7 ways you are Sleeping wrong, Even if you eat kale, exercise, and somehow resist the office cupcakes, it still wont matter much if you dont get a decent amount of sleep. Your body and mind desperately needs rest to function properly. If only it were as easy as shutting your eyes. Take a look at your sleep habits to find out whether youre making these major mistakes, and learn how to fix them: 1. You sleep on a super-fluffy pillow. Ideally, your pillow should elevate your head and neck just enough to keep your spine straight while you sleep. Pillows that raise your head more than a few inches cause you to round your head and shoulders forward. You can get away with a slightly higher pillow when you sleep on your side, because theres more room to fill between the side of your head and the mattress when you lie in that position. 2. You sleep on a mattress thats too soft. Unfortunately theres no perfect mattress — it all depends on your frame, weight, and personal preference. That said, yours is probably too soft if you feel like you sinking into it. If your pelvis drops more than a few inches, you could suffer from lower back pain, Leve says. 3. You sleep on a mattress thats too hard. If your body doesnt sink at all, you could develop a curve in the spine that causes a stiff back and shoulders or hip pain in the morning. Buy a foam mattress cover to make it a little more forgiving. 4. You sleep on your stomach. Sleeping face-down can cause some issues — like not being able to breathe, for example. Because you need to turn your head to one side to get air in and out, you inherently twist your spine. Over time, this can cause neck and back pain, and issues falling and staying asleep, an associate professor of clinical medicine for the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia and member of the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). To straighten your spine, bend the elbow and knee on the side you typically turn your head toward, and wedge a pillow underneath that armpit and hip. If you tend to kick the pillows and wake up flat on your stomach, tape a tennis ball to the front of your pyjama shirt to teach your sleeping self not to roll. And if you really cant sleep in a modified position, wedge a thin pillow under your abdomen to take pressure off your back. 5. You sleep in fetal position. This side-sleeper tendency can restrict your breath and compromise the quality of your sleep, physical therapist at Shift PT in New York City. Wedge a body pillow under your top arm and leg to unwind your limbs and lengthen your spine. 6. You dont have a set bedtime. When you crash hard at 9 PM on Monday night and stay up all night Tuesday to binge-watch your Linnet queue, your body wont know when to shut down on Wednesday night. A consistent sleep schedule helps your body know when its time to fall asleep and wake, It makes mornings less painful. 7. You sleep with your phone, use your computer, or watch TV before bed. These screens emit blue light that activates your brain and interferes with your bodys natural sleep cycle. The phone is one of the worst offenders: If you get a text or email in the middle of the night — even after you close your eyes — the light can go right through your eyelids and stimulate your nervous system and brain. So you can kiss your deep, restorative sleep good-bye. Ideally, leave your phone outside your room while you sleep. If thats not an option, put it in silent mode with the screen facing down on a surface thats far from your bed. As for TV? Tune out an hour or two before bed to give your brain a chance to rest.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 08:29:41 +0000
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