Accu-pressure mat seems to (for me) induce the body temperature spike and dip that accompanies the start of the sleep cycle in the same way that taking a warm shower before bed is supposed to. I've also found that it adds to the intensity of deep breathing exercises.

The most surprising thing is that despite the initial discomfort, I often find myself waking up on the thing an hour or more after laying down on it. I always set a stopwatch timer on my phone when I use it since 20 full minutes on it is the baseline recommendation, but very often I'll blow right past that.