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The bean bag market is welcoming a new competitor with the Moon Pod, a high-end bean bag chair with a hefty $299 price tag. In addition to branding themselves as an ergonomic and highly comfortable bean bag chair, Moon Pod also claims to have mental health benefits, such as relieving stress and anxiety. Does it live up to its promise? How does a bean bag exactly combat stress? Check out this review to find out.
The Moon Pod Basics
Off the bat, it is obvious that the Moon Pod is a comfy chair. The design really fits and conforms to your body, similar to a mattress with memory foam-like qualities. It is not overly soft and malleable to the point where you are getting absorbed into the bean bag. It is firm enough to support your back if you are sitting upright, but also it is moldable enough to use the bean bag chair in a variety of different positions. While using the Moon Pod, I tried rotating through different positions, from sitting at almost ninety degrees to lying down and the bean bag accommodated to whatever position I was at quite well. It’s safe to say there aren’t many bean bags or chairs that can do this. The freeform shape and design of Moon Pod allow it to take on a wide range of roles, from a sitting surface to a sleeping mat. It’s firm enough to feel like you’re sitting on something with some substance to it rather than just a sack of loose beads, which has been my experience with some lower end and cheaper bean bags.
Appearance-wise, the Moon Pod is solid, but nothing special. Nice, clean design. No fuss, and it comes in a neutral, space gray color that works with most interiors. It strays from the typical, neon-colored bean bag look that you usually see in a teen’s bedroom in movies. It looks modern and stylish. Nothing special or particularly interesting, but it’s versatile and works well for most types of spaces. Maybe they could have added some extra designs or colors to give customer’s some more choice, but if you’re indifferent about the kind of stuff, it’s not a deal-breaker.
Mental Health Benefits?
The Moon Pod websites claim that the product has stress and anxiety-relieving properties. This comes from their beads, which the company custom makes, and are “high density” and “mimics the sensation of Flotation Therapy.” While those are some very lovely claims, it is still uncertain to me if the bag can really be credited with helping out those with stress and anxiety. Objectively speaking, it is comfortable but whether or not the Moon Pod can be said to relieve stress is up to the user. Can a bean bag really help out with someone’s mental health? And a bean bag priced at $299 at that? I don’t know. It’s a bit of a stretch. It’s not a therapy session or anything, but if you’re looking for something to relax on, I guess it does the job. But if you’re looking for an instant stress-relieving product or something of the like, I would not rely on this. I think it is fair that the company brands its product as an ergonomically-designed chair, but to claim that it has stress and anxiety-relieving effects is kind of pushing, in my opinion. In fact, the $299 might be a little bit stress-inducing, in all honesty.
That being said, I do think chilling out on a nice, comfy bean bag after work can definitely be said to help relax someone after a stressful day. I think there is some correlation, of course, to a comfortable product helping out with stress, but it might not be as directly causated as the Moon Pod website makes it out to be.
At the end of the day, the Moon Pod is a high-quality product that I would recommend to most people who can afford to shell out a bit more on a nicer bean bag.