Do you find it physically difficult to get out of bed in the morning because you wake up with a stiff back?

Try these "Sleeping Suggestions" followed by the "Wake-Up Your Back Routine" to make your transition from horizontal to vertical more pleasurable so you can start your day right:

SLEEPING SUGGESTIONS

1. Don't sleep on your stomach
• When you sleep on your stomach, the natural curvature of your spine becomes compromised - you may hold your neck in a "kinked" position and your pelvis may tilt anteriorly, both of which could increase back pain
  
  
2. Do sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees
   • If you aren't used to sleeping on your back, or even if you are, try a pillow under your knees to help take the pressure off your lower back - this is a helpful tool to relieve back discomfort and pain associated with sciatica and piriformis syndrome
     
     
3. Sleep on your side, if you prefer...
   • While sleeping on your side, also use a pillow between your knees to ensure the correct positioning of your spine and pelvis. Also be sure to use a neck support pillow while on your side so your neck stays in proper alignment with the rest of your spine

"WAKE-UP YOUR BACK" ROUTINE

1. Leg Gravity "Exercise"
   • Before getting out of bed after sleeping on your back:
     1. Remove the pillow from under your knees
     2. While flat on your back, bend one knee so your foot is flat on the mattress and keep the other leg straight
     3. Let the bent leg "fall out" from under you to a straightened position. Feel gravity take the leg and "plop" it down on the bed next to your other leg
     4. Repeat this 10 times with each leg, one leg at a time - the less effort you put into this, the better - let gravity do the work for you
        • This will help warm-up and loosen your lower back before you get out of bed
     5. After the "gravity exercise", take a moment to feel the contact that your back is making with the mattress
        
        
2. Broadening Back Breaths
   • Take three deep breaths, and feel each breath in your lower back - visualize that you are breathing with your back. Visualize that with every inhalation, your back lengthens and that with every exhalation, your back broadens
     
     
3. Getting Out of Bed
   • When you are ready to get out of bed:
     1. Roll onto one side
     2. Use your arm/hand to push your self up to a sitting position while gently swinging your legs over the side of the bed and letting your head come up slowly
     3. Once your feet are firmly on the ground and you are sitting upright, take one more deep breath in
     4. On the exhale, rise to a standing position, feeling your legs supporting your body and feeling the openness of your lower back

For more information about how
Bodymind Massage Therapy can help you,
visit us on the web at
www.bodymindmassagetherapy.com
or to make an appointment, call
845.255.3228

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