Wait, wut? Sleep your way to good posture?
Absolutely, just follow along.
Wait, wut? Sleep your way to good posture?
Absolutely, just follow along.
It’s posture Thursday now, wherein I usually write about how postural correction has improved some other aspect of my life. This week’s somewhat belated posture Monday covered that, on the topic of migraines, their triggers, and how postural correction helped reduce the frequency and severity of my migraines.
One of the triggers I addressed was sleep deprivation, how getting myself over tired, in conjunction with another trigger or two, leaves me susceptible to a migraine. But what is the connection between sleep and posture?
Well, let’s begin with this; being tired, mentally or physically, has a detrimental effect on your posture. Simply put, it’s hard to stand up straight, when you can barely stand at all. A good night’s sleep is critically important for maintaining both the energy and mental focus necessary for good posture.
More than that, HOW you sleep affects your posture. Consider that you spend 7 – 9 hours sleeping. That’s a long time to hold your body in a particular shape, particularly in stage 4 (REM) sleep when your muscles are turned off and you literally cannot move. If your body is in a posture healthy shape, you are giving yourself a night’s posture correction. If your body is in an unhealthy shape, you are doing the opposite.
So, how then to put yourself in a good shape for your posture?
- Don’t cheap out on your mattress. Buy the best mattress you can afford, your spine, your sleep and your all around health will thank you for it.
- Don’t cheap out on your pillows. As with your mattress, you’re going to spend a long time on them, so buy good ones. I recommend having at least two; one for your head, and one for your knees or stomach.
- Set up your bed for optimal sleep. How you do this will depend on your primary sleeping position; front, side or back.
- For front sleepers, a thin head pillow (or none), so your neck isn’t back bend and turned at the same time. Then, a second, thicker one, under your tummy so your lumbar spine isn’t over curved.
- For back sleepers, a moderately thin head pillow so your neck isn’t tipped forward like you’re reading your phone. Then, a second one to prop up your knees to control your lumbar curve.
- For side sleepers, a thicker head pillow so your neck isn’t bent to the side as you rest. For the second one, I like a fairly thick one between my knees so my (very deep socketed) hips don’t cause my lumbar to twist.
- How exactly you set this up is entirely dependant on your sleeping position and anatomy. You’ll need to experiment with it before you get it just right.
- Cool your bedroom one or two degrees below daytime. There’s a fair bit of research that shows we get better sleep in a cooler room.
- Get to bed earlier. Rule of thumb; sleep before midnight is twice as good as sleep after midnight.
- Sleep in bed. I know that sounds obvious, but falling asleep on the couch while binge watching Game of Thrones is very bad for you back. Go to bed.
- Finally, bed is for sleeping and Mommy/Daddy night time activities. No TV, no tablet, no phone. Read an actual paper book if that’s part of your night time wind down routine, but NO ELECTRONICS. They mess with your sleep cycle.
Making sure you get sufficient, restful sleep will do wonders for your back and posture. And that’s in addition to reducing migraines, and all the other benefits of a good night’s sleep.
