Sleeping on a Yoga mat for a week: results
For about a year now, I've been having random hip pains that flair up sometimes just from walking. It never lasts long, but considering my age, it just shouldn't be happening. And for the past month I've had mild back pains. I can't afford to get health isnurance, let alone afford to see a doctor, so I've researched alternative methods. I study herbalism, which works for mild things like colds, allergies, headaches and acne, but these aches I've been having aren't things plants can help with on a permanent basis. Not only that, but I've come a long way in my strives for minimalism, and this seems like a good next step. So here we go. Floor sleeping on just a yoga mat with a sheet over it, a pillow under my head and a pillow for my legs (and a blanket over me). One final thing to note, is during my week of doing this, I'll predominately be sitting on the floor or in chairs instead of on the bed. Night1: I used another blanket underneath the mat for a little extra cushion. It was a little awkward at first to settle in. Laying on my back wasn't all that comfortable, so I turned over on to my side - which wasn't any better. But normally when you're already uncomfortable and slightly in pain, things get worse and worse over time. This was not the case. Each position I switched to was slightly painful at first, but after just a few seconds, it started to get more comfortable. I slept well enough, but was very aware every time I switched positions (especially since I was using a pillow between my knees while on my sides and would position it under my legs while on my back) - but then my body fell back in to comfort and I was able to get back to sleep just fine. One pretty startling note I'd like to mention: at one point in the middle of the night I woke up on my back. And while in that position, I thought to myself "This must be what it's like to be on acid. Because right now, my body feels PERFECT and it's pretty damn trippy." This was the one time I struggled to fall back asleep because I was just. . . so. . . COMFORTABLE Day1: Woke up feeling slightly tired, but not a big deal. My body felt totally fine. No aches or pains. Night2: Took away that extra blanket, so it's just the yoga mat and sheet under me. Mostly because I'm exceptionally lazy, and it was more work to get my yoga mat and sheet set up with that blanekt as well. Settled in and fell asleep as fast as I usually do. Woke up less when switching positions despite continuing to use that second pillow. I'd say I slept comparable to how I sleep while in a normal bed. Day2: Back pains. Nothing severe, but it's worse than what I've been feeling the past month. However it's managable and ignorable without pain killers, so whatever. I feel about as well rested as I do when I sleep in a normal bed. Towards the end of the day (around 7pm), my back was really bugging me. Under normal circumstances I probably would have taken some pain killers or asked my man to give me a back rub. However, I refrained from both. Those who have done this on youtube claim it gets better, so I decided to stick it out and see how I'd progress without outside influences. Kind of wondering why the fuck I'm doing this to myself, but owell. Maximum effort. Night3: Fell asleep fine, but it wasn't entirely restful. As the night progressed, sleeping on my sides hurt more and more, to the point where the only position I could sleep in was on my back. However sleeping on my back was perfectly fine - I even experienced that euphoric "my body feels perfect" feeling. But I'm used to sleeping on my sides as well, and couldn't, so all in all, not very restful. Day3: When I got up, I realized I have what feels like bruises forming on each side of my hips (which explains why it hurt to roll on to my sides during the night). Fucking bruises. No one on the internet mentions this problem. Is it just me?? Am I such a wimpy, squishy American that my fatty-licious hips can't handle floor sleeping? Apparently. But I'm stubborn enough to continue onwards with my experiment. If my body doesn't like it then it'll just have to fuckin get used to it. As far as my back goes, it's a little sore, but perfectly managable without painkillers. As the day progressed, my back pains continued to be very minimal, though I noticed some in my neck now too. Why does no one else seem to have these issues with floor sleeping? Night4: Nothing really to add. Hips still hurt too much to side sleep. Fell asleep fine and it was about as restful as night3. Day4: God damn, it's only been 4 days? Despite not sleeping terribly well, I suprisingly don't feel more worn out or tired than usual. . . so that's neat, I guess. I've also noticed that it's easier to get up in the mornings, but I suspect that's mostly because I'm sleeping on a hard ass surface and who the fuck would want to just lay there longer than neccesary. My back is "eh" - about as achy as it was when I first started this, though my neck is still mildly sore too. Idk. At this point I'm really just trying to keep my minimalism lifestyle goals in mind because this obviously isn't helping my body like people say it does. Fucking floor sleeping liars. Night5: uugggghhh. So. I caved. I did the unthinkable, and I slept in a traditional bed. BUT with good reasons. 1) By the end of the day (around like 10pm or so) I was completely exhausted. We don't usually go to bed until 2 or 3am, so this wasn't normal. I tried to sleep, but just couldn't. After an hour and a half, I just got in bed with my man. 2) My man and I are pretty independant people. We've lived together (and been together) for 6 years, and most days we really just do our own things. We have date day once a week, but this week, all we did together was run errands. . . and then for the rest of the day we went back to doing our own shit. I've been sleeping on the floor next to the bed, and it's just not the same as sleeping next to him IN bed. So I felt this whole thing was kind of distancing us. 3) This has not helped my back at all. In fact, the only day I was completely fine was day1 - the other 3 days my back was either worse, or the same as it has been; with added neck pain and hip bruises that I didn't have before. My man isn't going to want to try this if it doesn't work for me, and so far it hasn't. So while he and I are together, we'd be keeping the bed for him, which means there's no point in my trying to sleep on the floor. Being next to him would end up being what I truly wanted anyways. So there you have it. Only managed 4 days, and it was interestingly undesirable. I will mention that after sleeping in a super comfortable bed, my back still hurts about as much as it did before I started, and my neck continues to ache. So whatever. For now, I'm admitting defeat. You win, floor. You win.