Sleep Quality isn’t just about the hours you clock; it’s profoundly influenced by your sleeping position. The way your body rests during the night directly impacts your energy levels, spinal health, digestive function, and even your mood the following day.
While we often gravitate towards positions that feel comfortable, these aren’t always the most beneficial for our overall well-being. This article will delve into various sleeping positions from a medical perspective, exploring their advantages and disadvantages.
I also provide practical tips to improve your sleep quality by paying close attention to proper body alignment.
Sleep Quality, the Risks of Stomach Sleeping.
Stomach sleeping is often considered one of the most problematic sleeping positions. The primary reason is that this posture places an improper load distribution on your spine, frequently leading to back and neck pain.
To breathe while on your stomach, you have to turn your head to the side. This causes a twisting of the cervical vertebrae and puts pressure on nerves and blood vessels.
Prolonged sleeping in this position can contribute to degenerative changes in the cervical spine and chronic pain. Furthermore, if you truly enjoy having your face buried in a pillow, you can’t avoid facial puffiness and the appearance of wrinkles.
The pressure of the pillow on your face can restrict blood circulation and promote wrinkle formation, especially if your skin isn’t sufficiently elastic.
How to Mitigate Risks if You Can’t Break the Habit of Stomach Sleeping:
• Ditch the pillow or replace it with something flat: This can reduce the arch in your neck and help maintain a neutral spinal position.
• Place a blanket or flat pillow under your pelvis: This will help maintain the natural curve of your lumbar spine and reduce pressure on your lower back.
• Alternate head rotation: To prevent neck stiffness in the morning, it’s crucial to alternate turning your head to the right and left.
• Avoid placing your hands under your pillow or head: This can lead to pain, numbness in your arms, and shoulder joint problems due to compressed nerves and blood vessels.
Back Sleeping.
A Spine’s Best Friend (with a Few Exceptions)
In contrast to stomach sleeping, back sleeping is much more beneficial for your spine. This position ensures an even weight distribution and helps maintain the natural curvature of your spine.
It’s particularly advantageous for individuals with various joint and musculoskeletal issues, as it reduces pressure on the joints.
Important Tips for Back Sleeping:
• Use a specialized pillow: For those accustomed to sleeping on their back, special orthopedic pillows are available to help maintain the natural curve of the neck and provide proper head and neck support.
• The “but” for snoring and sleep apnea: If you suffer from snoring or are prone to sleep apnea (breathing cessation during sleep), sleeping on your back is strictly forbidden. This position can worsen airway obstruction and lead to serious health problems. In such cases, it’s recommended to consult a doctor.
Side Sleeping.
The Left Side, Your Digestive System’s Ally.
Sleeping on your left side is considered the most beneficial sleeping position for several reasons. This posture helps alleviate various gastrointestinal problems, such as constipation, acid reflux, and heartburn.
This is because the stomach is located on the left side of the body, and sleeping on your left side allows gravity to assist with food movement and reduces acid reflux.
This position is also more suitable for snoring sufferers as it reduces airway obstruction. It’s also excellent for preventing certain diseases related to the nervous system and brain function, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
Theoretically, this is due to the more efficient functioning of the lymphatic system (glymphatic system), which is responsible for removing toxins from the brain during sleep.
However, it’s not all straightforward.
• Risk of kidney stone formation. Recent scientific studies suggest that the habit of sleeping on one side can contribute to kidney stone formation. The kidneys on the side the patient most often sleeps on may receive reduced blood flow, which in turn hinders their cleansing processes.
• Blood circulation and lymph drainage. While left-side sleeping is beneficial for digestion, prolonged sleeping exclusively on one side can affect blood circulation and lymph drainage in other parts of the body.
The ideal solution is to change your body position during sleep, turning from one side to the other. This will ensure an even distribution of pressure and optimal blood circulation throughout all parts of your body.
The Importance of Changing Sleep Positions.
Our bodies are designed for movement, and this applies to sleep as well. Although we often fall asleep in one position, we naturally shift positions several times throughout the night.
This change of positions is crucial for optimal blood circulation, nervous system health, and muscle relaxation. If you feel like you’re sleeping in one position all night and wake up stiff or in pain, consider consciously changing positions during sleep.
Dreams.
Messages from Our Subconscious.
Since we’re discussing sleeping positions, we can’t ignore dreams – this mysterious component of the sleep phase that reflects our subconscious processes.
Most Dreams are Forgotten.
It’s surprising that up to 95% of dreams are quickly forgotten soon after waking. One theory explains that the part of the brain crucial for memory formation is inactive during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phase when approximately 90% of dreaming occurs making dreams so difficult to recall.
What Do We Dream About?
For over 40 years, scientist Calvin Hall collected dream records from college students, amassing approximately 50,000 dreams in total.
His analysis revealed a wide variety of emotions during dreams, but the most common were anxiety, restlessness, and other negative emotions, which collectively outweighed positive feelings. This suggests that our dreams are often a way for the brain to process daily stress and problems.
The most common dream scenarios worldwide include.
• The feeling of being chased or attacked.
• Falling or flying.
• Cold or other extreme sensations.
• Being late or unable to achieve something.
• Inability to move or speak.
• Being naked in public.
• School dreams about taking exams and similar situations.
• Dreams about sex.
• Dreaming about a living person as dead or seeing a dead person as alive.
Variations in dreams are endless, just as they are in our waking lives. Dreams are a mirror of our emotions, experiences, and subconscious struggles.
Recommendations for Better Sleep.
Sleeping positions are an integral part of healthy sleep. While everyone has their preferred position, it’s important to be aware of its impact on our health.
Try to vary your sleeping positions throughout the night, and if necessary, adjust your pillow and mattress to ensure optimal spinal support.
Remember, good sleep quality is the foundation for good health and a high quality of life.
Did You Know That Sleep Quality Can Affect Your Mood the Next Day?
Why Sleep Quality Affects Mood.
• Emotion regulation and brain function. During sleep, especially in the REM phase (rapid eye movement phase), the brain actively processes emotions and information gathered during the day.
It “sorts” and “deletes” unnecessary information while consolidating essential information into long-term memory. If sleep quality is poor or we don’t sleep long enough, this process is disrupted. As a result, the next day, it’s harder for us to regulate our emotions – we may feel more easily irritable, angry, depressed, or anxious, and it’s harder to enjoy positive events.
• Increased stress levels. Sleep deprivation increases the level of the stress hormone cortisol in the body. High cortisol levels can contribute to anxiety, restlessness, and a general feeling of stress, even without direct stressors. This creates a vicious cycle: stress disrupts sleep, and sleep deprivation increases stress.
Cognitive functions and concentration.
Quality sleep is vital for maintaining cognitive functions, attention, concentration, memory, and decision-making abilities. If we are sleep-deprived, these abilities decrease.
This can lead to frustration if we are unable to effectively perform daily tasks at work or school, which in turn negatively affects our mood. We may feel unproductive or incapable.
• Physical fatigue and lack of energy.
The most obvious consequence of sleep deprivation is physical fatigue. If we feel tired, our energy levels are low, and we lack the motivation to perform daily activities. This can lead to apathy, helplessness, and depression. Even one night of poor sleep can leave you feeling drained.
• Weakened immunity.
Prolonged sleep deprivation can weaken the immune system, making us more susceptible to illness. Feeling unwell due to a cold or other viral infections will, of course, also negatively affect our mood.
• Connection to mood disorders.
Chronic sleep deprivation is closely linked to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. Studies show that people with insomnia have a much higher risk of developing depression and panic disorders. Sometimes sleep problems are even the first symptoms indicating mental health problems.
What to Do to Improve Your Mood Through Sleep?
• Maintain a regular sleep schedule: Try to go to bed and wake up at approximately the same time each day, even on weekends. This helps regulate your body’s natural biological clock.
• Create a peaceful bedtime routine: Avoid screens (phone, tablet, TV) for at least an hour before bed. Instead, read a book, listen to calming music, take a warm bath, or do some light stretching exercises.
• Take care of your bedroom environment: Your bedroom should be dark, quiet, and cool (optimal temperature is around 18-20°C). Air out the room before going to bed.
• Limit caffeine and alcohol consumption: Caffeine is a stimulant that can stay in your system for up to 24 hours. Alcohol may seem calming, but it disrupts sleep quality and makes it fragile. Avoid consuming them several hours before bed.
• Physical activity during the day: Regular physical activity can improve sleep quality, but avoid intense workouts right before bed.
• Listen to your body: If you feel tired, go to bed earlier. If you have persistent sleep problems that affect your daily life and mood, seek professional help from a doctor or sleep specialist.
Good sleep quality is not just a matter of well-being; it’s essential for our physical and mental health, as well as our ability to function effectively and enjoy life every day.
Have a great day after a healthy night’s sleep!
