Last autumn I had to stop training due lower back pain and fatigue. I visited a great osteopath who diagnosed my problem to be tight and imbalanced hips, quads, hammies and abductors. I started with functional stretching, then working with my PT doing functional training, but the breakthrough came when I went to Thailand to train for a month. Instead of Muay Thai, which I usually train, but couldn’t this time, I did Ashtanga Yoga once or twice a day for a month. Fixed the tightness issue on my legs and hips. Fixed also the instant fatigue I’d get when I was training so it improved my endurance significantly. Now I’m doing Yoga twice a week and thinking about increasing it to three, in addition 2 gyms sessions and boxing I do. Recommended. Just don’t start with hot yoga, as there’s a great risk of overextending the muscles/ligaments when you’re a beginner.
Instinctive Sleeping Postures
I was looking for some info on primal sleeping positions and came across this interesting article linked on the MDA forums. I’m trying to finally eliminate lower back pain that has been bugging me for a few years now (desk jobs suck). Less time sitting and more functional training seems to be helping but waking up in the morning is when the pain is at its worst. I’m guessing it’s down to further compression of the lower spine as I already have a hyper lordosis problem.
Avoiding sleeping on my stomach seems to be making a difference as has going from two pillows to one. Maybe no pillow is the next step? The articles gives a nice insight to some more natural sleeping and resting positions. At the moment I’m probably closest to the “junk protection” position but with one arm under a pillow. Will try experimenting with the different postures and see if they are more comfortable.
Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1119282
A mountain gorilla asleep on one side
Kenyan asleep in a similar position
In side lying, the neck is completely supported
With a slight change in position, the penis is protected from insects
Tibetan caravaneers sleeping on their shins
The lookout posture
Quadrupedal lying
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11 thoughts on “Instinctive Sleeping Postures”
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11 thoughts on “Instinctive Sleeping Postures”
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Sounds good – we’ll look into that. We’ve both wanted to try doing some yoga but no idea where to start as there are so many different styles. Always feel better after doing it though. At the moment I’m just doing my own stretches + some ground work with the occasional Ryan Giggs yoga dvd
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Yoga class is just as good as its teacher. Most places offer cheap taster packages, so shop around. Don’t give up after one bad experience, but go to somewhere else.
A good Yoga teacher will explain what’s coming next and why. He/she will explain where this particular asana (exercise/posture) will affect. He/she will also give alternative/easier asanas based on flexibility and experience. He/she will also come a personally correct your posture if it’s incorrect.
Personally, I prefer Ashtanga yoga, because it’s a series of movements which pretty much stay the same until you advance to the next level. I like this because it’s not only a physically hard workout and increases your flexibility, but I can also monitor my progress every session, when I realise some asana is easier this time than it was before. Must be the geek in me, but I like to measure my progress, because it keeps me motivated.
Frankly, I can’t say I enjoy yoga immensely, but I know it will get easier by time, it has already helped me to fix my back and leg muscles issue and it’s mentally easy, because I just show up and someone else tells me what to do and I just do it and then it’s over and done with. It is even easier when doing Ashtanga, when the primary series gets memorised and I’ll just do it on my own pace.
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I also wonder what the best position to sleep in is. I have recently made the switch from 2 to 1 pillow, and I wonder whether going without would be best. I do mostly sleep on my side or with one leg up like in one of the pictures, but I do wonder if this is causing this issues I have with uneven hips. I would love to learn more!
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Could you post more pictures of primitive peoples sleeping style? They always seem to be able to sleep just about anywhere… Like a dog would. Id love to know what their secret is…
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Will post more up if I find any
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Just wanted to chip in here that I haven’t had any back problems since switching to sleeping with no pillow – prior to that I would go through phases of only getting 4 hours a night because the pain would wake me up
hope you get great results like I did !
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Last autumn I had to stop training due lower back pain and fatigue. I visited a great osteopath who diagnosed my problem to be tight and imbalanced hips, quads, hammies and abductors. I started with functional stretching, then working with my PT doing functional training, but the breakthrough came when I went to Thailand to train for a month. Instead of Muay Thai, which I usually train, but couldn’t this time, I did Ashtanga Yoga once or twice a day for a month. Fixed the tightness issue on my legs and hips. Fixed also the instant fatigue I’d get when I was training so it improved my endurance significantly. Now I’m doing Yoga twice a week and thinking about increasing it to three, in addition 2 gyms sessions and boxing I do. Recommended. Just don’t start with hot yoga, as there’s a great risk of overextending the muscles/ligaments when you’re a beginner.
Sounds good – we’ll look into that. We’ve both wanted to try doing some yoga but no idea where to start as there are so many different styles. Always feel better after doing it though. At the moment I’m just doing my own stretches + some ground work with the occasional Ryan Giggs yoga dvd
Yoga class is just as good as its teacher. Most places offer cheap taster packages, so shop around. Don’t give up after one bad experience, but go to somewhere else.
A good Yoga teacher will explain what’s coming next and why. He/she will explain where this particular asana (exercise/posture) will affect. He/she will also give alternative/easier asanas based on flexibility and experience. He/she will also come a personally correct your posture if it’s incorrect.
Personally, I prefer Ashtanga yoga, because it’s a series of movements which pretty much stay the same until you advance to the next level. I like this because it’s not only a physically hard workout and increases your flexibility, but I can also monitor my progress every session, when I realise some asana is easier this time than it was before. Must be the geek in me, but I like to measure my progress, because it keeps me motivated.
Frankly, I can’t say I enjoy yoga immensely, but I know it will get easier by time, it has already helped me to fix my back and leg muscles issue and it’s mentally easy, because I just show up and someone else tells me what to do and I just do it and then it’s over and done with. It is even easier when doing Ashtanga, when the primary series gets memorised and I’ll just do it on my own pace.
Cheers – I’ve found a teacher who does Ashtanga yoga quite near us so will have to book up a lesson and see what it’s like.
I also like having certain techniques you can work on and track your progress. It’s similar to my Krav Maga classes, work on a set of moves and when you’re ready you grade and move up to the next set.
I also wonder what the best position to sleep in is. I have recently made the switch from 2 to 1 pillow, and I wonder whether going without would be best. I do mostly sleep on my side or with one leg up like in one of the pictures, but I do wonder if this is causing this issues I have with uneven hips. I would love to learn more!
Tried sleeping without a pillow for a few days now and I’m feeling pretty good in the mornings. First couple of nights were tough – waking every couple hours as it feels a bit weird with no head support or lying on your arms. Starting to get used to it though and falling asleep isn’t a problem.
Could you post more pictures of primitive peoples sleeping style? They always seem to be able to sleep just about anywhere… Like a dog would. Id love to know what their secret is…
Will post more up if I find any
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8z5lyL3gjGU
Just wanted to chip in here that I haven’t had any back problems since switching to sleeping with no pillow – prior to that I would go through phases of only getting 4 hours a night because the pain would wake me up
hope you get great results like I did !
Hi Gail, yeah I’ve noticed a massive improvement since I ditched my pillow. I’ve tried using a pillow a couple of times to test the effect and I always woke up with a noticeably worse lower back. Glad it’s working for you – it’s nice to get some relief from pain. I would never had suspected it could have such a significant impact. Thanks for the comment!