How Can We Sleep Better?
We enjoy sleeping. If possible, we would sleep and wouldn’t wake up till a financially lucrative marriage is arranged for us. Most of us are also enamoured with the idea of taking an afternoon nap. Somehow, afternoon naps are our go-to solution in solving any kinds of worry that we really ought to be doing something productive. It is the illicit savour of time stolen. It is knowing that time is joyfully squandered. Every now and then, we’ll wake up at a slightly later time intended from our afternoon naps and pretend that we’re appalled at all the time we’ve lost. Then we are reminded that wasting time isn’t exactly an unforeseen side effect.
It is part of the fun, isn’t it?
Aging, on the other hand, isn’t that fun. Aging is like an embarrassing medical condition, like eczema. It is best kept out of sight. If we can’t combat against it, then it is probably a benevolent thing to tell others to stop aging. This might be the very reason why every once in a while, an order is passed on to us from an old person, “Do not get old.” It appears not just to be a nagging sense of obligation for us, but a self-reminder for the old folks too. If there ever is a day where DNA rejuvenation or some other longevity technique is functional, I believe we’ll all claw, throttle and gouge our ways through Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos’ or any of the other billionaires to get our wrinkly hands on the cure.
Deep down, I believe we’re all for raging against the dying of the light.
Time doesn’t stop for anyone. In fact, we become older at this very moment than we’ve ever been before. Ironically, it is the youngest we’re ever gonna be too. But when we take a nap, it keeps us from feeling that time is slipping away, at least for a little while. If you don’t take afternoon naps; lucky for you. You’re probably too young to reap any emotional or physical benefits from it. In a regrettable development, I’m no longer sixteen, and apparently won’t be again. However, I would place my bet that napping has a better chance in evading aging as compared to 8 sessions of hot yoga or 6 weeks of gluten-free diet. Then again, sleeping needs to be done right.
What better way to know if we’re sleeping correctly than to explore the three common sleep positions?
Sleeping on our back
This is the optimal sleep position for many people. It allows our bodies to fall into its natural alignment with our weight distributed evenly. This indicates that there are no undue pressure on any particular point. Some advantages of sleeping on our back include prevention of wrinkles, prevention of neck pain and proper alignment of spine. On the flip side, it is not advised for people who snore or have sleep apnea to sleep on their backs. Back sleeping can put us in a position where our tongue can block our airways or otherwise create pressure which leads to worsening snoring and sleep apnea.
Sleeping on our sides
This is the most popular sleep position. This is the second most optimal position for health, after back sleeping. For people who snore or have sleep apnea, sleeping on their sides can reduce the symptoms. This leads to fewer disruptions and better rest. Some advantages of sleeping on our sides include prevention of acid reflux, prevention of sleep apnea and better blood circulation.
Sleeping on our stomach
This is the worst sleeping position. While it can also prevent sleep apnea and snoring, sleeping on our stomach comes with a price. When we sleep on our stomach, our core sinks deeper into the mattress while our limbs and head stay higher on the surface. This position knocks our spine out of alignment and leads to back and neck pain. It isn’t unusual to feel pain on our muscles and joints too. Generally, we want to avoid sleeping on our stomach.
Even though sleeping on our side and back are unequivocally better than sleeping on our stomach, there is no single best sleep position that is best for everyone. Taking comfort into consideration, the correct sleep position varies depending on health conditions and concerns. Furthermore, we don’t usually stay in one sleep position for our entire bedtime. Our body shifts multiple times throughout the night to keep our muscles and limbs from going numb. In reality, most of us are combination sleepers. Hence, the best sleep position is the one that allows us to wake up feeling fully charged. And sometimes it means we have to tell our bed partners that if they truly love us then they’ll need to stop wrapping us like they’re an octupus.
