There’s too much tension in your body mechanism: strained neck, back hurt, dislocated spine, inflammatory sinus, wrinkles and creases around your eye bags.
Good news!
Aside from sleeping on an adjustable bed in the contour position, you can also relieve all your tension with a simple trick: change your sleeping position. Among all the postures for you to choose, back sleeping is the most neutral and ideal form on a flat surface and adjustable bed.
And today we have something that will make you a mastermind behind your sleep. Five handy hacks on how to sleep on your back – the chicken soup for your soul.
How Back Sleeping Is An Asset To Your Health
Chiropractors have established a descending hierarchy in terms of restorative sleeping positions. Beyond question, back sleeping is the crown winner for supporting lordosis down your spine.
Fetal or left side sleeping is just as beneficial for your health, but right side sleeping can exasperate shoulder strain, hip pain and heartburn.
According to Shelby Harris, an Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s professor and a sleep medicine expert, sleeping on your stomach is a real disaster. Not only will your body go numb, but your joint and muscle would also stiffen.
The ideal back sleeping posture is embraced by three kinds of pillows: an indented one below the head, a bulged one under the waist and a flat one beneath your thigh that creates a slight tilt in your knees and posterior pelvic.
Be it that way, the jam in your lumbar facets, which also is the chief pain maker while lying flat on a surface, would be mitigated significantly.
Lying straight on your back, as mentioned above, is the most neutral position to keep your spine aligned, which hinders degeneration in your spinal column. It also relieves all chronic tension down your vital organs.
Back sleeping, in addition, allows the fluid in your body to be drained, leading to an unclogged sinus and unswollen cheeks.
It’s not enough to seal the deal?
Then think twice, because this is the true beauty sleep. Sleeping on your back helps prevent creases and wrinkles on your neck and your eyes. And because you will face the ceiling the whole night, you can avoid acne coming from unhygienic pillow cases.
Major Impediments To Back Sleeping
You know, there are always two sides of the same coin. People have sent in testimonials that back sleeping is a big fat no for anyone with sleep apnea or, even more terribly, SNORING problems.
But they can be fixed via ENT surgeon Mike Dilkes’ 5-minute exercise including tongue curl, mouth stretches and high-pitched lower throat scream.
If you tuck a hard pillow under your neck and remain lying on your back, it is called “lying meditation”. Unless you are trained to sleep that way, there are high chances that you would get sleep paralysis with pretty horrifying hallucinations or cramped lower back.
Women who are a little bit curvy, among many other ordinary sleepers, may find too much pressure on their chest and make their breathing toilsomely. It’s reported that back sleeping is also hard for people with excruciating sciatica. And, crucially, do not ever sleep on your back while you’re pregnant as your weight would be distributed unevenly, your blood circulation would be dampened and your baby would find it suffocating inside your embryo.
5 Hacks To Sleep On Your Back Effectively
Stretch Before Bed
Here’s why.
It’s said that tight hip flexors and hamstrings can jerk your lower spinal column out of alignment while lying flat. White-collar workers who remain seated 9-to-5 would, of course, feel a sense of tight muscle at their lower back all the time.
This light 8-step stretch would loosen the tension on your whole body and prevent mid-night cramps before hitting the hay.
- Give yourself a big hug
- Stretch your neck back and forth
- Kneel and stretch horizontally with chair support
- Cat’s forward stretch
- Pose like you’re ready to run
- Lean down and give both your legs a good stretch
- Lie down and raise your legs vertically
- Couch flat back and knees bowled inwards
Fetal side sleeping may be the most natural position as we’ve got used to it since the day we lie in our mom’s tummy. So as to train yourself to lie flat on your back, your whole body must feel at ease first.
Start simple with the starfish position. Both hands are pointed forward, head is uplifted and stomach is below the oesophagus. The only equipment required is a pillow.
Learn To Lay Flat On A Firm Mattress
Is it true that you can flip your old sleeping habits 360 degree into back sleeping with a pillow only?
It’s not as easy as pie! Imagine yourself sinking into a fluffy mushy airbed with a fluffy puffy pillow. And that’s when your nightmare begins.
Over the course of your dream, it’s all about the tension chilling down your limbs and spine in order to stay afloat. Thus, the only solution is to seek for a firm enough surface, but not the floor, to lie on and set the power of your muscle free.
Build Your Own Pillow Rampart
The next step to shape you in the proper form of back sleeping is purchasing three different kinds of pillows: one for your neck, one for your waist and the last for your knee.
Because your body has to be in a straight line, the convex parts need indented pillows while the concave parts need bloated ones. Based on Reddit community’s reviews, a memory foam or a cervical posture pillow is the most therapeutic for neck pain.
You can browse on Tempur-Pedic website for a flat hip pillow and a soft elevated knee pillow, as well. They will both straighten your body line and act as a deterrence of toss-n-turn while you’re asleep.
If those are not enough to stop you from rolling around, then build a pillow castle on either of your sides, even though it may take up a bit more space if you share our bed with a lover.
Rumor has it that putting or sewing a tennis ball into each of your pyjama’s pocket will reduce toss-n-turn rate. Yet again, do not follow this trick as it was designed for people who were supposed not to sleep on their back due to sleep apnea and snoring problems.
Follow the Hammock Angle (or the Hangle)
You may be wondering:
How in the world can a curved hammock can position you flat down? It’s all about the magical angle.
Step 1: Move your feet 8-12 inches to one side until you see them drop flat compared to the original spot.
Step 2: Repeat with your head but on the exact opposite side.
And there you go, almost completely parallel with the ground. In a more ambiguous vision, imagine yourself cosplaying as a clock hand deviating 30 degrees from 00:00.
The physics behind this is easy to grasp: If you set up the hammock loose, its center would be tight while each of its side is rather loose. When you cut across the curve of the hammock, it’s got levelled out beneath you and gradually cuddles your body. This puts zero pressure on your joints and organs.
There’s no need to lie in a perfectly flat position, as your head and feet will gently be raised pursuant to the natural arc of your spine.
And Last But Not Least, Be Persistent
You will need a strong mind to resist the urge to roll round onto your stomach or your side. Especially after a long exhausting work day, you just cannot risk your comfort sleep for something as abstract as neck strain or hip pain, as you’d be in pain all day long anyway.
However, imagine if 20 – 30 years later, you would still cry in pain, even after retirement, and just cannot put yourself into any sleep.
How terrifying!
Train yourself as soon as possible for your long-term physical and mental health.
Bottom Line
You may find it hard to sleep on your back if you’re a habitual stomach/side sleeper your entire lifetime. And back sleeping is also not for everybody, especially pregnant women or people with sleep apnea and snoring problems.
But it’s worth a trial, we guarantee, as it is the most beneficial sleeping position, according to chiropractors. It is a true beauty sleep that can revitalize your skin and a trump card for fixing spinal degeneration.
Farewell to any puffy cheeks, acne, wrinkles and blue eye bags because now as you face the ceiling the whole time, your hygiene is improved and the pressure on your face is uniformly allotted.
Farewell to degenerative scoliosis or lumbar disc herniation as the natural curve of your spine is now accentuated.
If lying flat suits you to the T, then here we are, with some of the most commonplace methods to train you on how to sleep on your back proficiently. Follow our tips and you will get the most marvellous dream of your life.
