single product one-man operation in an unheated dairy barn in the country, with Brian doing everything by hand.

Where It's At Now

Since then we have expanded our product line to several items and have grown to fill a much larger (heated!) space with a few workers, but we are still a small family business. Brian still does all of the product design, some of the cutting and some of the everything else that needs doing. Brian's wife, Piyali, does some sales, marketing and order processing. And our very cute baby son Ishan, provides people with a baby break - when he is not asleep, he is usually on Brian's chest in a front-pack or on Piyali's left shoulder, which may account for some of the baby sounds you hear when you call!

We are also committed to keeping prices as low as practically possible because we believe the practice of yoga and meditation should be accessible to all. Whenever possible, we reuse cardboard boxes so don't be surprised if your cushion shows up in a bagel or trumpet box! While we are absolutely uncompromising and never cut corners when it comes to our materials, workmanship and employee wages, we have chosen not to force prices up by expensive marketing practices such as glossy full-color catalogs or lavish ad campaigns. Instead, we rely largely on customer satisfaction, word of mouth, and this web page for visibility. So, if you have used any of our products and have liked them, we'd really appreciate it if you'd spread the word!