A circus performance, once. And an ancient Indian way to meditate. But lying on a bed of nails is not as bad as it seems.

Now someone discovered that - surprise! - it's even good for you, to the point that a yoga mat producer started to manufacture a mat with nails.

It all depends on how many nails will share the weight of your body. Enough nails will support you with hundreds of light pressure points, not strong enough to pierce your skin. And there is a collateral benefit.

The idea behind the therapeutic power of lying on nails is that it increases back temperature, increasing circulation and lowering the heart rate. After a few minutes oxytocin, a pain blocker, is released in your blood, followed by endorphins. These are responsible for that feeling of wellbeing and elation that overcomes any feeling of discomfort after 10 minutes.

Also called acupressure, the mechanism seems to work well also for sore muscles and chronic pain.