This pillow is absolutely one of the best pillows I have ever bought. It does exactly what it says it does: it helps you sleep cooler. The memory foam gel is in pieces, and when you first take it out of the pillow, it kind of looks weird. What I did was I just kind of moved it around, and then I let it sit for half the day. As time goes on, over a 3-day period, the pillow will start getting a little bit more firm and bigger. I'm a side sleeper, and so I don't need to take any of the filling out. With this pillow, your head goes in it, and the little gel memory foam pieces literally wrap around the contour of your face. It molds into your neck, and your head goes a little bit further down. You are in this serene bliss and able to just go to sleep right away and not have to worry about stressing over getting that pillow in the most comfortable position possible. Every time I lay my head on it, it literally supports my neck and supports my back, and I feel absolutely no pain, no uncomfortableness especially because I had lower back surgery done on June 16, I'm still healing. I have been tirelessly looking around for a pillow that would actually give me the perfect amount of supportiveness for my neck. I have to have something underneath my neck that actually has a little bit of pressure so that it actually feels stable, because if not, my neck starts hurting (especially because I have herniated discs in my upper neck). This pillow is a godsend. I will be honest. I was very worried about purchasing this pillow because, over the last year, I have bought over 12 different pillows of all different kinds, all claiming to be good for side sleepers and good for the alignment of your neck and spine. When I got the product, it was like it did nothing of the sort, and I just wound up donating them. This pillow, I got it around 11:00 in the morning, and I let it sit out until 5 pm. I put my pillowcase on it, and I lay down. The second my head hit that pillow, I didn't have to move it for it to get positioned right. It positioned around me, and I was asleep within 15 minutes. I will most likely be buying one more of this pillow, but it is definitely recommended.