Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Sleeping positions
A frequent question when someone starts having Alexander Technique lessons is, "What is the best position to sleep in?" And it is a very reasonable question too since we can spend on average around 8 hours in every 24 lying in bed.
The Alexander Technique involves us using more aware of our posture and thinking in order to overcome our postural habits. It is a technique that we use during our daily activities to ensure we maintain as good and healthy posture, balance and co--ordination as possible, no matter what we are doing, from sitting at a desk, walking, ironing, or bending to pick up a young child. It involves conscious awareness and this can make a huge difference to how we feel. Gradually our habits diminish and our normal condition changes so that even when we are not thinking about it, we are still better off; i.e. not tightening our necks, stiffening our backs so much. Our new posture and 'manner of using our muscles' gets into our subconscious and this is when it can also filter through into our sleeping time too. Let's face it, when we're asleep, we have no conscious awareness so we cannot really have much effect on how we are when sleeping. If we have pain or tension when we sleep, we need to change our daytime habits as this is when we can have the most conscious control. If we change our 'condition' during our day (i.e. by means of the Alexander Technique) this will eventually help us when we are asleep.
There is not a 'correct' position to sleep in. We can sleep perfectly healthily on our side, or back, but it's best to avoid sleeping on our front because our head can be severely twisted to one side and we also compress our ribcage which can interfere with breathing. If children constantly sleep on their front, they can grow to have their ribcage distorted as the constant weight of their body presses down on the springy ribs, so flattening the ribs and with time they can solidify in a distorted shape. Sleeping on our back can cause us to snore, so beware. If you have problems with this, sleeping on your side can make a big difference.
It's likely that during our 6-9 hours of sleep depending on our needs, we will turn and move around anyway, so it does not make sense to always sleep in one position which can cause us to get a bit stiff. Clearly one position doesn't work. Just avoid sleeping on your front. Whether your legs are stretched out straight or bent does not make any difference. The main thing is that you are comfortable.
A firm bed may be helpful for some who have a bad back but I think a well sprung mattress of medium firmness is fine, so it is not too brutally firm. The bed should be able to adopt your own shape as you lie down and I prefer individually pocketed springs for this reason. If the bed is too soft it will not provide enough support and if the bed is very old, it will have lost its spring and ability to support you having become hollow in the middle.
Pillows are necessary as they can help avoid stiffness in the neck muscles and although some people manage well with orthopaedic pillows, I prefer two soft feather pillows. I bunch them up so they're thicker when I lie on my side as they take up the width of my shoulder so my neck doesn't get into a twist. If I roll onto my back then I push them away a bit so they're flatter. If you happen to sleep on your front you will barely need a pillow at all, but you might like to try and change how you sleep for the reasons I mentioned above.
If you want to change how you sleep for reasons of comfort or snoring(!) but have difficulty in falling asleep in an unusual position, you can try the following procedure. When you get into bed, begin by lying on your side or back or however you would ideally like to sleep and try to relax and let your mind drift off. If you find after 10 minutes or so that you are unable to sleep, just roll over to the position you usually adopt so you can fall asleep in your normal manner. However when you wake up in the morning, roll over once more into the position you would ideally like to sleep and lie there just for a short while before getting up. In this way you are beginning and ending your time in bed, in the position you would like. If you keep this up, eventually you will fall asleep, but it can take a few weeks.
