Creating Feel Good People and The Feel Good Mat

It was just like any other day after work. My body felt tense and my mind was filled with replays of annoying coworker interactions and my never-ending to-do list. I was feeling the stress both inside and out and knew it was time to tap into some self-care.

I had just ordered a vibrating massage mat from Amazon after reading an article about the benefits of whole-body vibration therapy on relaxing muscles as a means to calm the mind and relieve anxiety. I thought I’d give it a try alongside listening to some binaural beats, a regular decompressing practice of mine. 

I layed down on the mat, selected a deep relaxation binaural sound track and turned on the vibration. Almost instantly, I felt a physical shift. The vibration started to release the tension in my body; even if my muscles wanted to tense, the vibration just wouldn’t allow for it.

I was starting to melt into the mat, and my thoughts slowed as the binaural beats took center stage.  I took a few slow deep breaths and as the minutes went by I felt a deeper and deeper sense of relaxation. 30 minutes later the mat switched off automatically, leaving me with an incredible feeling of buzz and bliss. The tension in my body had disappeared, my mind was calm and I felt really good.  

For weeks, the mat and sounds became my go-to de-stressing and self-care practice throughout the day whenever I needed a moment to reset. Working in tandem, the sound and body vibrations allowed me to enter a deeper state of relaxation than I hadn’t experienced before.

I wanted to understand the science behind this incredible feeling and as I started to learn more about it, I learned it really came down to regulating my nervous system. I learned that whenever we’re stressed out, we’re operating in the sympathetic nervous system, also known as the fight or flight state.

To relieve our stress, we have to get into the parasympathetic nervous system, or the rest and restore state. In the parasympathetic state we feel calmer, more focused and can take on life’s challenges more easily.  

The therapeutic benefits of vibration and sound have been widely studied and accepted as an effective way of regulating our nervous system - aka reducing stress. Whole Body Vibration is one of the most effective ways of instantly activating the parasympathetic state because it mimics the sensation of soothing touch and sends a memo to your brain that you’re being soothed and not in any danger, therefore you can relax now. 

Similarly, your brain interprets soothing sounds as non-threatening noises, also activating the parasympathetic state. Used separately, vibration and sound work incredibly well at relaxing you but use them together and the result is an even deeper multi-sensory relaxation experience.

It now made sense why this multi-sensory blend was such an incredibly effective way to de-stress and realign my physical and mental state on such a profound level. And regardless of the science, I felt fucking amazing every time I used it. 

As I continued to use the mat and learn more about what was happening to my mind and body, I started thinking about how the experience could be made even better. I knew a more elevated product could be made that combined vibration and sound into a unified multi-sensory experience. Thus then began the journey of bringing Feel Good People and the Feel Good Mat to life. 

As we prepare to launch over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more details on the Feel Good Mat.