blog-winter-pic

The cold weather is coming. The time when we hunch our shoulders to keep ourselves warm. But in doing this we are tensing our body and holding the muscles in an incorrect position, making the muscles hard and inflexible. This can cause all sorts of problems, such as headaches, limited rotation of the head and neck, rounded shoulders, tight chest muscles... As Alfred Wainwright (A Coast to Coast Walk) once said "there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing". Therefore it is a good idea to invest in thermal hat and gloves, a thick, wool/fleece scarf,  a suitable winter coat and sensible, warm footwear.

SLEEP POSTURE

There is generally four postures to sleep in. On the back, front, and both sides. The back is supposed to be the best position to sleep in. But this can cause snoring (not good for the person sleeping at the side of you) and people often feel vulnerable in this position. The worst position is on the front, for several reasons. Firstly, the head cannot be aligned correctly with the spine. This is due to having to turn the head to one side in order to breathe. Secondly, when we sleep we are like a dead weight, therefore all the body weight is forcing downwards, onto the organs which carry out certain jobs whilst we are sleeping and the body is resting. This dead weight can impede the work the organs are meant to be carrying out. Thirdly, if we share a bed with someone, the majority of people will face outwards. This is because when it's really quiet we can hear the other person breathing, in addition to feeling their breath on us. This means that if we sleep at the same side of the bed for year upon year, our head and neck muscles will be turning the same way. Not very good for alignment of the spine and neck muscles. Fourthly, our head is also a dead weight when we sleep. So we have gravity pushing our head downwards which will stress the neck muscles over a period of time.

I always recommend to couples to change the side of the they sleep in every four months. This way the percentage will decrease by half regarding straining the neck muscles.

Whether we sleep on our backs, front or side we should never have our hands/arms above shoulder height. This action has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the blood flow and nerve pathway may be impeded. Have you ever woken up with your hand under your head and your fingers have gone numb? This is why. In addition, having the hand under the pillow/head means there is a dead weight resting on them, which can contribute to circulation problems and nerve pathway issues. 

Sleep posture is a habit we have formed over many years. But a habit can be broken in about three weeks. It may cause a few nights of broken sleep, but in the long run it will be worth it.

blog-winter-pic

The cold weather is coming. The time when we hunch our shoulders to keep ourselves warm. But in doing this we are tensing our body and holding the muscles in an incorrect position, making the muscles hard and inflexible. This can cause all sorts of problems, such as headaches, limited rotation of the head and neck, rounded shoulders, tight chest muscles... As Alfred Wainwright (A Coast to Coast Walk) once said "there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing". Therefore it is a good idea to invest in thermal hat and gloves, a thick, wool/fleece scarf, a suitable winter coat and sensible, warm footwear.

SLEEP POSTURE

There is generally four postures to sleep in. On the back, front, and both sides. The back is supposed to be the best position to sleep in. But this can cause snoring (not good for the person sleeping at the side of you) and people often feel vulnerable in this position. The worst position is on the front, for several reasons. Firstly, the head cannot be aligned correctly with the spine. This is due to having to turn the head to one side in order to breathe. Secondly, when we sleep we are like a dead weight, therefore all the body weight is forcing downwards, onto the organs which carry out certain jobs whilst we are sleeping and the body is resting. This dead weight can impede the work the organs are meant to be carrying out. Thirdly, if we share a bed with someone, the majority of people will face outwards. This is because when it's really quiet we can hear the other person breathing, in addition to feeling their breath on us. This means that if we sleep at the same side of the bed for year upon year, our head and neck muscles will be turning the same way. Not very good for alignment of the spine and neck muscles. Fourthly, our head is also a dead weight when we sleep. So we have gravity pushing our head downwards which will stress the neck muscles over a period of time.

I always recommend to couples to change the side of the bed they sleep in every four months. This way the percentage will decrease by half regarding straining the neck muscles.

Whether we sleep on our backs, front or side we should never have our hands/arms above shoulder height. This action has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the blood flow and nerve pathway may be impeded. Have you ever woken up with your hand under your head and your fingers have gone numb? This is why. In addition, having the hand under the pillow/head means there is a dead weight resting on them, which can contribute to circulation problems and nerve pathway issues. 

Sleep posture is a habit we have formed over many years. But a habit can be broken in about three weeks. It may cause a few nights of broken sleep, but in the long run it will be worth it.