Now I Lay Me...

I was thinking today, as I looked at our heating bill, about something that came up in yoga class a while back. Our instructor was telling us about the bed of nails she got for Christmas.
Let me repeat that. The bed of nails she got for Christmas.
Now, a bed of nails brings a picture to my mind and it is not a picture of blissed-out serenity. The thing I think of, when you say "bed of nails," involves a gleaming mat of spikes, a crowd gathered around and a nervous participant drawn from the audience. Here's an example of what I mean:




(Enrique, I applaud your bravery.)
So it's a little hard to imagine anyone tearing open the wrapper. "Oh, gosh, what could it be? It is! It is! The bed of nails I wanted!"
But apparently the bed of nails in question is the newest thing out there in alternative medicine circles to improve circulation, meditation and help with muscle pain. It's also supposed to help with stress, though that seems a little counter intuitive because you're lying on a bed of nails!
Well, actually, you're not. I looked it up and the modern bed of nails, which goes by the name of Shakti mat, or acupressure spike mat (not acupuncture. No one is supposed to be punctured.) doesn't have any metal nails at all. Instead there are clusters of small plastic spikes arranged in a pattern that is supposed to help the body release endorphins. The back has a design that means something in Sanskrit. (Here's a web site.)
The idea is that at first, you will be uncomfortable, but eventually, you will relax, feel tingly and arise with improvements in those sore muscles you got from running, or in circulation or in those reflexology points on your feet that are supposed to affect every organ of the body. And it's designer says it can help increase happiness. (Go here, to read interview. Here's more from Preventative Health Journal.)
So I must admit I am curious. If hundreds of hard plastic pointy things digging into my back don't make me happy, then I'll bet they'd at least distract me from a few things that have been on my mind. (Like that heating bill. Seriously, when just about every idle daydream ends with me doing kung fu, something's gotta change.)
But alas. The price on line for a mat is near $70--definitely out of my price range.
For now, normal yoga will have to do.