Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was concerned about getting this because of the reviews that say it really hurts. I have fibromyalgia and was thinking my back wouldn't be able to handle it. But I got it out of dispersion anyway. I am so glad I did. It does hurt when you first lay on it, so that is true. I started by just using the bottom part of the mat because my back went out on me and I was in severe pain, couldn't sleep, etc. I put a sheet on the pillow and upper 1/3 of the mat. The first 30 seconds was painful but I accepted the pain hoping it would get better like the brochure says (it comes with a nice brochure explaining how to use it for different aches and pains). Within the first minute the pain started to diminish. In about 3 minutes I could feel my muscles "melting" into the mat. That's the only way to explain the feeling. I spent about 20 minutes on it and kept feeling different parts of my back really relax for the first time in weeks. Just when I thought my body was fully relaxed, I would feel another muscle "melt". I love it!! I am now up to 1 hour after only a week of using it. I tried using it "full mat with pillow" but the upper part of my back is just too sensitive to anything so I stopped doing the upper part of my back. My neck hated it the first couple of times, but now my neck feels really good when I lay on it. (It's like my body thinks it's being attacked and goes on full alert the first time. But afterwards it starts realizing that it's not going to harm me and doesn't send off a bunch of warning bells to my body.) I even took it to my meditation class where we can sit or lay in any position we want. And I am now hooked on using this as my meditation mat as well. I can meditate and help heal my back both at the same time. Before this I could hardly meditate because my back was in too much pain. I LOVE IT and highly recommend it. And it comes in PURPLE!!!!!