I'm really not sure what rating to give this product. It's a lumbar stretch device that features eight acupressure nodes to help stretch and massage trigger points in your back, waist, and hips. It is meant to support active stretching, and it is shaped to allow a rocking back-and-forth motion while lying across it. I got this for my husband to try, since he frequently has lower back and hip pain. He was a little intimidated by it at first, but he's a good sport, so he tried it out on the floor. Yikes. It was just too much stretch for him. He adjusted the placement several times to see if he could get any relief from this cushion, all to no avail. I suggested he try it lying on our bed, and he did, but it was a little too soft there and gave him almost no stretch at all. I can't try this device myself because I have rods along the length of my spine, so my back doesn't stretch or bend at all. Basically, we can't use this stretching cushion. I think it might be more appropriate for athletes and people who are already fairly limber. It feels like a quality tool, well made and apparently well designed, but it just isn't right for us. By the way, this cushion came with no instructions or guidance as to how to use it. I wasn't quite sure, so I had to refer back to the photos on the Amazon listing page to figure it out. Even just a few diagrams on the box might have been helpful, so I hope HALO might include something like that in its packaging in the future.

The Halo stretch cushion came packaged in a nice box with a card from the company welcoming you to their product. However, they didn't include any kind of instructions or examples of how to use the product. I know it may seem pretty straight forward, but sometimes products like this may have multiple ways to use it. I got back on here to look at the product page to see exactly how to use this. Basically, you can lay still or rock back and forth to stretch out your lower back. It has different nodes inside that are supposed to be like pressure points for your lumbar and waist area. While it does seem to provide a pretty good stretch, that's about all it does. I couldn't really feel the plastic nodes as much as I thought I would. Maybe that's a good thing, I don't know. But the cover is of good quality and the device is actually quite comfortable. It definitely feels sturdy and very well made. I think you could maybe find more ways to use it if you get a little creative. I will continue to use this because it does feel good to stretch my lumbar and waist. You can definitely feel your muscles stretching when you rock side to side and also hold the side position for a few seconds. I like the ergonomical design of this as it cradles your lower back nicely.