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A celebration of women's sexuality, Shakti ends up completely naked, her body a canvas for beautiful day-glo painted images, whipping herself into an almost-demonic, explosive finale of passion and fire. Alongside reducing and alleviating stress, psychologists say that keeping a wellness journal is good for improving your mood and increasing your overall happiness. It helps you process things that happen in your daily life, not to mention regulate your emotions and boost your confidence. There are loads of them and of course, it’s a holistic treatment, but more specific benefits include anything from switching off to upping circulation to helping to clear the mind to trigger the mind-body connection. It can also help target niggling areas of tension and release tense areas in the fascia (the connective tissue lying beneath the skin that attaches and encloses muscles and internal organs). The general idea behind a Shakti Mat (and its competitors) is that the multiple spikes attached to each mat are specially designed to target your muscles in the most relaxing way. Now, we realise that 'multiple spikes' and 'relaxing' don't exactly sound like they naturally work together in a sentence, but the pain isn't actually all that bad (we'll get into that properly in a minute...).
It was also a really good way to increase circulation in feet and legs while sitting at a desk, and when used right before bed engendered a sense of feeling calm. What are the benefits? Acupuncture is puncturing the skin with needles; acupressure is applying enough pressure on an acupuncture point to stimulate it," explains Sahar Hooti, acupuncturist and founder of AcuCare Clinic. She adds that this stimulation can reduce your stress, improve sleep, boost energy, relieve muscle tension and ease pain, thanks to the needles helping to regulate levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.Harvard Medical School reveals deep breathing disengages you from "distracting thoughts and sensations," and details how to practice breath focus perfectly. First, you must breathe in slowly through your nose, and allow your chest and lower belly to rise as you fill your lungs. Then, let the abdomen fully expand before breathing out slowly through your mouth or nose - whichever one feels more natural. As our Cosmopolitan staffer said, she definitely felt more relaxed and energised after spending some time on the mat. But if you're struggling with stress and anxiety to such an extent that it's impacting on your day-to-day life, we always recommend reaching out to your GP for a chat. Other self-care methods to try Once in place, you’re aiming for 20+ minutes of time on it. We found it’s a good idea to either take the Shakti Mat to bed to read while on it, or to lie on it when ruminating or watching TV. If you are standing on it, two–five minutes is enough – but more doesn’t do any harm, and we drifted off a few times when on it. She added, "Maybe it's a placebo effect or the fact that being on the mat forced me to put my phone down for a while, and just lie still – a rarity these days – but either way, I can confirm that I felt better following my Shakti experience than I did before. That burning sensation could easily become quite addictive." Another plus point? The Shakti Mat can easily be rolled up afterwards and stored without taking up too much space. Is a Shakti Mat good for muscle tension?
There's no harm in trying out more self-care methods - on top of the Shakti Mat if you're keen to try - to improve things like stress and anxiety. In fact, it's actively encouraged, we'd say. If you've still got a spare couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon and you're really craving that ultimate zen, there are numerous other techniques you can try - both with and without your new Shakti Mat...
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Others have recommended the mat as being beneficial for Restless Leg Syndrome and as a good way to soothe muscles after exercise or playing sports (one rugby player we chatted to while researching the mats couldn't stop singing its praises on that front). Is a Shakti Mat good for anxiety and stress? Inimitable, outrageous, scandalous Japanese dancer Shakti makes her West End debut for 9 performances of her production, The Pillow Book at the Arts Theatre from 29th Aug to 7th Sep 02. Embrace the soothing embrace of the Shakti Pillow, and embark on a journey of relaxation and revitalization that aligns with your well-being goals.
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