Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbounded Consciousness. Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind. ~ Patanjali

Happiness on a bed of nails?

Like many other humans who have a job done primarily at a desk, I keep my tension in my upper back and shoulders. I also don’t have great posture, have never had great posture, if I had a dollar for every time I was told to stand up straight…

The last couple of weeks my back has been particular bad. I spent a little too much time laying on the couch, it puts my back at an awkward angle and doesn’t allow it too relax. I know this, but it’s comfortable in the moment and I’m a lazy man. So my back has been a complete mess. I haven’t found a good massage therapist where I live and the nearest good one I know of, is too far to travel to unfortunately.

So I’ve been doing what I normally do, stretching, flexing my back on a device I own and doing self massage using a tennis ball against the door. All of this helps, as well as staying off the couch. So my back was getting incrementally better. Of course my back hurt and that’s the time you see every chirp wheel, yoga routine and back stretching ad. I’ve also been inundated with ads for Shakti mats and I’ve had a friend recommend this to me as a way to help me get better sleep.

Now if you don’t know what a Shakti Mat is, technically it’s an acupressure mat, but when you take a look at them, they are in fact a minor torture device. I stuck my hand on one of the tines the second I unpacked it and it hurt like hell. They tell you with the mat that it will promote better circulation and relaxation in your back, that sounded great. They also tell you that the first forty seconds will be intense. So I initially laid on it with a t-shirt on but I could tell it was dulling the effect too much. So, I took my shirt off, and the first forty seconds is fucking intense! The swearing is required to truly represent the intensity. You do get used to it, during the first forty seconds that doesn’t seem possible. I expected not to last the recommended twenty minutes and set my phone alarm for six minutes. I made the alarm at six minutes and then extended out and did the full twenty minutes. You can’t move around, as soon as you do it sets you back to the first forty second feeling again.

They describe a range of changes you’ll go through as you lay on the mat, from pain to prickly, to your back feeling really hot, to relaxation. I didn’t expressly feel all those stages, but remarkably after a couple of minutes it actually is quite comfortable. So I’ve been tracking my progress.

Day 1 – Learned a lot the first day, needed to change around my set up a bit, but surprisingly it was relaxing. Although I’m doing it on my bed which is supposed to make it less intense.

Day 2 – The set up is now solid and I’ve added listening to a twenty minute sleep meditation on YouTube, not sure how much it’s helping my back muscles in addition to my normal routine, but it’s definitely a good way to relax and get back into meditating each night.

Day 3 – It felt a bit routine tonight, didn’t change the set up at all and I say routine, once the initial period passed. Laying down on the mat honestly doesn’t get any easier and getting up off of the mat is just as painful but happily briefly so.

Day 4 – Skipped the mat tonight, totally exhausted when I went to bed.

Day 5 – I’m enjoying the 20 minute guided sleep meditation I added to the practice, both as a timer and as a way to help keep me focused on my breath, it’s very relaxing.

Day 6 – Same as day 5, tried a different sleep meditation tonight, not as good, will go back to the one I’ve been using.

Day 7 – Stayed up way too late, really tired, skipped the mat tonight.

Seven day update, I can say that there is some benefit for sure in terms of sleep. I’m actually falling a sleep more quickly and feel like I’m sleeping more deeply. Still up two to three times a night but that’s more of a prostate/blood sugar issue.

Day 8 – Decided to up my game a little, have put the mat down on my meditation rug, directly on the floor and laid down on it tonight. Definitely much more intense, had I started on the floor I’m not sure I would have lasted the full 20 minutes early on. The initial intensity and yes, read that as pain, was higher, to the point I actively felt my body tensing against it and had to force my shoulders and legs to relax. Once the first minute or so had passed however, it was a very similar experience. What has shown up after is that I can feel the effects of the pressure much longer after getting off the mat. But damn, I need to learn how to levitate off the mat, getting off, after finally feeling good and relaxed sucks.

Day 9 – 11 Quick trip to New York so I wasn’t using the mat.

Day 12 – Was a little worried about returning to the mat after a few days off, but except for the first minute, it was sailing through my breathing and meditation as always.

Day 13 – Honestly it’s getting to be a bit routine, other than the first minute and getting off the mat which still and I think will always suck.

Day 14 – In addition to the mat each night I do self massage against a door using a tennis ball. I do this primarily to work on the muscles around my shoulder blades which are always tight for me. My old massage therapist and I used to jokingly call them my angel wing knots, teasing that this is the base where I lost my angel wings. This is of course, up for debate. What I’ve noticed is that these knots have been consistently smaller and less tight than normal. I have to feel that the shakti mat has had something to do with this.

So my recommendation is that if you’re having tension issues with your back, the shakti mat is worth a try. Of course I also believe the benefits both to my back and sleep are related to both the mat and the twenty minute meditation that goes with it as there are well-documented benefits to consistent meditation.

So my friends, lay down on a bed of a nails, it makes for happier nights, you know, except for the first and last minute. ~ Rev Kane