Shakti Mats made a big splash when they arrived in New Zealand a few years ago. But does lying on thousands of tiny spikes improve our health or is it just a painful hoax?

By Liz Garton

The Shakti Mat's arrival in New Zealand is a classic yarn.

Jonathan Heslop and his university mate George Lill were travelling in Thailand, they were on a particularly yoga retreat style beach, when a man came along with one of these mats. The man explained what it was and although the pair were were skeptical, they gave it a try.

"It was one of those real 'wow' moments, of going; 'how do people not know about this?'," said Heslop.

Two months later, back in Dunedin where they were studying, Lill thought there would be a market in New Zealand.

"And so about six months later we had 2000 of them arriving on our doorstep and all the money we had spent on them," laughs Heslop.

Although Heslop wouldn't say how many mats they've sold since then, he pointed out the company placed 13th on the 2019 Deloitte Fast 50 list, with revenue growth of 340 percent over the last three years.

The Shakti Mat looks like a doormat covered in thousands of tiny spikes.

"It's made from the same plastic that Lego is made from," said Heslop, "So if you've stood on Lego, you know how how hard that is."

The idea is to lie or stand on the mat for 20 minutes or so, Heslop uses his mat almost everyday.

"In general people lie on it the very first time and they go 'ouch'. How is how is this supposed to be relaxing?," he said.

But then: "You get this this change in sensation in your body it stops feeling sore and it starts feeling warm and tingly. Relaxing, you kind of feel like you're melting away into it."

Heslop reckons it's like exercise - no pain, no gain. "The results, and the benefits are just so worth it. Generally the things that are most worthwhile to do take a little bit of willpower and discipline and some sacrifice."

Edwina Nathan and Aggie Boxall have shakti mats at home.

Nathan uses hers after work: "I sit at a computer so my arms and shoulders are forward so I'll often go home and take my shirt off and lie on it. It releases a lot of the stiffness."

And in the morning. "It's good in the morning to get you going, so you just stand on it with no socks on and then just breathe," she said.

Boxall found it "a bit prickly" at first, but now she loves it.

"After the first five minutes of just lying there, you feel the heat coming through and then you just relax on it," she said…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details