Staring at the ceiling. Heart racing. Thoughts whirling. Nighttime anxiety is a horrible feeling, and it affects a lot of us. In fact, 68% of adults have experienced disrupted sleep because of anxiety, and I’m one of them.
When I’m feeling particularly stressed or anxious, it can take hours to fall asleep. And, when I finally drop off, a rush of cortisol in the early hours usually jolts me awake at 3am.
Stress relief = great sleep
Friends and family have long told me about the benefits of acupuncture, but I’d never heard of ‘acupressure’ before. Like acupuncture, it’s a form of Chinese medicine where pressure is applied to certain points on your body to stimulate your healing process.
From stress relief to allergies and nausea, the benefits that acupressure claims to offer are varied. And you can do it from the comfort of your own home.
When I saw the Pranamat, a mat and pillow adorned with hundreds of spikes and filled with 100% natural coconut fiber, I knew I wanted to try it. The website boasts of increased sleep quality, relaxation and stress relief. Exactly what I needed to get over my anxious evenings.
How lying on a bed of spikes helped me sleep
My first impressions
When I pulled the mat from the packaging, I dropped it immediately. The spikes were sharp. Much sharper than I thought they’d be, and I immediately doubted my ability to lie on them.
The mat came with an instruction booklet on how to use it safely, advising that you should wear a T-shirt if it’s your first time and that you should only lie on the mat and pillow for a maximum of 10-minutes. You can slowly increase that time as you get used to it.
It seemed simple enough. So after brushing my teeth and slipping into my PJs, I lay the mat and pillow down on the floor to start my new nighttime routine.
Night 1
Night one can be summed up in one word: ouch. I’m not joking when I say I was shocked at how painful it felt, so much so that I was convinced I was doing it wrong. But after adjusting my position, I realised that this was how it was supposed to feel.
I genuinely didn’t think I’d be able to last even two minutes. I set a timer for 10 and tried my hardest to relax.
Now, I don’t think I achieved relaxation. I spent the whole 10 minutes telling myself to keep going and not give up. Towards the end, I think the pain subsided slightly, and my body became numb, but not significantly.
When the timer finally sounded, I was incredibly relieved. It wasn’t what I was expecting, and I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t the relaxing, stress-free experience I was promised.
But then I got into bed, and I realised my body felt completely tension-free. It was the kind of exhausted, heavy feeling you get after a massage where all you want to do is curl up and sleep for hours. And that’s exactly what happened.
I fell asleep within minutes, and I didn’t wake all night.
Night 2-7
I had an odd mixture of excitement and dread for my next Pranamat session. Surely it couldn’t have been as painful as I’d remembered? I set my timer for 15 minutes on night two.
It was like I’d had a full-body massage
Nope. I hadn’t misremembered. Agony, again. However, as I got past the 10-minute mark, my body became tingly and relaxed a little, making the last five minutes more bearable.
As soon as I was off the mat, it was like I’d had a full-body massage. Again, an uninterrupted deep sleep followed, proving the first night wasn’t just a one-off.
Over the next few nights, I realised that having this period of time before bed where I couldn’t move or scroll on my phone and instead was forced to process my day (without the pressure of falling asleep) greatly reduced my nighttime anxiety.
It acted as a period of mindfulness, and had a similar effect to when I used to practise yoga before bed. This meant I was less likely to toss and turn with a racing heart when I did get into bed.
Over the week, I managed to increase the time spent on the mat to 20 minutes, although I still couldn’t lie on it without wearing pajamas even on day seven — kudos to anyone who can.
It didn’t necessarily get less painful, but the longer I was on it, the more my body felt tingly and numb, instead of like I was being stabbed with a thousand tiny knives.
I have to admit, it was the best week of sleep I’d had in a while.
The science behind acupressure and sleep
There is plenty of discussion around whether acupressure can, scientifically, improve sleep quality.
However, a recent 2025 study concluded that acupressure “is an effective and relatively safe non‐invasive intervention to improve sleep quality and sleep parameters.”
I spoke to Olga Grigorenko, the founder of Pranamat, to find out how it works and what evidence there is for improving our sleep.
“I know that my sleep becomes noticeably deeper when I use the Pranamat mat before bed,” Grigorenko says. Describing a similar experience to mine, he says that “The calming effect it has on my body is undeniable, and I wake up feeling… refreshed.”
He also told me that many customers reported an increase in deep sleep phases, confirmed by their smartwatches.
“Research from 2014 further supports these observations,” Grigorenko says, citing a clinical study that found using Pranamat for just 20 minutes each day is 95% effective in helping people fall asleep faster, wake fewer times during the night, and enhance deep sleep.
Deep sleep is an essential sleep stage for physical and mental recovery, and most people should get around 1.5 to 2 hours of deep sleep a night to wake feeling refreshed.
“Establishing a relaxing routine before bed is key to good sleep hygiene,” Grigorenko says. “Pranamat, as part of this ritual, helps release stress, calm the mind, and prepare the body for a restful night’s sleep.”
Humans are creatures of habit, and a nighttime routine that’s repeated every evening can signal to our bodies that it’s time to wind down and switch off, making falling asleep easier.
My verdict
Personally, I found the Pranamat super effective. Even if the acupressure wasn’t doing anything to improve my sleep — although I think it certainly was — creating a (somewhat) calming nighttime routine that I could repeat every evening helped reduce my stress levels and anxiety.
I no longer dreaded going to bed, and I looked forward to my body feeling so relaxed I could lie down and sleep in minutes.
I’d recommend people give it a go. It’s not a small investment, with a Pranamat costing around $340 on Amazon, but it’s not just sleep that the acupressure can help with. According to the team, you can expect enhanced recovery after physical activity, stress relief and toned skin.
Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
