Nights 17, 18, 19

The last 3 nights have been pretty similar. Mostly on my back, not too much pain. I did have someone tell me my back is looking better...hope it's true.

Nights 15 and 16

im typing this on my phone and it wont let me use numbers or some punctuation. sorry. fifteen went well, i was in a new bed but was able to spend most of it on my back. sixteen was a little cold so i gave in a few times and curled up. i did end up spending most of it on my back, though.

Nights 13 and 14

thirteen didnt go well, i was really restless. fourteen went much better. tonight will make it my half way point and i'm about to spend the night in an unfamiliar bed. we'll see how that effects things or maybe affects, i still have trouble with that one.

Nights 10, 11, 12

I realized I was thinking too much about my sleeping habits and back pain. I'm really just trying to see what's going to happen after 30 days. So I'm not going to write as often so that I can focus on other, happy, things.

Night 10-tossed and turned. Woke up in all sorts of positions. Not a great night's sleep.

Night 11-much better, slept on my back for as much as I remember. A little back pain, but it usually happens after I do something physical during the day that tweaks it..it's my own fault.

Night 12-same report as 11.

I'm excited to see how this all pans out.

Night 9

Last night was a bit more challenging. My back was hurting and I knew if I laid on my stomach it would stop. The voice inside my head (and the big one next to me) reminded me I can't stop now. If it gets to the point that it is detrimental to my health and well-being, I will stop, but so far it's just been annoying pain that causes me to take a while longer to get to sleep.

During the day I continue to notice reasons why I stand the way I do. Being aware of my posture has changed a lot more than just my sleeping position. Surprisingly, I find it just as comfortable, or even more so, to stand and sit with better posture. It's life long habits I'm getting rid of.

The other thing I'm beginning to notice is the "passive tension" in my muscles-the ones that are tight even when nothing is happening that would cause them to be tight. Often it only takes me consciously choosing to relax those muscles and I'm back to normal with less pain. I think most people just carry tension around and forget they're even tense. It's a talent I need to work on-to just be able to let the tension release. I realize this is a muscle things as well as something that needs to happen inside.

Night 8

Last night went well again. I find myself cocking my hips or moving my legs, but for the most part I'm sleeping pretty much straight on my back.

The other thing I've been noticing since I started this experiment is the way I do things during the day. It makes me wonder whether it's cause or effect, but I seem to sit and do tings to compensate for the way my body is tweaked. I guess that makes sense, given the body's desire for efficiency. I definitely think I need to change the way I drive, with my hips cocked and my left shoulder much higher than my right. I rarely just sit up straight, I am a sloucher for sure. This experiment is opening up a whole lot of awareness in me about the way I do things.

Night 7

I know yesterday's was short, but concise. This one will be too. I had a massage last night before I went to bed. It definitely helped with the back pain, but it actually caused my tailbone to hurt. My hope is that it's because it's going back to where it should be. Sometimes pain is the only way to progress. Not fun at the moment, but worth it in the end.
Sleeping on my back went well. My shoulders seem to be a lot more even now and they sit back further. It'll be fun to see how much everything changes in the course of another 3 weeks plus.

Night 6

Didn't do so hot. I feel asleep on my back but woke up on my side. I'm not sure if this night should even count. I think was on my side most of the night.

Night 5

The one bad thing about sleeping on my back is it's hard to cuddle. My 2 year old tried to snuggle into me and I gave in for a few moments and laid on my side while I held her. We really need to finish painting her room so she can get back to her own bed.

I did end up getting Spinal Touch yesterday. Man, I didn't realize how messed up my back is. It was 4 nights into the experiment, but after I saw this picture, I thought it was a more accurate portrayal of what's going on.

In this picture, I am just standing in my relaxed position. Notice how my shoulders are WAY off, and so are my shoulder blades. My below my shoulder blades you can see the jump in my spine even though the rest of it is pretty much straight. Also, my back arches way too much. It's amazing to see what it looks like when it's relaxed.

As far as sleep went last night, I slept well and my back didn't hurt. I was tempted (as I am every night so far) to roll over and sleep in a more relaxed position, but I held strong. Interestingly, when Judy was doing Spinal Touch on me, she commented on how my shoulders aren't nearly so rounded as they have been in the past. Maybe this is working.

Night 4

My back was hurting all day so I went to bed not so excited about sleeping on it. Surprisingly, I woke up this morning and it felt better. That is a huge improvement. Some of you are probably wondering why in the world I don't just get Spinal Touch at our office (Ideal Bodyworks) and get it over with. Good question. What it comes down to is that Spinal Touch helps my back a TON-I stand up straighter, my spine looks better, the arch in my back is right, and it doesn't hurt any more.

There are only two problems:

1. I don't take the time to get Spinal Touch consistently so my back eventually assumes my “natural” position of the rounded shoulders and everything else I've described.
2. I was considering keeping my experiment untainted, to see what JUST changing my sleep position would do.

I've given up on #2. I figure my goal is to do something permanently good for my body. If Spinal Touch gets my back out of pain, and then the sleeping on my back helps it STAY out of pain, why should I avoid it for a month?

My other pro-Spinal Touch reasoning was the run I went on this morning. It was (as the slang term goes) an Epic Fail. My friend and I ran maybe ½ a mile before my knee started telling me it was a bad idea. I feel like I should be able to run forever, so sometimes my mind takes over and says "Keep going!" even though my body isn't right. I injure myself almost every time I go running for this reason. It's good to push yourself, not good to injure. So I took it easy and walked home eventually, hoping to get in a session of Spinal Touch today so I can run again later this week.

Back to my sleep-like I said, it went really well. My back was hurting when I went to bed, but it was doing much better when I woke up. I have to admit that I woke up at 5:30 and decided to sleep another ½ hour before getting up at 6:00 to go running. I figured I'd just cheat a little and sleep on my side so I could get to sleep quickly, but it didn't work. I lasted less than 30 seconds on my side before I realized it was uncomfortable and I would have a hard time sleeping that way. I moved back to my back, relaxed, and was out. It's good to know at least the side sleeping habit is wearing off.

Night 3

I went to bed earlier, about 10:30, still with the pillow under my head. It did take a little longer to fall asleep, but it was still much more comfortable than Night 1 with no pillow. I think the Egyptians were onto something. I find I end up sleeping “mummy style” with my arms folded in a cross on my chest and my legs close together with my feet touching.

The way that I've begun to sleep (and the realization I'm going to be writing about it in the morning) has led me to take an inventory of my body. “Legs and feet feel great; a little pain through the lower mid-back region (the place that regularly gets me lately); breathing-slightly labored, probably due to the back pain; head and neck feel good, although there's a slight tightness in the left side of my neck.” I should probably apply this to my life, too. At night, just take a few minutes and inventory my day and be grateful for what happened. Once I relax it seems to take away the labored breathing and it's light's out.

I woke up a few times last night again. (I'm realizing that ever since I had a kid, I just don't sleep well.) It was the same as last night, just slightly rolled to one side or the other. I guess my 30 year side sleeping habit is getting kicked faster than I thought.

As promised, here are some “before” pictures of me. I'm using these because they were at times where I was just standing relaxed and not worrying about my posture. 

Notice in the rock climbing picture, you can see my crooked shoulder blades and crooked hips. If you look at the fishing picture, you'll notice my rounded shoulders and too much arch. You can't really see the jump in my spine, but right below my shoulder blades my spine does a little dance for about 3 inches. The only other thing that is invisible on these pictures is my tailbone. It doesn't continue straight down like it should; if you were to look at my back, you would see it take a sharp left turn. It's literally turned 90 degrees and pointing at my left butt cheek. I blame it on a bad fall while learning how to snowboard. It still makes my butt hurt to think about getting on the slopes.

Night 2

I'm glad I kept my commitment, it went a lot better last night.

My original thought that led me to not wanting a pillow was that it would push my head too far forward, but after having a horrible night's sleep and pain in the morning, I decided to adjust. Last night I used the flattest pillow we had to lay my head on.

It felt A TON better. During Night 1, along with the pain and muscle tightness on the right side of my head and neck, the back of my head had a strange “buzzing” sensation. It felt like something weird was going on with my circulation. Putting the pillow under my head alleviated that feeling.

I fell asleep rather quickly and the couple times I woke up during the night, I may have shifted slightly to one side, but was still mostly on my back.

I woke up this morning feeling good. No pain, no headache. I wonder if part of the better rest was that I went to bed at 1:30 last night, vs. 10:30 on Night 1. We'll see.

Night 1

The night of October 7-8 (yeah, I know I'm posting it a day late). I tried sleeping on my back minimalistcally - with no pillow, just me and my blanket. My back was on the mattress...looking up at the ceiling...for a long time...trying to sleep. I noticed my right shoulder blade was in some pain, and the right side of my neck felt tight as well as the right side of my head. The middle of my back wasn't feeling too great, either.

After WAY longer than it normally takes me to fall asleep, I finally succumbed. My two-year-old had joined us in bed that night because her room is being remodeled, and it didn't seem to be helping. Between her moving around all night and me trying to rid myself of a 30 year habit, I woke frequently.

Every time I woke up I had switched my position onto my side.

Every time I tried to fall back asleep on my back.

By the morning I wasn't convinced this was a good idea. My mid-back hurt, like it does once or twice a week anyway, and I had an annoying headache that stuck around most of the day.

The only thing that kept me going was that I don't like going back on my promises. That, and the fact that during my restlessness and trying to get back to sleep, I had monologued this entire blog in my head. I was committed. One down, twenty-nine to go.

Confessions of a Side Sleeper

All right I admit I sleep on my side, and even my stomach occasionally, but never on my back...'til now.

Ever since I've been paying attention to it, I've noticed my spine has a curve in it that just won't go away. And my shoulders slump forward and my hips aren't straight. Frequently as a child (and even occasionally as an adult) my mom would sneak up behind me and grab my shoulders with her fingers and then stick her thumbs on either side of my spine, all the while chiding me to “Stand up straight, Jessica!” This would force me to pull my shoulders back and arch my spine awkwardly. I would walk like this for about 10 seconds until it wasn't the first thing on my mind and immediately my shoulders would relax into their slumped position.

In discussing my posture the other day, my husband had a revelation: “Have you ever noticed that the way you sleep is the same way you stand? When you sleep on your side, you shoulders roll forward and your spine curves. Maybe you should try sleeping on your back.”

Hmmm...he was right on about my posture. It also explains why my hips and shoulder blades aren't even. Even when I sleep on my stomach, I roll my shoulders forward and cock my neck. Bodies are efficient machines, much like the people that inhabit them, they are constantly trying to get the most out of the least amount of effort. I spend a third of my day sleeping (or at least I should). When I train my body that it is most relaxed in that position, it stands to reason that it would revert to that when I'm awake and not so relaxed.

So begins my experiment: 30 days of sleeping on my back. I'm interested how it will effect my posture. I'll post a before picture and we'll see how it goes.