Sometime in the past year, the intelligence behind targeted social media marketing identified me as someone who might enjoy lying on a bed of nails—and proved it knows me better than I know myself. After finally getting past my initial wtf (and dabbling in the gateway drug of acupuncture) I decided to test the Shakti Mat for myself—and quickly discovered that laying on sharp objects is one of my absolute favorite pastimes.
If your algorithm hasn’t barraged you (yet) with good ol’ bed o’ nails content, let me explain: the Shakti Mat is a modern iteration of the ancient Indian practice of using a bed of nails for meditation, and to facilitate the benefits of acupressure. As the theory goes, the nails put pressure on acupoints on the body’s meridians (pathways where energy flows) to help relax the mind and body. Today, the practice has been made more accessible through the invention of acupressure mats, which basically look like yoga mats with tons of spikes all over the surface. Enter the Shakti Mat.
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shakti mat benefits
Laying on thousands of sharp spikes counters most of our notions of a good idea. So why do it? According to the company, the Shaki Mat “is used to support deep sleep, healthy circulation, relaxation of tense muscles, relief from stress, relaxation, and general vitality.” While acupressure has been practiced for thousands of years by people invested in its benefits, modern science backs it up, too. A 2019 study found that acupressure treatment can produce a clinically significant decrease in self-rated pain and anxiety scores. Meanwhile, another study on a group of nursing students found that acupressure was an effective intervention for relieving stress. Sign us up!
Shakti mat review
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder: Do Shakti Mats work? When I got my hands on the Premium Shakti Mat and Pillow, I was most curious about how the mat would influence my ability to drop in during meditation and how it might impact my sleep and energy levels. Admittedly, I’m a good sleeper, but I’ve recently taken on more obligations (which means more stress!) and have been feeling less motivated to rise and shine and get to my usual 6:45 a.m. yoga class. While I was casting my list of hopes and wishes, I was also hoping the Shakti Mat could do something about the lower back pain I’ve picked up from too much sitting.
I’m not very patient, so as soon as I opened the Shakti Mat and Pillow, I tested them out. The instructions it came with warned me that the first few minutes would be the hardest, but I’d feel relaxed if I was able to endure them and settle in. The instructions also advised me to start off wearing a layer of clothes and to aim for 15 – 20 minutes of use.
I have a decent threshold for discomfort (I get monthly acupuncture treatments, and there’s nothing I love more than a high-pressure deep tissue massage with cupping). So, I took the instructions with a grain of salt and started out with my bare skin on the mat. It was not comfortable, but I was so excited to see what would happen that I was eager to endure it. I put on my favorite Dr. Joe Dispenza edition and set my intention to heal, rest, and merge with the Quantum Field.
Not to be dramatic, but it was not long before I could feel qi—the circulating energy force in all of our bodies—come online and circulate. This happens to me whenever I do acupuncture, reiki, or sometimes even yoga, so I took this as my body’s signal that the Shakti Mat was working and doing its thing. What was unique to the experience that I don’t always feel in the other modalities was an acute awareness of the inside of my body, or what sciencey folks call interception. When my 20-minute meditation was over, I called my mom to tell her that I could feel all of my organs?! She thought I was losing it, but then ordered the Shakti Mat for herself, too.
The next day, I used the Shakti Mat before I went to bed—which the brand recommends. What I was intending to be a thirty-minute session turned into falling asleep for two and a half hours. If, like I was, you’re wondering how long you should lay on the Shakti Mat, the good news is it’s a choose-your-own-adventure. While 20 minutes is enough to reap the benefits (and the sweet spot most people are comfortable with) nothing bad happens if you blow through that stop sign, like I did.
As for the Shakti Mat side effects on my sleep, each night I had ridiculously elaborate, vivid, wtf-even-is-this dreams. Since REM sleep is the stage of sleep in which most of our dreaming takes place, and the amount of dreaming I experienced this week was abnormally active, I hypothesize that the Shakti Mat increased my amount of REM sleep.
Meanwhile, my mom experienced her own sleep changes once her Shakti Mat came in the mail. My mother has not slept well in decades. She has been known to regularly spend whole nights awake. Lately, she’s been able to fall asleep from 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., and then spends the rest of the night unhappily awake. She called me this morning to tell me that she finally broke the pattern: After she woke up the first time, she was able to fall back asleep. When she woke up the second time, it was 5 a.m.
As far as my back pain, I keep accumulating it, because I keep sitting at my desk to work. However, the Shakti mat does seem to be providing some relief, as I don’t feel like I’m waking up with it per se. I do, however, feel like it’s doing a lot for my overall energy levels and vitality. Even though none of my recent stressors have gone away, this week I felt centered and was able to wake up early enough (and energized enough) to get in yoga and hiking before my workday.
shakti mat vs other acupressure mats
In full transparency, I have not tried any other acupressure mats. However, I am so satisfied with my Shakti Mat experience that I don’t have any desire to dabble in others.
Not only do I feel like I’m experiencing mental and physical benefits from it, but I like the design and quality of the mat. A lot of the Shakti Mat competitors on Amazon have white spikes, and ~ personally ~ I feel like that just looks cheaper/more plastic-y than Shakti’s clear ones.
Plus, Shakti stands out from other brands for its commitment to dignified labor practices. They pay their manufacturing employees a living wage, provide an emergency medical fund, and invest in the education of their children. Plus, 10% of their profits go to humanitarian charity.
last thoughts
In this past week, I have pestered my entire family and circle of friends to also get a Shakti Mat. Selfishly, I just want other people who I can compare all this crazy-dream data with. Unselfishly, however, I want everyone I know—and all you strangers, too—to feel well-rested and energized. With the Shakti Mat, that’s finally not too much to ask.
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