“Sleep is the best meditation,” said the Dalai Lama. People spend about a third of their lives asleep, and it is a vital part of staying healthy. In fact, when people don’t get adequate sleep, there are negative effects on their health. There’s even a disorder known as fatal familial insomnia, where a person’s lack of sleep is so severe it leads to death! Sleep is the time for your body to heal and process the events of the day. There are certain things one should do in order to ensure that they get the best sleep possible.
There are many elements involved in sleep, but I’m going to focus on the physical aspects, particularly your body position. If your body is in an uncomfortable or misaligned position for 8 hours a day for 80 years (a total of 26 and 2/3 years!!) there will be negative consequences on your wellbeing and your musculoskeletal health.
Your spine and joints are meant to be in alignment. When you stand up, your ankles should line up with your knees, hips, pelvis, back, neck and shoulders. Nowadays, it is rare to actually see someone with good (normal) posture and alignment unless he or she takes the necessary steps to achieve it. When you sleep, your body should continue to be aligned.
Your sleep position can really put undue pressure and stress on your body. If you sleep on your stomach, your pelvis tilts and the groin and thigh muscles stretch in an unnatural way that puts extra stress on your lower back. Also, since you must have your head turned to either side to avoid suffocation, the nerves and muscles in your neck are tilted and pinched. If you sleep on your back, your pelvis tilts the other way and does the same thing. If you sleep on your side, you most likely have your knees pulled up to your chest. This stretches and tightens the gluteal and hip/pelvic muscles in an unnatural way that also causes chronic problems. Likewise, your top arm/shoulder and hip/leg tend to be pulled toward the bed (gravity), which further twists your joints and spine.
Of all the sleep positions, the side position is most recommended, but there are extra steps you need to follow to maintain alignment. In order to keep your top leg from falling toward the bed, I recommend you use a Memory Foam Wedge Support like this one:
What makes this product special is the cool gel material. One drawback for many other memory foam knee pillows is that the people feel hot and sweaty because memory foam conforms to your body and less air is able to circulate around the knee pillow. So, this specially designed knee pillow makes a difference by using the cooling gel pad and breathable mesh fabric to increase air circulation.
Simply insert the spacer pillow above or below your knee and sleep on the side most comfortable for you.
You can get yours here:
This is a sponsored post.
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