Proven to reduce stress - Possibilities with acupressure and the KENKOU App - Study

What exactly happens in the body when using an acupressure mat

In this six-week study with three test groups and 120 participants, ShaktiMat and KENKOU present what effect the use of our acupressure mat has on heart rate (bpm), relaxation ability (RMSSD) and stress level (SL). - Click here for the infographic and here for the scientific study.

• Time for a stress experiment!
• The Kenkou Stress Guide
• Our approach to the ShaktiMat Kenkou experiment
• The results of our test
• What our participants say
• Infographic

We are becoming increasingly stressed - that much is certain. A survey of more than 1,200 people conducted by the Techniker Krankenkasse health insurance fund revealed that 60 percent of all respondents experience stress in their professional or private lives. Among 30 to 39-year-olds, the figure was as high as 82 percent. That's definitely not a good prognosis for your health.

Stress per se doesn't always have to be bad, but if it becomes a permanent condition, it can have a negative impact on both our mental and physical well-being and have lasting consequences.

Lying on the ShaktiMat provides a pleasant relaxation for the whole body

Time for a stress experiment!

Every day, through our Facebook group as well as through the reviews, we receive great testimonials and feedback from people who use our acupressure mat regularly and have been able to sustainably lower their stress levels as a result.

So, as you can imagine, we have no doubt that the ShaktiMat can be wonderfully supportive for many ailments related to stress, such as headaches, fibromyalgia, sleep disorders or back pain.

The question remains: How does this beneficial effect come about and what actually happens in the body? Because even if we can feel a change in us, the mind still tries to find answers and reasons.

Therefore, we were even more pleased when the Berlin health start-up Kenkou approached us a few months ago and proposed a cooperation. Some of the founders had already been able to gather their own experience on the ShaktiMat and thus came up with the idea.

The goal was to prove in a joint test that the ShaktiMat in combination with the Kenkou app has a sustainable success on health.

In this article we would like to describe the test and what came out of it. Maybe it will convince you to use your ShaktiMat more often.

Wait a minute, who is Kenkou anyway?

Kenkou is a Berlin-based start-up with a vision to develop accessible solutions for a stress-free life. For this purpose, they have developed the Kenkou Stress Guide App, which combines innovative medical technologies with proven concepts of mindfulness.

As you can tell, this is very similar to our vision for ShaktiMat, which is why we were incredibly excited about this project. 

Reducing stress doesn't have to stress you out: here's how the Kenkou Stress Guide app works

The Kenkou Stress Guide is a kind of digital companion that scientifically analyzes your stress level and helps you to better manage your stress with the help of relaxation exercises and positive habits.

It is a CE-certified medical device that doctors, data scientists, and IT scientists developed together. In addition, the Stress Guide uses artificial intelligence, deep data and digital biomarkers to better understand individual stress and to be able to counteract it in a targeted manner.

The respective stress measurements are taken using a smartphone camera and analyze your breathing and pulse rate. This vital signs analysis is used to determine heart rate variability (HRV), which measures the distance between successive heartbeats.
HRV measurements provide a non-invasive marker to gain insight into the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and therefore the state of the body. This is why HRV measurements can be used so successfully as a prevention tool against stress.

This is what the measurement looks like within the Kenkou app.

The Kenkou Stress Guide app attempts to measure and reduce your stress level in three steps:

• With the help of your built-in smartphone camera, you can perform scientifically based stress level measurements without any additional hardware. You simply hold your finger on the flash of your camera and your stress level is measured. By illuminating the fingertip, the analysis of the blood vessels is made possible.
• Within the app, there are individual programs and exercises against stress that leading biopsychologists and stress therapists have developed to lower your stress level in a targeted and sustainable way.
  
  Specific anti-stress exercises are recommended according to your personal stress level. These can be guided mindfulness meditations, short breathing exercises or relaxation tasks.
  
• The beauty is that you continuously assess your personal progress with measurement reports and feedback. This way you always have an insight into your stress rating and can see your very individual successes to achieve a sustainable stress reduction. 

The Kenkou Stress Guide app attempts to measure and reduce your stress level in three steps:

• Sleep better
  
• Healthy diet
  
• Live at the moment
  
• Learning to let go
  
• Positive mindset
  
• Negative emotions
  
• Creativity
• More energy at work
  
• Family stress
• Sport and stress
  

The different programs of the Kenkou App

Convinced? Then we'll be happy to tell you how we proceeded with the test! 

Our approach to the ShaktiMat Kenkou experiment

Fortunately, the ShaktiMat community is great, open and curious. So it wasn't too much of a challenge to find 120 volunteer testers who wanted to participate in this experiment.

We divided the 120 testers into three groups of equal size, each of which was to take three measurements a day. One measurement before each application, one measurement during the application, and one measurement after the application.

The test groups looked like this:

• A test group A (comparison group), which took three measurements daily before, during and after use on a yoga or sports mat. This allowed us to determine a comparative value for the other groups. 
• A ShaktiMat group B that took three measurements daily before, during, and after use on a ShaktiMat. 
• A Kenkou ShaktiMat group C that took three measurements daily before, during and after use on a ShaktiMat and used the Kenkou Stress Guide in parallel.

For the test, it was important that our testers performed the measurements at least 4x per week for 8 weeks. To our astonishment, many of our testers even measured daily.

In addition, the testers kept a measurement diary, which made it easier for Kenkou and us to assign the results in the evaluation.

The parameters: This is what we analyzed in the test

The ShaktiMat can also be easily incorporated into the daily work routine.

Let's now look at the technical data that we evaluated and analyzed during our test. 

• Heart rate (bpm)
  Heart rate is a basic parameter that indicates an overall working efficiency of the cardiovascular system.
  
  Increased heart rate in a relaxed environment means increased "cardiovascular cost", possibly due to chronic stress or heart disease. 
• Relaxation capacity (RMSSD)
  Our heart is a muscle that works all the time. It cannot be stopped to recover, but must do so while it is working.
  
  How can the heart recover? Well, it depends on the rhythm.
  
  If it beats in the same rhythm for a long time, the heart muscle gets tired quickly. But if the rhythm varies, the muscle has time to recover and tires more slowly. The RMSSD shows how variably the heart beats and can therefore recover.
  
  Your ability to recover is measured by the parasympathetic nervous system. This controls your body while it is in a state of rest. The easier it is for you to recover from a tense state, the higher your recovery ability.
  
  The rhythmic variability of the heart (RMSSD) tells you how well your body recovers from stress. It reflects whether the parasympathetic nervous system can provide regeneration and recovery. A strong stress response is based in part on a high RMSSD.
  
• Stress Level
  Cardiovascular stress level indicates whether a particular heart rate is dominant. The dominant heart rate in a relaxed environment indicates that the "resting" stress level is still present.
  
  Your stress level (SL) is a heart rate index and is determined by the variability of your heart rate. It shows you objectively how much you are currently suffering from stress. The higher the value, the more tense your body is.
  

The results of our test

The participants in group C (ShaktiMat & Stress Guide) were much more motivated than the participants in groups A (control group) and B (ShaktiMat only). We can see this from the fact that here most of them carried out the experiment until the end. In the control group A there were the most dropouts. 

• Getting to grips with stress levels
  In the control group (those testers who only lay down on a yoga or sports mat), the stress level did not change. In comparison, in test group B (testers who used the ShaktiMat) the stress level decreased significantly. The effect of stress reduction was strongest in test group C (using the ShaktiMat and the Kenkou Stress Guide app).
• More relaxation ability for more rest
  As already described above, the rhythmic variability of the heart says something about how quickly we can recover from stress and thus relax.
  
  In the control group, there was no change in the ability of the cardiovascular system to relax during the experiment. In the test group B (ShaktiMat only) the ability to relax increased significantly. The effect of the increase was greatest in the Shaktimat and Kenkou Stress Guide group.
  
• The lower the heart rate, the better
  Heart rate showed a tendency to decrease in all groups; however, it was highest and statistically significant in test group C (ShaktiMat and Kenkou Stress Guide in combination).
  

Spotlight: What our participants say

We asked two of our testers to describe to you and us how they felt about the test. You can read their answers here:

Nadine Stemke, alternative practitioner and tester group C

"I started the Kenkou Test with my ShaktiMat Light. Before, I used it regularly especially to relax the shoulder neck area. With the test, the evening ShaktiMat routine became a real relaxation ritual. Meditation and relaxation techniques have been part of my daily routine for many years, so I was very curious to see what would change with the Kenkou program. The quote of the day often put a smile on my face in the morning. The conscious breathing exercise with the graphic support was a completely new experience for me because it was so different. I was able to engage with it more and more over time and enter into deeper relaxation through conscious breathing. Using the program has shown me that my individual perception of my stress level is not necessarily the same as my actual tension. I am able to handle stress well and I put my body through a lot. Through the exercises in the Kenkou program and the use of the ShaktiMat, I have created more conscious islands of energy for myself, so that I can switch off and give my body a break. I can now perceive the difference even better."

Tobias Riegel, meditation teacher, organic farmer and tester group C 

"I have been using the ShaktiMat regularly for about 2 years. At the beginning of the year I applied for the test. I was assigned to the group of ShaktiMat AND Kenkou Stress Guide testers. In the beginning I was traveling in India, Bhutan and Finland on business. Especially when switching off & overcoming the time zone difference, "coming down" on the ShaktiMat has always helped me. In combination with the Kenkou Stress Guide it was brilliant. At first I was a bit annoyed by the introductions to techniques that I actually already knew. But then I just got into it again and was really deeply gone. Since this year passes quite unexpectedly, the ShaktiMat has become part of my morning meditation ritual. Sometimes with the Kenkou Stress app, sometimes just like that. And the initial 15 minutes on the Shakti Mat has now often become even more than an hour. Now I've started doing yoga exercises on the mat. It goes on and on. 😊"

How do you bring more peace into your everyday life?

As you can now see for yourself, the beneficial effects of both the ShaktiMat and the Kenkou Stress Guide can be measured very well. This should provide our mind in particular with many answers that it likes to ask for when feeling is not enough.

As mentioned at the beginning, stress can certainly motivate us to achieve our goals and give even more. However, when this condition becomes a permanent burden, we suffer and, based on this, we form symptoms of suffering that very soon need to be treated.

For this very reason, it is important to build moments into our daily lives when we can let go of everything and let be. Moments in which we can reflect on ourselves again, to look inward and feel ourselves again - because with all the distractions and stress factors nowadays, this is not so easy.

A daily time-out on the ShaktiMat and the courses in the Kenkou Stress Guide can help you do just that. You will get to know yourself better and recognize stress before it can have a long-term impact on your well-being.

We hope that this experiment has motivated you to become more aware of stress and to keep a better eye on it.

That's it for stress from Kenkou and us. If you have any questions about the experiment, the numbers or the application, you can always write to us ([email protected]) or Kenkou ([email protected]) - we look forward to your feedback!


Best regards,
Your ShaktiTeam

Infographic