tips for a good night sleep

[lior]

what tips you guys have for a sleep/pre-sleep routine that will not make my joints so rigid and aching?
Im rehabing my self now from a back injury and my mornings are very difficult. stiffness even pain and since by midday it dissapates Ive got to attribute it to bad sleep.

I ask in general about people with joint problems not just me specificaly

thanks,

Lior.

[rbibbs]

Good news/bad news Lior. You're probably sleeping too well! That's why mattress manufacturers make hard mattresses... they make you uncomfortable enough to keep you moving through the night, so you wake up more flexible, but less rested. All that talk about "firm support" is a smokescreen... they wouldn't market well if they told you "this mattress will wake you up every half hour", which is what it does.

But they're right in a way. Motion begets motion. Look at our everyday adult life: a very high percentage of our time-in-motion is spent with our spine all-but-rigid, and our arms and legs swinging in narrow arcs from front to back. After 50-60 years of this, it's all we can do to move in this restricted range, and finding one's self momentarily unbalanced outside this range can result in an uncontrolled fall and immobilizing injury.

The general prescription for joint health is motion. The body repairs/rebuilds/strengthens the systems and structures that we use, and biochemically abandons structures that we don't use. Coach Sonnon's WW is a comprehensive tool that we can use to exploit this biological characteristic to our benefit. At first glance, it's an almost-effortless exercise program. My first reaction was, "how good can it be for you, if it doesn't make you huff and sweat any more than walking does?". In the 3 years since, I have learned to use it for athletic warmup, mobility maintenance, diagnosis, rehab and regeneration.

The specifics of sleep comfort and morning mobility... I'm talking a little outside my field, to go much beyond saying that proper fluid distribution throughout the body relies upon motion. If a fluid-distribution problem exists, for example in some cases of injury, it will be exacerbated by motionlessness. When you have an active injury condition (unless medical counsel advises otherwise), move the affected area through its comfortable range-of-motion every time the condition calls attention to itself. And again, at very low exertion, at bedtime. You might also take an ibuprofen to reduce swelling, though this is more effective when done immediately after the injury than midway through recovery.

It is characteristic of musculoskeletal injuries to produce unilateral (unbalanced) tension radiating from the injury site, as related structures tense to try to protect the injured structure. WW also addresses these tension imbalances. In using WW, once a day is a maintenance level. If you are generating musculoskeletal stress (athletics/training), or if you have an active dysfunction, go through your range-of-motion no less than 3 times a day. And, remembering the "radiating tension", if your back is bothering you, you have to move everything... legs, hips, shoulders, arms, neck... as well as the spot where you "feel it".

For your specific (hopefully temporary) problem Lior, when you wake up stiff, exercise your range-of-motion right then. Don't force it to where it hurts you, just do what you can do with relative comfort, even if it's just a couple-inch circle at your hips. I think that will immediately broaden your cone-of-comfort. Then as the night stiffness abates during the day, repeat your ROM. In rehab-mode, WW is not an exertion exercise, concentrate on relaxation and full extension. And please check back with us with your progress.

Rick

[admin]

In addition to Rick's fine advice, I would like to add something simple that really helps this ol' bod: take a very hot shower. Stand under the running water as long as you can, as hot as you can take it, relaxing with some slow breathing ala Be Breathed. Do this also upon rising. If you have a hot tub, use it in the same fashion and your joints will love you as your circulation increases and your relaxation deepens.

Hope this helps!

[lior]

Thank you guys.
I'll try and report results - I can't wait for my be breathed and warrior wellness tapes to arrive!

[SteveB]

If we look at our days as a curve, startign with gentle activity in the morning to transition from sleep, increasing to intense action during the day, it makes sense that we need to specifically prepare to transition back to rest-mode. Warrior Wellness, gentle Body-Flow, yoga, Tai chi, etc. are all ways to reintegrate, center, and begin to relax. Hot baths or showers are ways of helping our muscles along "mechanically." Steam baths and hot tubs are great. Meditation, the yogic "Nidra" or "savasana" laying flat on the back and deliberately relaxing every muscle, is ancient and effective. The most important thing is to find your own way, so that sleep can be deep and restful.

Steve